Boone Ends Humboldt’s Magical Run, Wildcats finish 19-15

By: Nathan Bloechl — [email protected]

Boone, Iowa — Make no bones about it, the Humboldt Wildcat baseball team — yeah, they weren’t supposed to be here.

Boone sure as heck didn’t expect it.

Neither did the parents of some of the players donned in blue and gold, Wednesday night.

Even me, with my Wildcat tinted glasses on nearly all the time, didn’t think Jason Thurm’s group had a run in them.

But you know what?

They did.

They proved us all wrong.

And despite the result — a 5-0 loss to Boone Wednesday night— this team has everything to be proud of.

They endured the grueling, hot and often rain soaked summer this year and made one last run, attempting to claw their way back to the state tournament for the second time in three seasons

Ultimately, they came up short.

Right-handed Toreador ace Evan Appenzeller was locked in. He tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout, all the while striking out thirteen Wildcats.

In lamens terms, he was unhittable.

He also dealt the big blow to start the game, lifting a Jake Thurm 1-2 curveball over the left-centerfield fence for a two-run home run. 

Thurm himself, well, he wasn’t too bad; allowing just four earned in six innings. But it wasn’t nearly enough when Appenzeller, a Midland University recruit, was as zeroed in as he was.

Appenzeller was tough, he’s got really good stuff and he’s mixing it up well, throwing first pitch breaking stuff for strikes, then the fastball, it makes for a tough combo” said Wildcat coach Jason Thurm following the game.

Humboldt threatened really for the only time in the sixth, when the scoreline was 4-0 in favor of Boone. Isaac Thurm singled with one out, Joey Busse followed with a double. Caden Matson, the courtesy runner for Thurm, was gunned down trying to stretch into third base. Owen Newton popped out weakly to end the inning as the next batter.

Humboldt wouldn’t scare Boone the rest of the night.

Alas,  I go back to when Humboldt was 10-13 and I question really how did Humboldt get here? You know, one game within the state tournament. 

Jason Thurm credits consistency, he credits resiliency, and most of all he credits a young team growing up right before all of our eyes.

We struggled earlier this year, we’d play a good game then play two bad ones. I give credit to the boys, just grinding things out. The confidence went up and I know we have a lot of disappointed kids in that dugout. But we’re district champions, we have to hold our heads high. We all  grew up this year. exclaimed Thurm.

Despite tonight’s loss, Humboldt’s fans, their players and coaches have to be excited about what the future of this program holds.

Here’s the list of returning starters: Joey Busse; Owen Newton; Jacob Thurm; Hudson Gargano; Michael Brightly; Sawyer Savery; and Cade Witzke.

That’s one heck of a nucleus.

One that can compete for North Central Conference titles. One that can compete for state berths. One that can win that one final game.

And although, with the help of the seniors this year, they couldn’t, they gave everyone in Humboldt one fun last salvo.

The 2018 Wildcat Baseball season might have ended tonight, July 18th, 2018 in Boone, Iowa.

But mark my words, this group, they’re just getting started.