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Trojans storm through busy weekend, build momentum for Monday's showdown with Harlan
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Atlantic improves to 8-3 in Hawkeye 10 Conference with a pair of shutout victories on Saturday
By Drew Herron
NT Sports Editor
ATLANTIC— The Trojans got just the boost they needed heading into Monday night’s Hawkeye 10 Conference showdown at home against Harlan, dropping both Red Oak and Shenandoah Saturday afternoon in shutout victories.
Game one saw the Trojans put up runs in every team at bat, silencing Red Oak 11-0 before shutting down Shenandoah 5-0 in game two.
Two shutout victories and an error-free day in the field, Trojans coach Trace Petersen said Saturday went about as well as he could have hoped for.
“It was a good day all-around, in all three categories; hitting, pitching and defense,” he said.
Perhaps most impressive was the pitching by committee the Trojans must rely on during this torrid stretch of their schedule. Weather permitting, Atlantic is scheduled to play 11 games in the next 12 days, and splitting pitching duties throughout the matchups becomes imperative.
“Our pitchers did an outstanding job Saturday,” Petersen said. “I would go as far as to say this was the best I’ve seen all year from the pitchers…very, very pleased with the way they threw.”
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John Cord earned the victory in game one, throwing three innings where he allowed two hits, three walks and struck out one. In the first inning, Cord issued three walks but settled into a groove thereafter as the Trojans rallied onward.
“All in all, John was pretty effective,” Petersen said. “He got into a rhythm and kept the ball down.”
Cord was limited to three innings for the Trojans, who will rely on his arm Tuesday when the team heads to Council Bluffs to face Lewis Central.
Sophomore Taylor Petersen pitched the final two innings against Red Oak, allowing two hits, no walks and struck out two.
Offensively, the Trojans tagged the ball for four innings, most notably Brandon Schuler’s three hits and two RBI while seniors Chris VanCleave and Cole Petersen both collected hits and drove in runs while Taylor Petersen and Jeff Gude finished with multi-hit games for the Trojans.
In the second inning, five runs crossed the plate for the Trojans, pushing them ahead 6-0 to put the wheels in motion to a five-inning victory.
“We put pressure on them throughout the whole five innings,” Petersen said.
Against Shenandoah in game two on the day, James VanGinkle got things started on the mound for the Trojans, throwing three innings where he allowed one hit, one walk and struck out five hitters.
“That was a dang good outing,” Petersen said. “It’s the second straight strong performance from James.”
VanCleave threw the next two innings where he allowed one hit with two Ks, and Nick Hinzmann pitched the final two innings where he allowed one hit and no walks.
“Our pitching has been good for us, and that’s how it has to be if we’re going to be effective down the stretch,” Petersen said. “We need to be efficient with our pitches, throw strikes and let our defense work for us. That's what we did (Saturday).”
Petersen says everyone the team will face from here on out will put a premium on pitching as rain-out dates plug on the off days on an already crowded schedule that leads towards district play.
As teams will be forced to use their regulars more than once a week and draw from the pitching staff that goes down the line, strategy changes a bit.
“Our plan is we’re going to split games and use different combinations,” Petersen said. “Right now, our arms probably aren’t strong enough to throw a full seven innings, so we¹re going to stay with the split down the stretch.”
The victories improve Atlantic's record to 8-3 in the Hawkeye 10 and 14-5 overall with a rematch with Harlan kicking off the beginning of a gut-check stretch that brings the Cyclones, Denison, Glenwood and Kuemper, among others. It is a period that will likely determine the Hawkeye 10 Conference championship.
“This is the beef of our schedule,” Petersen said.
On deck is the Trojans' shot at revenge following a 3-2 loss to Harlan three weeks ago. Petersen says he expects to see an improved Harlan team this time around.
“They're a coach's dream, they seem to get better and better as the season goes on and they seem to do it every year,” he said. “But right now, we're playing as well as we have been all year.”
“Our biggest thing is we need to play baseball and not worry about the name on the other team¹s jersey,” he said.
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| BASEBALL: Red hot Trojans trample Harlan 11-1 |
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