This has been a season of peaks and valleys for Saints baseball.  Right now the Saints seem to be reaching another one of those peaks.  Having won nine out of their last 12 games, the Saints sit atop of the Jayhawk West conference with a record of 16-8 in conference play.  The Saints bats have scorched opposing pitching for 91 runs over the last 12 games while the pitching staff has only given up 50 runs to opposing hitters in that span.

This current stretch of dominance certainly resembles the hot start the Saints had to open the season.  The Saints began the season winning five of their first six games and optimism was high.  Then things began to go downhill as they lost nine of their next 10 games.  The pitching staff was allowing runs in bunches and the bats were not producing enough runs to keep pace with their opponents.  But every team will experience such highs and lows and eventually the Saints were able to find some balance and would win five of their next six.

This Saints team is a young one which can make it hard to really find that balance.  With only nine sophomores and 16 freshman this year they really have been rather resilient.  When a young team such as the Saints hits those low points, it can be hard for them to dig themselves out of the hole.  This young team managed to find a way and are now looking as strong as any team in the Jayhawk West conference.

Freshman utility man Bryson Allen has lit up opposing pitching this year batting a ridiculous .377 with 2 home runs, 23 RBIs, 6 stolen bases and 41 runs.  Equally dominant with the bat this season has been sophomore catcher Troy Owen.  Owen currently sports a .375 batting average with 2 home runs while also leading the teams with 29 RBIs and 14 doubles.  Anchoring the team on the mound has been sophomore Tyler Wiedenfeld.  With a record of 8-2 and an ERA of 2.81, Wiedenfeld has baffled opposing hitters.  This is most obvious when you look at his 4 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio with 44 strikeouts and only 11 walks.  The Saints have also gotten some strong outings from freshman Hayden Howard and Austin King.  Howard has a miniscule ERA of 2.14 while holding opposing hitters to a batting average against of .245.  King has shown he definitely can leave hitters standing stupefied at the plate with 43 strikeouts in only 52 innings pitched.

Regardless of how young of a team the Saints put on the field they have an experienced hall of fame manager in coach McSpadden who has obviously prepared this young team well for the challenges they would face.  With 12 games remaining in the season McSpadden will look to guide this Saints team to a strong finish and hopefully into the NJCAA World Series.