REBELS BASEBALL KICKS OFF SEASON

MCC Vs. YME

The Murray County Central Rebel Baseball team opened the season this past week with a pair of games. Thursday, the Rebels played host to the defending Section 3A Champions the YME Sting. The Rebels never got a chance to play the Sting a year ago. They now had the chance to open the 2024 season, though the teams look very different than a year ago. The Rebels would pick up their first win of the season.

The Rebels graduated 6 players from their regular lineup from a year ago, but they return Krew Schneider and Dylan Kluis who got plenty of playing time last year. Schneider will be asked to be the staff ace coming into the season, as the Rebels develop the rest of their roster. Schneider got the first start of the season for the Rebels and the freshmen pitched well. Schneider pitched five innings, allowing two runs; one in the fourth and one in the fifth. In both innings, the leadoff hitter was hit by a pitch and stole at least one base before scoring. Schneider left the game, trailing 2 to 1 and was replaced by Owen Gillette. Gillette would allow four hits in his two innings, while only allowing 1 run before the game would end.

In the second game of this double header, Schneider put the Rebels in the lead in the bottom of the second inning when he led the inning off with a homerun. The Rebels then remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6th inning. The Rebels trailed 2 to 1 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning but the Rebels would get things started. Cayden Veldhuisen led off the inning with a single and was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Rebels got a run when Teague Meyer reached on an error, that scored Veldhuisen from 2nd base. Teague Meyer next reached third base on a ground ball back to the pitcher that allowed Aiden Dierks to reach first. Dierks would reach second base on the first pitch to Dylan Kluis. Kluis then singled to right field scoring two runs. Krew Schneider singled to center, moving Kluis to third base, who scored on a wild pitch back to the backstop, giving the Rebels a 5 to 2 lead. The Rebels allowed a run in the top of the 7th, but MCC held on for the 5 to 3 win.

Owen Gillette picked up the win in relief pitching two innings. Krew Schneider took a no-decision in the game, though he did strike out 8 in five innings. Schneider led the Rebels at the plate with a pair of hits including a solo homerun and two RBI’s. Dylan Kluis, Dugan Kluis, Owen Gillette and Cayden Veldhuisen each had hits for the Rebels. MCC would have a short turnaround before their game on Friday against the Pipestone Area Arrows.

MCC Vs. Pipestone

The Rebel Baseball team was on the road to Pipestone on Friday, playing a little shorthanded. The Rebels were coming off a nice win against YME on Thursday, but the Rebels had a much different lineup in their second game. MCC struggled in this game, as the Arrows picked up the ten run, five inning victory.

The Rebels took the lead in the first inning after a walk to Teague Meyer, who would steal second base. He scored on a base hit by Dugan Kluis. The Rebels would score just one more run in the game in the third inning. The Rebels would open the inning with walks to Dugan and Dylan Kluis. Owen Gillette drove in Kluis with a single, which was one of his two hits in the game. The Rebels got their baserunners and found themselves on the base paths, but they failed to score, with just 4 total hits in the game.

The Arrows had 3 four-run innings. In the second inning, the Arrows opened with a walk, followed by an error at first base. A single by the Arrows would plate both baserunners and the Arrows took the lead. A pair of singles would bring in two more runs in the inning, as the Arrows took the lead 4-1 at the time. The Arrows would load the bases in the third inning with a hit by pitch, single, and a walk. Two runners would score on a Rebel error at second base and the Arrow’s lead grew to 6-2. A single and a ground out would plate two more runs in the inning, as the Arrows led 8-2. Pipestone would score four more runs in the fourth, when the Rebels hit a batter and then walked five and gave up a base hit. The Rebels would lose 12-2 in five innings.

The Rebels will want to forget this game soon enough. The Rebels drew 8 walks, but only had 4 hits. The Arrows drew 7 walks and had just 6 hits. The Rebels errors were costly in this game, as was the inability for the Rebels to put the ball in play. Teague Meyer took the loss, throwing two innings. Owen Gillette led the Rebel bats with 2 hits and an RBI. The Rebels will have a big week coming up with a game Monday vs Edgerton.