June 21, 2025
By Adam Burns
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Kip Vose walked the leadoff man and motioned to the dugout. He then allowed a line drive single to left and repeated the action.
Vose, a lefty starting pitcher for QC Rattlers 14u, wanted no part in departing from the mound.
“I just wanted the complete game, honestly,” Vose said with a smile after the game.
But Rattlers coach Michael Pomeroy made his way to the mound with another plan.
“Kip, arguably our No. 1 pitcher, looked great today for us,” Pomeroy said, “but in that situation, he was flirting with 90 pitches, and I don’t like going that far at this age. He would’ve done anything he could to stay in that ballgame, but I’m focused on his future.”
Relief pitcher Jaxon Wuenschel was inserted into the game and helped shut the door on the Rattlers’ 6-4 Slumpbuster D1 Platinum quarterfinal victory over the Nebraska Prospects (Hlavac) Saturday afternoon at the Council Bluffs Recreation Complex.
Wuenschel, a righty, danced out of some trouble, getting a groundout, allowing a sacrifice fly and ultimately getting a lineout to shortstop to end the threat.
“I came in and filled it up,” Vose said. “I really wanted to finish that game, but I just battled to the end even when I got a little tired. But we had a guy in Jaxon who also filled it up and finished it off for us and threw strikes.”
Vose allowed just three hits and struck out seven across four total innings. With the time limit a factor in the fifth, Vose had a chance for a complete-game effort. He made it clear in the fifth after surrendering a walk and a hit that he wanted to stick around.
“He threw amazing,” Pomeroy said. “We’re working on walks. When he attacks early, he’s a very good pitcher. His curveball and slider were tough to get going in this wind, but he minimized damage really well.”
In the end, he walked five batters and allowed four earned runs.
“The kid’s a stud so he’ll be playing for a long time, so it was important to get him out of there at that time. I want him to be healthy,” Pomeroy explained. “And Jaxon, I knew would throw strikes and that’s all we needed in that situation.”
The 11-seeded Rattlers (5-0) jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of Chase Babcock getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Alex Garrido scoring on a passed ball and a big three-run double by Beckett Plourde.
“It’s always great to throw a punch early,” Pomeroy said. “I’d like to see more aggressiveness at the plate during the game, but the five-run first inning is always huge.
“We have a lot of lefties who are extremely consistent. They hit the barrel a lot — Brody (Husted), our three-hole hitter, hit a bomb in the first game today about 350 (feet). Sawyer (Oltmanns) and Alex Garrido are always consistent in hitting the ball in play and using their speed. They’ve all contributed and come up in the clutch.”
The Prospects (4-1) tallied a run in the first and another in the fourth before making things interesting with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Garrido went 2-for-3 to lead the Rattlers’ offense.
The Rattlers will face Bombers Baseball Academy at 9 a.m. Sunday in the semifinal round.
“That was our goal coming in,” Pomeroy said of winning a championship. “As an 11-seed, we’ve tried to play more like a one-seed. That’s our mentality. Hopefully we come out and punch early but then keep punching.”
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