Waterloo, IA- The Waterloo Bucks, members of the Northwoods League, played the most balanced game of their young season on Monday, taking down the Alexandria Blue Anchors, 9-1. The Bucks rode excellent pitching and timely hitting to their fourth victory of the season.
J.T. Miller started the game for the Bucks, pitching 6 innings, giving up seven hits, one earned run, and striking out four Anchor batters. Tyler Foote came into the game in relief of Miller and also had success as he gave up one hit, struck out two batters, and did not give up a run in three innings.
Everyone in the Buck lineup contributed on this night as every batter except one either scored or hit in a run. Pierce Belaustegui continued his torrid pace at the plate, hitting in two runs on the night, increasing his team-leading total to four on the season.
The Buck offense backed up Miller right from the get go, scoring three runs in the first inning. Marcos Calderon and Pat Mackenzie got on base to lead off the first inning. Calderon advanced to third on a wild pitch and was hit in by Kevin Needham on a sacrifice fly on the next pitch. The next batter, Jake Mahon hit an RBI single that scored Pat Mackenzie and would later score on a sacrifice from Gerrion Grim III.
The Bucks scored three more in the 3rd inning, as Ross Slaney, the Blue Anchor pitcher, walked Jake Mahon and Black Hickman to start the inning. With two runners on in a 3-0 game, Pierce Belaustegui came through for the Bucks, hitting a two run single to extend the lead at 5-0. The next batter, Tyler Peyon singled to left field that scored Gerrion Grim III for the final run of the inning.
The only Blue Anchor run came in the fifth inning when J.T. Miller made his only mistake of the game. Miller put away the first two hitters of the inning, and on a 2-0 count Andrew Sohn took Miller’s pitch over the left field wall to put the game at 6-1.
The final runs of the game came in the eight inning, when the Bucks scored three more with two outs to put the game away. Tyler Peyton started the inning off with a walk, and was advanced to second by Jory Koehler. Pat Mackenzie hit a double that scored Peyton, and was plated by Kevin Needham who hit a double of his own. Needham scored two batters later when Blake Hickman hit a single to right field.
The win improved the Bucks record to 4-2 and put them at the top the North Division. Next up, the Bucks will take on the Alexandria Blue Anchors once again tomorrow. That game will start at 6:35 p.m. Check into waterloobucks.com for all the latest Buck news.