Game 1: Stuttgart wrestles heavily weakened heather heads on Friday with 7:5
On Friday evening, the Stuttgart Reds were able to win 7:5 in the game of the 1. Baseball-Bundesliga Süd against Heidenheim Heideköpfe, which was badly weakened by substitutes. Four runs in the second inning put the Reds on the winning track. Two late runs in the seventh and eighth inning could not be caught by the final sprint of the Heideköpfe.
Gary Owens briefly put the guests in front in the second half of the game after a ground ball from Sascha Lutz, but Stuttgart immediately countered against Heideköpfe starter Logan Grigsby: RBI singles from Xavier Gonzalez, Jonas van Bergen, Andrija Tomic and Drake Zarate turned the game around In favor of the Bad Cannstatter. A sacrificial volley from Gonzalez extended the lead to 5-1 a round later.
But the Heideköpfe coached by Simon Guhring (in the absence of manager Klaus Eckle) didn’t give up and came back behind Luke Sommer, who was now pitching. An RBI double from Yannic Walther and a 2-run single from Lutz made it 4:5. But an RBI groundout from Zarate, as well as another RBI single from Gonzalez, restored the old 3-point lead. In the ninth inning, Heidenheim loaded the bases again at a score of 4:7, but only one run jumped out to make it 5:7 after an RBI single from Samuel Tsopatalo.
Game 2: Jared Mortensen leads Heideköpfe to the important 7:4 home win on Saturday
In the chasing duel between the Stuttgart Reds and the Heidenheim Heideköpfe, the hosts prevailed 7:4 in Saturday’s game. Thus, the Heideköpfe still hold all the trumps in their hands to finish the preliminary round in the south of the Bundesliga in second place.
However, the guests from Stuttgart initially took the lead. An RBI double from Danilo Weber meant the Reds’ first two points in the third inning. An inning later, the Heideköpfe were able to equalize again after RBI singles from Simon Liedtke and Konstantin Holl. The decision in favor of the reigning champion was again only an inning later. A 3-run rally put the Heideköpfe clearly in the lead. The Heidenheimers benefited from a wild pitch from Stuttgart’s Dustin Ward and a walk with loaded bases.
The Reds narrowed the game down to one run in the top half of the sixth inning, but in the bottom half of the same period, the Heideköpfe reestablished the old lead.
Jared Mortensen secured his seventh win this season. The 33-year-old Canadian stayed on the pitching hill for seven innings (5H, 4R, 1ER, 2BB). Seven strikeouts completed his strong performance. Andres Perez was awarded the save for 2.1 confidently pitched innings at the end of the game.
They played for Heidenheim (now: 15-7 wins, 2nd place in the table):
Konstantin Holl (LF), Drew Janssen (C), Shawn Larry (DH/RF), Gary Owens (CF), Sascha Lutz (RF), Sammy Tsopatalo (1B), Yannic Walther (2B), Simon Liedtke (SS), Maurice Montgomery (3B), Marcel Biedermann (PR), Christoph Valentin (RF), Patrick Seyfried (PR), Logan Grigsby (P), Luke Sommer (P/DH), Jared Mortensen (P), Andres Perez (P).
