HHS baseball: Trojans sweep Marion
Sports reporter
Two close calls against rival Marion have the Hillsboro High School baseball team on a three-game winning streak.
Daniel Jost closed out both games, Jacob Edwards and Isaac Leihy each recorded a win, and the Trojans improved to 4-2 on the season with 6-5 and 6-3 victories against the rival Warriors.
Head coach Phil Oelke has been pleased with his pitching staff.
"Our pitching is exceeding our expectations," Oelke said. "We've had three straight good starts in a row."
It was Leihy in game one who went 6 1/3 innings giving up five earned runs and striking out eight before giving way to Jost who promptly gave up a hit.
He then struck out the next two batters for the save.
"Clearly there was some fatigue," Oelke said of Leihy who ran out of gas. "Jost threw cold, but I said 'Let's see what we can do.'"
The Warriors' bats had been cold all game after jumping ahead 2-0 in the first inning, while Hillsboro had put together two three-run innings to jump ahead 6-2.
When Jost came in, MHS was in the midst of scoring three runs, and got a runner to second with one out against the closer.
"Shaun's team has always played hard the whole game," Oelke said of Warriors coach Shaun Craft. "It speaks a lot about the kind of kids he has."
Oelke's kids weren't bad either.
Jost actually started the first rally for the Trojans in the top of third with a leadoff double.
After a passed ball scored Jost, catcher Aaron Bina delivered an RBI-single, and a Marion error led to the third run.
Three more runs in the fourth proved to be just enough.
Bina and first baseman Tyler Ediger both went 2-4 with two RBIs, while Jost and Leihy recorded an RBI as well.
For the game the Trojans had 14 hits, and every starter recorded at least one.
Game two featured the Warriors jumping on the scoreboard first again with a run in the bottom of the second.
It would stay that way until the top of the fifth when the Trojans pushed two across, and then another in the sixth.
Three more runs in the top of the seventh provided the perfect amount of insurance, as the Warriors plated three in the bottom of the inning before Jost finally recorded the final out.
It was the middle and bottom part of the order that contributed in the second game, as 6-7-8 hitters Leihy, Mitchell, Koop, and Chris Couts combined to go 5-11 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Nickerson 11-7, Hillsboro 1-18
A split with the Nickerson Panthers April 1 enabled the Trojans to go 3-1 on the week.
Game one was not close with the Trojans falling 11-1. Jost and Jacob Fish each had two hits, and Leihy recorded the only other one for HHS.
The Trojans' pitching was better in the second game allowing just seven runs, and the offense was better as well, banging out 17 hits and 18 runs en route to the victory.
Dylan Delk, who was 1-4 with an RBI at the plate, notched the victory on the mound for Hillsboro.
The freshman pitched five innings, giving up seven runs, five earned, and struck out four.
"We are really thrilled with him right now in terms of performances on the mound," Oelke said. "He has developed a nice offspeed pitch that does a really nice job."
His offense was behind him as well, as every starter but one recorded at least one hit.
Jost, Bina, Leihy, Koop, and Couts all had two RBIs for Hillsboro, while Bina collected a team-high three hits.
Jost, with a triple, and Bina and Ediger each with a double, recorded the only extra-base hits for the Trojans.
