Pirates Build Early Lead, But Sixth-Inning Rally Ends Season

by Chris Rueber 

A rainout last Friday pushed the Hudson baseball team’s first-round district game back to Monday of this week. The Pirates were up against a familiar NICL foe, Aplington-Parkersburg, in a game played at South Hardin High School in Eldora.

Slow starts have doomed the Pirates over the last couple of weeks, but it was Hudson that cracked the scoreboard first this time. In the top of the first inning, leadoff batter Caden Dlouhy singled, went to second on a fielder’s choice, and scored on an RBI single from Austin Schroeder.

Blake Delagardelle got the start on the mound for Hudson and found himself in trouble early. The Falcons opened with a single and a walk, and the very next batter hit a screaming line drive. Hudson shortstop Brady Berg snagged the ball out of the air and threw behind the AP runner at second base to double up the Falcons. A popup to first base ended the inning with the Pirates on top, 1-0.
Hudson managed to load the bases in the second inning but failed to score. In the home half, Delagardelle worked out of another jam, coaxing AP into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to stop the Falcons’ scoring threat.
In the top of the third, Delagardelle walked to start things off. He was replaced at first base by courtesy runner Jax Petersen. After a strikeout by Schroeder, first baseman Hunter Coulson laid down a sacrifice bunt. The Falcon pitcher fielded the ball and threw to first, but the throw was way off the mark and bounded all the way down the right-field line. Petersen, who was off and running anyway, kept right on going. He rounded second and got the green light to head for home. He crossed the plate with Hudson’s second run, and Coulson made it all the way to third before AP could get things back under control. Senior Trey Wulf then dumped a single over shortstop, scoring Coulson, and the Pirates took a 3-0 lead.

Delagardelle was sharp in the bottom half of the inning, putting AP down in order.

The Falcons cut into the Hudson lead in the fourth. After the Pirates failed to score, AP got a two-out double to center. The next batter hit a grounder to shortstop. Berg’s throw was high and forced Coulson to jump to make the catch. Coulson’s foot appeared to come back down on the bag ahead of the runner, but the umpire did not see it that way. He ruled the Falcon runner safe at first. A stolen base and a single up the middle scored both Falcon runs. After four innings, the Pirates’ lead was cut to 3-2.

Hudson added on in the fifth. Delagardelle clubbed a double to the wall in center field and was once again replaced by Petersen on the basepaths. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third, and an error by the Falcon shortstop allowed him to score, pushing the lead to 4-2.

AP got a runner all the way to third base in the home half of the fifth, but Delagardelle put out the fire again. Two fly balls to center field did most of the work, and an outstanding throw from Schroeder to Dlouhy cut down a Falcon basestealer and kept the Pirate lead at two.

Hudson did not score in the sixth but found itself just six outs away from a first-round district upset. Delagardelle got a groundout to shortstop and a swinging strikeout to start the inning, but then the trouble started.

The Falcons got another two-out double. They followed that with an RBI single. A wild pitch, a walk, and a failed attempt to get a force out at second loaded the bases. A walk forced in the tying run. With the bases still loaded, AP’s Jaxson Kleespies hit a deep fly ball to right that escaped the grasp of the Pirate fielder. Three runs scored. The Falcons added another RBI double before Hudson was able to get the final out. AP took an 8-4 lead into the top of the seventh.

With only three outs left and facing a four-run hole, the Pirates failed to get anything going in a last-ditch attempt to extend their season. It ended right there on the field in Eldora with an 8-4 loss to the Falcons.

Hudson ends the season with a 6-13 record. Gone now are two seniors, Brady Berg and Trey Wulf, but the rest of the team will return intact. They will look to keep building on the successes of this year as they aim for an eventual return to contention in the NICL. The 2027 Pirates will boast a deep and experienced senior class alongside a host of younger players who have shown they are more than ready to carry a heavier share of the load. Only time will tell what they’ll be able to accomplish next season.