Green City Gophers Defeat North Shelby At Sectional

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 Green City improved to 16-6 with an impressive 12-1 win at North Shelby (11-7) in the May 15, 2023 Class 1 baseball Sectional round at North Shelby. After the teams scored a first inning run each, The Gophers found their offensive game, scoring 11 unanswered runs. 

Ty Hall reached Raider starter Casey Shockley for a walk leading off the contest. Aaron Peavler singled. Grant O’Haver drove in the game’s first score with a fielder’s choice. 

Grant O’Haver stole second and advanced to third base. Casey Shockley induced two ground balls to keep Grant O’Haver on third base. 

Cole Browning and Casey Shockley touched Gopher starter Jaden O’Haver for one out singles. Cade Fallert drew a bases filling walk with one out in the North Shelby first. 

Browning scored on a fly ball. Kaden Johnson threw to Brody Lunsford at first base to retire the side. The game was tied at one run each entering the second inning. 

Kaden Hatcher drew a one out walk in the top half of inning two. Casey Shockley struck out a batter for the second out. Xander Salas ignited the Gopher offense with an RBI triple. Salas scored on an error for a 3-1 Green City lead. 

Aaron Peavler walked, putting Gophers on first and second base. Casey Shockley won a battle with William Woods University baseball bound Grant O’Haver for a ground out to end the inning. 

North Shelby batted back in the bottom of the second inning. Grady Gander stroked a leadoff single. Jaden O’Haver walked the eighth and ninth batters in the Raider order. North Shelby had the top of their lineup at the plate with the bases juiced with none out. 

Green City executed a ground out, throwing a man out at the plate. Jaden O’Haver stepped up and struck out a batter then induced a ground out, keeping North Shelby from scoring. 

Green City led 3-1 after two complete innings. Brody Lunsford reached base on a third inning error and was stranded. Casey Shockley struck out the last two Gopher batters in the third inning. 

Green city pitchers did a good job of spreading out Raider hits. Kaden Hunolt singled with two out in the third inning but was stranded. Green city put leadoff batter Kaden Johnson on base in the fourth inning. 

The Gophers took advantage of an outfield error scoring Johnson for a4-1 lead after four full innings. North Shelby was charged with an error in each of the first four innings. The Raiders were charged with five errors unofficially. 

“We have been prone to making errors this year,” North Shelby Scott Gaines said. “I think I had us for ten errors in our book. That’s fielding. We had some dumb throwing errors. You are not going to beat anybody if you make that many errors.” 

“If you give teams extra chances and that many outs, bad things are going to happen,” Coach Gaines said. “We had luck on our side a lot of this year. We just dug ourselves a hole we just couldn’t dig out of this time.” 

“Hats off to Green City. They took advantage of our mistakes. We had our chances in the first few innings and couldn’t capitalize,” Scott Gaines said. “That’s how the game goes. That’s why you play the game.” 

“Hats off to them. They took advantage of what we couldn’t complete.” 

Green City started pouring on the coals in the fifth inning. Brody Lunsford and Noah Tipton walked leading off the inning. Kaden Hatcher delivered an RBI single. Casey Shockley was replaced on the mound by Cole Browning. 

Senior Casey Shockley concluded a fine North Shelby baseball career by pitching four and a third innings to the five time defending district champion Gophers. Shockley struck out six of his 25 batters faced. Casey Shockley had four walks on four hits. Three of the six Green City runs charged to the Raider starter were unearned by unofficial tally. 

Kaden Johnson put the ball in play scoring another run. Xander Salas slammed an RBI single for a 7-1 lead after five compete innings. Cade Fallert was hit by a pitch leading off the North Shelby fifth inning. 

Green City ended the inning with a well-executed 6-4-3 double play. Grant O’Haver led off the Gopher sixth inning with a double, then stole third base. Jaden O’Haver reached on an error. Brody Lunsford slammed a two RBI single for a 9-1 lead after five and a half innings. 

JD Rich walked with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Thaydon Forrest came in to pitch. Jaden O’Haver pitched five and 2/3 innings for Green City. Jaden O’Haver struck out five of his 28 batters faced with four walks on seven hits and one unearned run. 

Thaydon Forrest walked Cole Browning, then fanned a batter to end the sixth inning with Green City up 9-1. Green City added three more insurance runs in the seventh inning. 

Ty Hall and Aaron Peavler singled with one out in the seventh. Thayden Forrest slammed a two out, two RBI double. Forrest scored for a 12-1 lead. North Shelby went into their offseason fighting. 

Two walks and a strikeout set up Green City’s third double play of the game, closing the book on a 12-1 win. Green City hosted South Nodaway/Jefferson County at Conception Junction baseball coop in the Class 1 quarterfinal round on May 17, 2023. 

This was the same athletic coop under the Platte Valley name that eliminated the Gophers during the 2022-23 boys basketball season in the quarterfinal round at St. Joseph, Mo. 

North Shelby scored one run on six hits. The Raiders left 12 runners on base unofficially. Jaden O’Haver was the winning pitcher. Thaydon Forrest pitched an inning and a third with two strikeouts, three walks and a hit batsman. Forrest allowed no runs on no hits. 

Isaac Berry and Cole Browning were 2-4 at bat for North Shelby. 

Green city scored 12 runs on 11 hits and one error unofficially. Xander Salas was 2-4 with a run scored and two batted in. Ty Hall and Aaron Peavler were 2-4 at bat each. Hall scored twice and Peavler once. 

Thayden Forrest and Brody Lunsford had two RBI’s each. “We have taken a ton of batting practice in the last few days,” Green City coach Dale Whitacre said. “We just worked on getting bunts down. Good two strike approach. Things we have been struggling with the last couple of games.” 

“it was much better tonight. We put the ball in play throughout the lineup. Thaydon Forrest came off the bench and had a two RBI double. He scored on a wild pitch. He hasn’t had ten at bats all year. 

“We turned two three times tonight,” Dale Whitacre said. “Xander (Salas) tracked balls down in the gaps. Kept their runners off base a couple of times. Jaden (O’Haver) had the bases loaded and nobody out with a 3-0 count on the hitter.” 

“He had confidence he could throw strikes and confidence in the defense. That was huge getting out of that inning with no runs. The majority of my guys are basketball players.” 

“They are fully aware that Platte Valley ended their basketball season a little prematurely,” Green City head baseball coach and Athletic Director Dale Whitacre said. “They are looking for a chance to get a little payback in the quarterfinals and send them home Wednesday.”