Swinging Saxony Lutheran wins six straight games in nine days

With six wins within nine days, Saxony Lutheran went from a team hovering around .500 trying to find its footing into a district contender with an 11-4 record.

The Crusaders' latest win came on a 13-9 slugfest over Advance on Thursday at Capaha Field.

"We've been hitting the ball really well," Saxony Lutheran head coach Paul Sander said, "and we were fortunate tonight to hit the ball in three innings."

A pair of triples by Aaron Eubanks and Braydon Moore highlighted a 4-0 Crusader lead in the first inning.

Eli Ford tied the game on a two-run triple in the fourth inning and gave Advance a 5-4 lead after scoring on a wild pitch. He finished the game with a 2-for-4 night with two RBI.

The Crusaders struck back in the bottom half of the inning, led by Moore's second triple of the night. He finished the night with a game-high five RBIs. He scored on an RBI double by Drew Hahs, giving the Crusaders an 8-5 lead.

"He's been doing that for about two weeks," Sander said on Moore. "At Bell City the other night, he had two triples and a double, so he's extremely fast. Balls in the gaps, when most people are gonna get a double, he's gonna get triple."

Saxony Lutheran pulled away for good with five runs in the sixth inning. Hahs, Owen Tarry, Reid Bengston, and Nolan Hale drove in runs for the Crusaders, who collected a total of seven hits in the game. The bats have carried the Crusaders during their current winning streak, scoring at least seven runs per game and averaging 10.5 runs per game.

"We went into this winning streak hitting very little, hitting about .220 as a team," Sander said. "We were pitching it well but we weren't hitting it well, and for the last six or seven games we've scored seven to 13. So the bats have woken up."

Eubanks pitched the first three and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits and five runs while striking out seven to earn the win. David Weinhold threw 3.1 innings in relief out of the bullpen.

Weinhold withstood Advance's final stand in the seventh inning. The Hornets scored four runs on an inside-the-park home run by Tyler Davis, singles by Jed Garner and Jack Bailey, and a bases-loaded walk by Hayden Laird.

"Our little junior left-hander saved us," Sander said of Weinhold. "He came in about the fourth inning and he put up two or three zeroes. Even though he was gassed in the seventh, if we didn't have a seven-run lead we would have taken him out, but we wanted to stay with him and not use another pitcher. We were fortunate enough to get by with that."

Garner took the loss for the Hornets after allowing eight runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts over four innings.

"They got a really nice arm on the mound as a starter," Sander said of Garner. "He struck out a bunch of our guys, but we got to him twice and hit some balls really hard."

The Hornets outhit the Crusaders 8-7, led by multi-hit games by Ford and Garner. Advance (7-7) hosts Leopold on Tuesday, May 2.

Saxony Lutheran looks for its seventh win in 10 days when the Crusaders travel to Scott City on friday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m.