The Saline Reporter
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Reawakened bats earn Hornets split vs. Davison
Hornets score seven in nightcap to down Cardinals, now 2-3
By Kevin Korpal, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2008
The Saline Hornets split Monday's doubleheader against the Davison Cardi-nals with solid pitching and aggressive hitting.
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Saline (2-3) managed only two hits in a 3-0 loss in the first game. Trevor Cousineau struck out 12 hornets in his shutout bid.
"That pitcher controlled us," Saline coach Scott Theisen said. "Our inexpe-rience showed at the plate today."
Kaleb Forr backed up Cousineau's strong pitching effort with a two-run home-run in the first inning. Sa-line pitcher Vincent Haynes shut the Cardinals down after that for the next four innings, notching four strikeouts.
Saline could not advance beyond second base amid the strikeouts. At one point Cousineau struck out seven Hornets in a row.
"We were just outmatched at the plate," Theisen said. "We swung at pitches outside of the zone. That kid is just really good."
The Saline defense out-shone its offensive effort in the game.
"We played pretty good defensively," Theisen said. "I'm proud of that."
The second game started out like the first: two quick runs by Davison. This time, however, Saline's bats could not be quieted as the Hornets came back to win 7-4. Brad Guenther, Adam Clements and Al Zeiher all scored in the first inning, creating a lead Saline would not give up.
Jeff Baublit pitched three scoreless innings after giving up those first two quick runs in the first inning, striking out four on the way.
Baublit was given some insurance in the third in-ning when he, Zeiher and Tim Finkbeiner scored in an inning that saw all nine Saline batters come to the plate.
Things got tense for the Hornets in the fifth inning when pitcher Greg Spiess came in to relieve Baublit.
Two quick outs led to a hit batter and walk. After that, Spiess could not seem to find the plate. The next two batters drove in those two base runners, cutting Sa-line's lead to two. After a mound visit, however, Spiess was able to induce a ground ball to leave runners stranded on second and third.
"We lost some confidence on the mound in the fifth inning," Theisen said. "A hit batter and a walk hurt. It's Greg's first year on varsity and I can see he's going to be pretty good."
In the bottom of the fifth, Eric Braham scored another run for the Hornets, securing the win.
Saline had four errors in the game, an indication to Theisen that, although they won, they still have a lot to work on.
"We had a couple more mistakes this game," Theisen said. "When you hit more it covers up mistakes."
The game had to be called after the fifth inning because the sun was too low for safe visibility.
The weekend's scheduled four-team event at Saline was cancelled due to weather.
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