RLC Baseball makes it six-straight with doubleheader sweep

Reece Rutland – Rend Lake College Media Services 

The Rend Lake College Warrior baseball team notched a pair of victories in dramatic fashion on Tuesday as they sealed the double-header sweep with a walk-off victory in the second game against conference foe Lake Land College.

In the first contest of the day, Warrior bats came out strong in support of starting pitcher Blake Deatherage (O’Fallon). For his part, Deatherage tossed five frames of one-hit ball and recorded 10 punch-outs.

Offensively, Jake Vernon (Elkhart, Ind.) led the charge with a pair of clutch doubles that resulted in four RBIs. Every other RLC position player reached safely at least once in the contest. The final tally of the first game saw the Warriors with an 8-2 victory.

REND LAKE BOX SCORE;  GAME ONE

 

HITTERS				AB	R	H		RBI		BB		SO	LOB
Ian Walters 2b				4	2	0		0		1		0	2
TJ Byrd cf				5	1	2		1		0		1	3
Jake Vernon rf				3	2	2		4		2		1	0
Cody Clark c				4	0	1		1		1		1	3
Sam Troyer ss				5	0	1		1		0		3	4
Brady Austin lf				4	0	1		0		0		2	3
Dixon Craft 1b				4	1	2		0		0		1	1
Grant Brueggenjohann dh				3	0	1		0		1		2	1
Tanner Maskey 3b				2	2	1		0		0		0	1
Blake Deatherage p				0	0	0		0		0		0	0
Darick Hayes				0	0	0		0		0		0	0
Jay Benard				0	0	0		0		0		0	0
Totals				34	8	11		7		5		11	18
BATTING
2B: Jake Vernon 2; Cody Clark; Tanner Maskey 3B: Brady Austin RBI: TJ Byrd; Jake Vernon 4; Cody Clark; Sam Troyer Sac: Tanner Maskey
BASERUNNING
SB: Ian Walters; TJ Byrd 2; Tanner Maskey
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB		SO		HR
Blake Deatherage (W, 2-1)	5.0	1	2	1	2		10		0
Jay Benard	2.2	0	0	0	1		3		0
Darick Hayes (Sv, 3)	1.1	1	0	0	1		0		0
Totals	9.0	2	2	1	4		13		0

Game two had all the drama. RLC railed four runs in the bottom of the seventh to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Warrior batters showed great patience, earning three consecutive walks from a fresh Lakers’ reliever. It was all downhill from there for the visitors 

Following the trifecta of free passes, Cody Clark (Calverty City, Ky.) singled to drive in a run. Sam Troyer (Goshen) got plunked to move another Warrior across home. Things just got worse for the Lakers as Bailey Schimpf (Zeigler) was also hit by a pitch to bring the score level, allowing for Grant Brueggenjohann (Ballwin, Mo.) to perform walk-off heroics with a single to plate the winning run for a final of 7-6.

REND LAKE BOX SCORE:  GAME TWO

 

ITTERS					AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB
Ian Walters 2b					3	2	2	1	1	0	0
TJ Byrd cf					3	1	1	1	1	0	2
Jake Vernon c					3	2	1	0	1	0	1
Cody Clark 1b					4	0	3	2	0	0	1
Sam Troyer ss					3	0	0	1	0	2	3
Brady Austin lf					4	1	1	0	0	1	4
Dixon Craft p					0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Grant Brueggenjohann rf					4	0	1	1	0	1	1
Tanner Maskey 3b					2	0	0	0	1	1	1
Blake Deatherage					1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bailey Schimpf					0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Zach Zarifian					0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Totals					28	7	9	7	4	6	14
BATTING
2B: Ian Walters; TJ Byrd; Cody Clark 2 RBI: Ian Walters; TJ Byrd; Cody Clark 2; Sam Troyer; Grant Brueggenjohann; Bailey Schimpf Sac: Martin Ward
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
Dixon Craft	1.1	4	5	5	2	2	0
Martin Ward	3.2	4	1	1	1	4	0
Josh Hart	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Brady Austin (W, 1-0)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	7.0	9	6	6	4	9	0

 

The pair of victories moves the team to 21-15 on the season and a sterling 11-4 in conference play. RLC’s Warriors have won six straight, all conference games. They are back in action on Thursday, traveling to powerhouse Olney Central (12-0 in conference play) for a 4 p.m. first pitch. They return home Friday for a doubleheader against the Blue Knights, starting at 1 p.m.