Seward baseball has a 15-13 record and sits at sixth in the conference after the Saints split with Clarendon, Texas, April 15, then split the four-game series with Hutchinson Community College April 19 and 20.
Seward headed to Garden City April 10, for the two-day series. Following the team’s sweep over Luna Community College, the Saints were in a situation able to battle for a top spot with the Broncbusters.
Prior to the Saints series with Dodge City Community College on April 4, Seward set a goal to win 16 straight.
“We are going to try and win every single game,” Saints standout Travis Parker said. “We have a little motto counting down every game we play. We started at 16 we got 12 to go.”
This followed their four-game sweep of the Conquistadors.
The Saints shot for 16-0 fell well short after they went on to lose the series with Garden City. They went 1-3 and the Saints began a downward slope and fell from near the top to fifth in the conference.
Seward continued play and run ruled Luna Community College 11-1 in both games April 8.
“They came in and didn’t bring their main pitchers, midweek game, you’re going to run into this, and it gave us an opportunity to get other guys out on the mound that hadn’t been pitching a whole lot,” McSpadden said. “They threw strikes, that helps. We got everybody into the game today and we got some guys at bats that hadn’t been in in a while. That was our goal, was to win, and get everybody in.”
The Seward County Saints baseball team swept the Dodge City Conquistadors to pick up its third and fourth consecutive victories with a first game 10-1 victory followed by a 2-0 win April 6.
Seward struck quickly in the first game after two passed balls allowed Keegan Morrow to advance to third after a leadoff single and a David Cruz sacrifice RBI on a fielder’s choice to give Seward a 1-0 start.
Seward scored again in the second but was held scoreless in the third as Dodge got a run across to make it a one-run game. That was the only run Dodge would score on the night. Seward was quiet another inning but got two more across in the fifth.
The Saints broke it open in the sixth inning and scored six runs off six hits and one Dodge City error to bring the Saints lead to nine, and there it would stay after Austin Terhune completed his five-hit-one-run-complete game in the top of the seventh.
“I was just keeping them off balance and hitting spots,” Terhune said. “I am throwing my curve ball a lot better now. Keeping batters guessing and changing speeds like tonight will be the key for me the rest of the way.”
Seward’s bats showed up in the first game along with pitching but the Saints were held scoreless in the second game until a Mikel Huston RBI in the fourth inning. The Saints escaped the fourth inning with a 1-0 lead. In the top half pitcher Kevin Schultz pitched out of a bases-loaded jam. It was a gutsy fourth inning performance for the first-time starter.
“I thought to myself, don’t let anybody else come in here,” Schultz said. “I got to get this myself, so go get them, I got us into it so I had to get us out.”
Seward scored one more run in the sixth, and Schultz continued his stellar night as the Saints escaped with a 2-0 win. Pitching was big on the night as Terhune’s one-run game was followed by a Schultz shutout in his first start.
“I feel great; I was trying to go out there and throw strkes that was all I was tryin to do,” Schultz said. “It just feels great to actually pitch well. I’m excited. I just got to take it one game at a time, one batter at a time and not get ahead of myself.”
Those weren’t the only two good pitching performances as Travis Parker closed things out in the seventh inning of the second game to record his seventh save on the season, a new Saints record.
“It feels good,” Parker said. “I got to help the team out, and I hope we can keep on winning.”
The wins over Dodge kept the Saints search for a title in sights as they were third place in the Jayhawk Western Division.
“You just got to come out every game and produce,” Saints catcher and outfielder Tanner Woods said. “We’ve got the talent to do it; we just got to come out here and make the plays. We’re getting a good start from our starters and getting quality innings, we’ve just got to hit with guys on. We had guys on and we just left them stranded, We’ve just got to do our jobs as hitters.”
Seward County will take on Pratt Community College April 25, and 26, in a four-game series at Pratt. Following Lamar Community college will come to town April 28 for a double-header. The Region VI tournament will begin on May 2.