By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
The Seaman Viking baseball team played their second game of the week against conference foe Leavenworth at home on Thursday evening.
After dropping a 3-1 game on Tuesday at Leavenworth, the Vikings were victorious over the Pioneers, 6-0.
The first two innings were dominated by both starting pitchers.
Seaman senior starter Cooper Hayes only allowed a leadoff double to start the game to senior catcher Julian Simon. Meanwhile, Leavenworth senior Noah Davis did not allow a hit over the first two innings.
“Cooper set the tone for us and was able to wiggle out of a leadoff double and strand him in the top of the first,” Seaman coach Steve Bushnell said.
Following a scoreless top of the third for Leavenworth, the Vikings sent their first seven to the plate before recording an out, with five straight hits, a walk and a hit batter.
Junior Jack Becker led off the inning with a single into left field, followed by back-to-back bunt base hits by fellow juniors, Beau Jessop and Bryson Fehr.
Hayes followed with line-drive double into left field which scored the first two runs of the game.
“We took advantage of what was provided for us with a couple of timely hits.” Bushnell said.
Viking junior Axton Brewer then responded with a run-scoring single to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Following a walk to senior Cale Rosenberger, sophomore Michael Dobbs was hit by a pitch, which scored the fourth and final run of the inning.
Hayes continued his dominant performance on the mound by scattering four hits and three walks over his final three innings of work.
“He (Hayes) was able to string up six straight zeroes and Cale (Rosenberger) came in and closed out the seventh,” Bushnell said.
The Vikings were able to tack on a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single by senior Connor Puvogel.
He came around to score on an error by the Pioneer second baseman to give the Vikings a commanding 6-0 lead.
“We’ve had a trend where we will have that one big inning, but haven’t been able to get those insurance runs,'' Bushnell said. "It’s been a challenge for us at times, but we were pleased to be able to add them on.''
Rosenberger came recorded two strikeouts in the seventh to wrap up the 6-0 victory for the Vikings.
With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, Bushnell looked ahead to what the Vikings must do in order to go into the postseason on a positive note.
“We want to try to develop some consistency and we feel that if we play to our potential, we can be a team to be reckoned with and our best baseball is in front of us,'' he said.
Following the contest, Seaman celebrated 40 years of baseball at the school by inducting nine individuals and the state championship team of 2006 into the Seaman Baseball Hall of Honor.
The inductees were former Viking players Brad Bunger (class of 1989), Marc Thompson (1995), Josh White (1996), Nick Carlson (2004) and Adam Davey (class of 2008).
They were joined by contributors Rick Davey, Scott Hildebrandt and Ron Minihan and long-time assistant coach Mark Simoneau.
The Vikings return to action next Tuesday with a home game against non-conference foe Spring Hill.
SEAMAN 6, LEAVENWORTH 0
Leavenworth (12-8) 000 000 0 — 0 5 1
Seaman (11-10) 004 020 x — 6 7 0
Davis, Sheumaker (3), Fryman (5) and Simon. Hayes, Cale Rosenberger (7) and Sextro, Moe (7) . W — Hayes. L — Davis. 2B — Leavenworth: Simon. Seaman: Hayes, Brewer.
