Comets play visitor-hosts in doubleheader sweep of Oelwein

An extended downpour the preceding night that spilled well into the morning prompted the Northeast Iowa Conference baseball doubleheader featuring Charles City and Oelwein to be moved from Oelwein to Charles City where the Comets would serve as the “visiting hosts.”

It was a noted flip-the-script from seasons before when many of the Comets’ home games were moved from Sportsmen’s Park to the scheduled visitor’s home field or to a neutral site due to periodic flooding.

The Comets’ new home on higher ground proved to be much more weather resistant than their former home as there were only patches of standing water along the warning track.

As for the Comets themselves … they picked up a pair of “road” victories with finals of 4-1 and 6-4 in order while improving their overall and conference records to 3-1.

Comet senior Tait Arndt played major roles in both of Friday’s victories.

In the first game, Arndt combined efforts with fellow senior Atticus Parrott for a one-hitter. In a starting role, Arndt struck out seven and yielded one hit and 1 earned run in four innings before Parrott pitched three innings of no-hit relief while striking out seven.

Arndt, who had three hits that game, drove in Elliott Sinnwell from third base with a two-out single in the first inning to open the scoring. Then with the score tied at 1 in the top of the seventh, Arndt hit another two-out clutch single — this one with the bases-loaded — chasing in 3 more runs for the margin of victory.

In the following game, Arndt hit a 2-run home run to right-centerfield to give the Comets a 6-2 lead in the top of the fifth.

The Huskies went up 1-0 through one inning in the second game before a triple by Jeremiah Chapman chased home 2 runs in the second inning to put the Comets up 3-1.

Tino Tamayo, who pitched two innings of no-hit relief, had an RBI double for Charles City, which will host Waukon on Tuesday in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.