A valiant effort came up short on Thursday night in Story City as Greene County fell to Roland-Story 5-2 in Heart of Iowa Activities Conference baseball. The Rams scored twice in the first inning, then had just three base runners the rest of the game. The lead was 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth when the Norsemen scored four runs to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Coach Matt Paulsen’s Rams fell to 0-5 overall and in the HOIAC.

Greene County started senior Brent Riley on the pitching mound. He went 5-2/3 innings and he held the lead until the sixth when all four R-S runs were earned. The first R-S run was unearned in the third inning. Riley walked three batters, hit one with a pitch, and fanned five. Junior Payton Kinsey pitched the final 1/3 inning.

At the plate, the Rams had four hits, three in the first inning. Tyler Teeples led off with an infield single, and Bryce Stalder followed with another infield hit. With two outs, runners at second and third, and two strikes, Caden Lowmiller came through with a two-run single. Teeples’ fifth inning single was the only other hit the Rams had the rest of the night.

The Rams recorded four outs at third base, including a pair of R-S runners caught trying to steal third by freshman catcher Braden Roberts to Lowmiller.

The Rams don’t play again until Monday when they host Nevada at Allensworth Field in Jefferson on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.