Waldorf Baseball Could Not Stop Hot Bats in Loss to Concordia

FOREST CITY, Iowa. Concordia (NE) broke the game open with a seven-run second inning and never let Waldorf recover, handing the Warriors a 20-6 loss Saturday in Forest City, Iowa. The decisive stretch came early, when Jimmy Blumberg's three-run home run helped turn a scoreless game into a 7-0 deficit by the end of the top of the second.

The Bulldogs scored in six of seven innings and piled up 15 hits, including seven home runs. Blumberg did the most damage, finishing 2-for-5 with two home runs, seven RBIs and three runs scored. Jaeden Jordahl added a solo homer during the second-inning outburst, then Concordia struck again in the fourth with five more runs. Blumberg delivered another three-run homer in that frame, pushing the lead to 12-0 and putting Waldorf in an early hole.

Concordia kept adding on in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Alex Draper hit a two-run homer in the fifth, Cade Vanis launched a two-run shot in the sixth, and Jake Tyler capped the scoring with a three-run homer in the seventh. Draper scored four runs and went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, while Tyler added three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored. Concordia finished with nine walks and 20 runs on 15 hits.

Waldorf showed some life in the middle innings, collecting 11 hits and playing error-free defense. The Warriors scored twice in the fifth, then put together their best inning in the sixth with four runs. Cameron Bailey provided the biggest swing for Waldorf, belting a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the margin to 16-6. Waldorf also produced two doubles and left seven runners on base.

On the mound, Concordia right-hander Devin Gonor worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and six earned runs while striking out 11. Waldorf hitters put the ball in play often enough to threaten late, but the Warriors drew only one walk and struck out 14 times, making it difficult to keep pace with Concordia's power surge.

The box score reflected the game's rhythm. Concordia scored seven runs in the second, five in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth and four more in the seventh. Waldorf answered with two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth, but by then the early damage had already shaped the afternoon, and Tyler's three-run homer in the final inning sealed the 20-6 final.