The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornets streak to 11th straight win, still unbeaten in SEC
Sweeps of Dexter, Chelsea move Saline to 8-0 in league play
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2008
"It's a good position to be in," Saline head baseball coach Scott Theisen said Monday.
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That "position" is out in front of the Southeastern Conference pack after Theisen's Hornets ran their winning streak to 11 games with a 10-0, 8-2 doubleheader sweep of visiting Dexter Monday.
The wins pushed Saline's SEC record to a perfect 8-0 at the halfway point of the league race. But as well as the Hornets are playing, Theisen isn't taking anything for granted yet.
"We've got six more games and then a tournament to play, so we know we've still got to keep improving," Theisen said. "But we are getting better and it's nice to be in the position we're in."
Game 1 against the visiting Dreadnaughts went just five innings as Saline won by the 10-run mercy rule. On the mound, Hornet starter Adam Clements struck out five and allowed just two hits for the shutout.
At the plate, Saline jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead and never looked back. Carter Beil finished with two hits and two RBI, Clements helped his own cause with a two-run single, Al Zeiher added a pair of hits, and Brad Guenther tripled as the Hornets piled up nine hits in just four innings.
The Dreadnaughts opened Game 2 with a run in the first off starter Greg Spiess, but the lead was short-lived as Jeff Baublit's two-run single to score Beil and Guenther put the Hornets ahead for good in the bottom half of the inning.
Guenther's bloop double to score Tim Finkbeiner and Josh Burd in the second would be all the offense the Saline pitching staff would need, with Spiess shutting out the Dreads over the next four innings for the win. Alex Pazkowski allowed a single run over the last two to close out the victory.
Shawn Allen, Kory Gainey, Eric Braham and Guenther all scored in a four-run sixth.
Spiess became the sixth different Saline pitcher to win in the last six Hornet outings as Saline has improved to 13-3 overall.
"We've got a lot of guys who got experience pitching big games last year for us, and the kids who came up from JV can throw strikes," Theisen said. "But we're still growing and getting better."
The Hornets will look to extend the streak further when they travel to Tecumseh Thursday.
Saline 5, Coldwater 4;
Saline 5, Hartland 4
The Hornets picked up two close non-league wins at the Saline-Chelsea Invitational Saturday.
Jeff Baublit pitched six innings against Coldwater without giving up an earned run (getting him the win). But six errors meant that the Hornets needed a four-run rally in the sixth inning and a scoreless seventh from Jon Endicott to pull out the victory.
Beil's bases-loaded single to score Guenther gave Saline its first run of the sixth before Finkbeiner's double cleared the bases, scoring Zeiher, Vinnie Haynes and Beil, for a one-run lead.
In the Hornets' later game, Baublit's two-out single to drive in Eric Braham gave Saline the insurance run it needed to survive a seventh-inning rally from Hartland.
Haynes started and pitched 4 2/3rds innings before making way for Pazkowski. Endicott came on in the seventh, where the Eagles loaded the bases with two outs and scored on a hit batsmen. But the senior struck out the final batter to preserve the win.
The Hornets scored two in both the first and third, with each inning started by Guenther reaching and a double by Zeiher, followed by multiple RBI from Baublit and Beil.
Saline 5, Chelsea 4;
Saline 9, Chelsea 2
The Hornets swept their rival Bulldogs Thursday in Chelsea to move to 6-0 in the SEC.
Josh Burd threw the complete game in Game 1, striking out seven. The Hornets scratched out their five runs on six hits, with Baublit going 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Beil with 2-3 with a RBI.
Saline exploded for six third-inning runs on its way to an easy win in Game 2. Zeiher struck out six and went 5 1/3 innings for the win.
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