Great pitching and defense, plus timely hitting will win a lot of baseball games. Greene County used that formula to win the first game of a Heart of Iowa Activities Conference doubleheader today at Allensworth Field in Jefferson vs. Roland-Story (Story City). The final was 2-1 with junior left hander Bryce Hoyle going the distance, fanning 11 and allowing just two hits while walking no one. A first inning homer by Nathan Bell put R-S up 1-0, but the Rams tied it in the bottom of the frame on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Nick Breon, scoring Jordan Patterson, who reached on a bunt.

The go ahead run scored in the third when Breon doubled to left center. That’s all Hoyle would need in a game that lasted a tidy 1 hour, 2o minutes.

Game two saw the Rams score four runs in the third for a 4-0 lead, but R-S scored the last five runs to win it, 5-4. Zach Shadlow broke a 4-4 tie with a solo home run in the sixth. The Rams had other scoring chances, including having the bases loaded in the fifth with no one out, but could not push across another run.

R-S scored three in the fourth, one run in the fifth, and the decisive run in the sixth. Greene County had eight hits to six for R-S, and the Norsemen had the only two errors.

Dylan Matheason was the winning pitcher. He allowed four runs, two earned, in seven innings, and he walked three batters while striking out four.

The loss went to junior Austin Delp, who went six innings. All five runs were earned. He walked six batters, fanned seven, and allowed six hits. Sophomore Branden Hoyle pitching the final inning.

Offensively, Greene County had six singles and two doubles. Both doubles were from senior Wade Adcock in the leadoff spot. Delp was three for three at the plate with two runs drive in. Patterson, Breon and Gannon also singled with one RBI from Breon and Gannon.

Greene County is to 5-6 in the conference and 10-8 overall while the Norsemen are now 13-8 on the season.

Tonight, the Rams host non-conference opponent Woodward-Granger (15-5) at 7:30 p.m. on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com, to complete a rare tripleheader. The Rams host the W-G JV at 5:30 p.m.