Dermody shuts out HCHS in five; Titans win 10-0

 HARLAN (June 23) -- Tuesday’s Hawkeye Ten baseball game at Jim Goeser Field shaped up to be an outstanding pitchers’ duel between senior aces Connor Bruck of Harlan Community and Easton Dermody of Lewis Central.
 Dermody held up his end of the bargain with a five-inning, three-hit shutout and 11 strikeouts. Bruck fought his control, however, and the Cyclones struggled in all facets of the game, losing to the Titans 10-0 in five.
 Lewis Central, which scored five runs each in the second and fifth innings, improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 inside the conference, beating HCHS by the rule for the first time since July of 2011. The 10th-ranked Cyclones fell to 3-2 (all H-10 games) going into another conference tilt Thursday at Shenandoah.
 “I thought going into the game that it was going to be a duel between two of the top pitchers in the league, but that didn’t work out for us,” stated HCHS coach Steve Daeges. “I’m not sure why, but Connor did not have his usual command of the strike zone. He did a great job working out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, but that caught up with us in the second inning with the walks and a misplayed ball.
 “You cannot spot them five with Dermody on the mound. I thought if Connor had his usual stuff and we could have put a little more pressure on them early it could  have turned out differently. Hopefully we learn from this game and move on and get better.”
 Bruck (1-1) was able to work around a hit batsman and two walks in the first, but when he opened the top of the second with another walk and HBP, the Titans pounced. Easton Dermody’s RBI single and Jonah Pomrenke’s RBI ground out made it 2-0; then with two out, Jordan Wardlow’s fly ball to right was misplayed into a two-run triple and Colbey Roth followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0.
 Bruck exited after throwing 55 pitches in two frames. He allowed three hits, walked three and hit two.
 Joey Moser held LC scoreless in the third and fourth but ran into trouble in the fifth when the Titans posted another five spot, although just one run was earned. Moser allowed just two hits in two and two-thirds innings but matched Bruck by issuing five free passes.
 Brenden Bartley went 2-for-2 with a double and a stolen base to lead HCHS and Isaiah Ahrenholtz added a single.