Tea Steam enjoy dramatic walk off win to end 2024 season: Team forced to withdraw from postseason play due to injuries and player availability

Pictured above, from left to right, (front row): Isaac Toledo, Jason Munoz.  (second row): Trey Heckenlaible, Ben Loos, Logan Boom, Trevor Welch, Michael Buchmann; (back row): Coach Jeremy McGregor, Coach Jason Ljunggren, Seth Altwine, Dawson Portner, Troy Ljunggren, Marcus Bolin, Coach Jeff Portner; Not pictured:  Nate Babb, Danny Lesher, Cameron Jensen, Clayton Schwebach, Ian Bennett, Gabe Glanzer, Carter McGregor, and Carter Doescher. 

The Tea Steam amateur baseball team hosted the Sioux City Futures on Tuesday, July 30 at 7 p.m. at the Tea Athletic Complex.

The Steam took an early two run lead in the bottom of the first inning on doubles by Dawson Portner and Ben Loos. This was followed by heads up baserunning by Trevor Welch who scored from second base on an error by the Futures third baseman.  The Sioux City Futures were able to answer with two runs in the second inning and took a 3-2 lead with a single run in the top of the fifth inning.

The Steam bats were quiet for a few innings but picked in up in the fifth inning by adding a run on a leadoff single by Portner and another ringing double by Ben Loos to score Portner and tying the game at 3-3.  

Sioux City continued to tack on runs through the middle innings, plating two runs in the sixth inning and a single run in the seventh inning to give them a 6-3 lead heading into the home half of the seventh inning.  In the seventh inning, Tea Steam scored four runs with the help of three hits and a couple of walks.  

The inning started with a Dawson Portner single followed by a fly out and fielder’s choice advancing Portner to second base with two outs.  A walk was issued to Steam second baseman Michael Buchmann which was quickly followed up by a two-run double by Steam starting pitcher Isaac Toledo.  After a two out walk to Trevor Welch, another two-run double off the bat of Steam third baseman, Jason Munoz, drove in two more runs, giving the Tea Steam a 7-6 lead heading to the eighth inning.  

Sioux City would not let the big inning deter them as the game continued. 

They were able to scratch across the tying run in the 8th inning after a leadoff double and a single later in the inning, which tied the game at seven apiece.  The score would remain the same until the Tea Steam took full advantage of being the home team with a dramatic finish in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The inning started with a leadoff walk to catcher, Ben Loos.  Michael Buchmann followed with a double down the first baseline to put runners on second and third with no one out.  Isaac Toledo followed with an intentional walk to load the bases with zero outs.  After the Futures were able to record a strikeout, Jason Munoz stepped to the plate in another big situation as the Steam had bases loaded with one out.  With a drawn in infield and a 1-1 count, Munoz smashed a frozen rope to right-center field to plate the game winning run as the Tea Steam were victorious 8-7 in an instant classic.  

Tea Steam were led on the mound by starting pitcher, Isaac Toledo.  He pitched 5 innings and recorded 8 strikeouts.  Logan Boom came in and pitched the 6th inning, giving up 2 runs and striking out 2 batters.  Slugger Jason Munoz also pitched an inning in relief, giving up 1 run while striking out 2 Futures batters.  Trevor Welch was able to close out the last 2 innings to earn the win on the mound.  Welch surrendered 2 hits and gave up 1 run while striking out a batter.

At the plate, the Steam were led by Jason Munoz and Dawson Portner, each collecting 4 hits.  Munoz contributed with 3 RBIs and Portner scored 3 runs.  Ben Loos and Michael Buchmann each collected 2 hits.  The duo combined for 3 doubles, 4 walks, 2 RBIs and a run scored.  Isaac Toledo added 1 hit, which was the 2-run double in the 7th inning.

With the win, the Tea Steam ended the season with a 14-4 record.  The team would normally participate in the Class A Amateur District tournament held on August 3rd and 4th in Aberdeen, however, a few injuries and an overall lack of player availability has required them to withdraw from the postseason.  

In addition to thanking the community for their ongoing support of Tea Steam baseball, Tea Steam extended a thank the City of Tea and their maintenance department for offering up the field for the team’s use, and for providing field preparation on their game days, many of which fall on weekends. 

“We are blessed with great players, coaches, families, sponsors, and community support to make this all happen,” said Coach Jeff Portner.