Saints Break Out the Bats and the Brooms Against Cloud

The Seward County Saints are catching fire at the right time and the guys in green remained red hot this weekend on the road in Concordia, sweeping the Cloud County Thunderbirds to spring from 5^th place in the Jayhawk West Conference standings to a three way tie for 1^st at weekends end. 

Going into the weekend having won 9 of their last 10 games, the Saints didn't waste any time in jumping right on the T-Birds in Saturday's series opener, scoring three times with two outs in the 1^st inning, getting a two RBI double from Dillon Drury and an RBI single from Justin Graff-Rowe to give them an early 3-0 lead. 

After getting a double play to end the T-Bird half of the 1^st, the Saints were right back at it in the top of the 2^nd.  Seward got back to back doubles to start the inning and score a run and after a single from leadoff man Alex White, the Saints got a rare inside the park home run from Brandon Urquizo to score three runs and stretch their lead to 7-0. 

Cloud got their first run of the game in the 3^rd after a leadoff triple, but the Saints tallied a run of their own on a T-Bird error in their next at bat and after 3 ½ it was Seward 8 and Cloud 1. 

Each team got two runs in their next trips to the plate to make the score 10-3 and a two run home run by Cloud in the bottom of the 5^th made things a little bit tighter as they cut the Saints lead to 10-5.

The Saints had the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the 7^th as they looked to add some insurance runs, but a pair of baserunning blunders limited them to just one in the inning to make it an 11-5 game as Cloud came to hit in their final at bats. 

The T-Birds scored a single run after a Seward error in the 7^th, but that was all that they managed as Saints starter JB Olson finished what he started to wrap up an 11-6 Seward win in the opener. 

The Saints pounded out 16 hits in the opener, getting hits from eight of their nine starters in the win.  Brandon Rix was a perfect 4 for 4 in the middle of the lineup and drove in a pair of runs while Brandon Urquizo finished 3 for 5 with 3 RBI's and missed hitting for the cycle by just a triple.  Olson earned his 14^th career victory with the Saints as he improved to 7-3 on the year with his 8^th complete game of the campaign, allowing 3 earned runs while striking out 5. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME ONE BOX SCORE

To start game two, the Saints didn't have to do much to jump in front of the T-Birds in the 1^st inning as Cloud committed a pair of errors in the frame to gift Seward a run and give them an early 1-0 lead. 

Things were quiet from there as both teams had their chances, but were unable to come through to put any more runs on the board.  Cloud stranded a pair in the 1^st and 2^nd innings and the Saints couldn't cash in on runners in the 2^nd or 3^rd innings to keep it a 1-0 game to the bottom of the 3^rd. 

Saints starter Hayden Howard worked a 1-2-3 bottom half of the 3^rd for Seward to keep the Saints in front 1-0 and that is where the score remained into the 6^th inning of play. 

The Saints were retired in order in their half of the 6^th and it looked like Howard would do the same to the T-Birds until a two out home run sailed over the fence to tie the game at 1. 

Howard locked Cloud down from there, working the 7^th and 8^th innings without allowing a hit, but Seward couldn't pull ahead despite runners in scoring position in both of those innings to keep it a 1-1 game to the 9^th. 

A leadoff single from Graff-Rowe in the 9^th got them going and after a sacrifice bunt to put him at second, White came through with an RBI single through the hole on the left side to put the Saints ahead 2-1. 

Things got interesting as the Saints went to the bullpen for the first time in the series in the 9^th inning of game two.  Cloud got a one out double to give themselves two shots at tying the game before Seward reliever Nathan Dockery got a huge strikeout to pick up the Saints second out of the inning.  A walk put the game tying and game winning run on base, but Dockery came up big from there, inducing a pop out to end the game and close out a 2-1 Seward County win. 

Saints pitching allowed just 4 hits in the victory while the Seward offense managed 8.  Howard was solid, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run in 8 innings of work to improve to 4-2 on the year while Dockery earned his 1^st career save with a scoreless 9^th.  Rix was the only Saint with more than one hit in the game as he finished 2 for 4 while Alex White drove in Seward's only run of the game. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Saints hoped things would remain on track on for them as they turned the calendar over to Sunday's doubleheader to wrap up the series.  Once again, it was Cloud's defense that allowed the Saints to grab the early lead in game three, this time a two out error to hand Seward a pair to give them a 2-0 advantage. 

Cloud's second error of the game extended the Saints 2^nd as well and Seward took advantage once more, getting a two out triple by Urquizo after the blunder to plate a run and make it 3-0. 

Seward right hander Brent Bezio was sharp in the 2^nd, setting down Cloud in order, but the T-Birds got to him in the 3^rd with back to back hits and a sacrifice fly to cut the Saints lead to 3-1. 

The Saints struck right back, getting a two run home run from Antonio Dorado, his first career, to push their to 5-1, but Cloud scored a pair in the bottom half of the 4^th to once again make it a two run game at 5-3. 

Seward's 5^th inning went exactly as their 4^th did, a loud out to start the frame, a one out single, and then a two run home run, this one coming off the bat of Drury to stretch the Saints lead back to 7-3. 

Just when it looked like the ball was rolling back in the Saints control, Cloud scored three times in the bottom half of the 5^th after a Seward error to start the inning and just like that, it was a one run game, 7-6 in favor of the Saints. 

For the third straight inning, Seward blasted a two run home run in the 6^th, this time coming from White at the top of the order to give them some much needed breathing room once again, pushing the lead to 9-6. 

Cloud got a run back after a Seward error in the 6^th to make it 9-7 and the Saints went down 1-2-3 in the top half of the 7^th to send the game to stretch time at 9-7 in favor of Seward. 

Bezio buckled down and got two quick outs to start the inning, but after a two out single, he was lifted in favor of reliever Nate Sylvester.  Sylvester was greeted rudely into the game, seeing the second pitch that he threw get hit and sail over the left field wall for a two run home run to tie the game at 9.  Cloud wasn't done there, getting a double after the long ball and then a single to put runners on the corners with two outs.  With the game winning run 90 feet away, Sylvester picked up a three pitch strikeout to end the threat and send the game to extra innings tied at 9. 

In the 8^th, Dorado led off with a single and moved to second on a throwing error by the T-Birds to put two on with nobody out.  White walked to load the bases and a groundout from Urquizo scored the go ahead run for the Saints to make it 10-9.  With one out, a line drive up the middle from Brent Williams scored two more for Seward and a groundout from Brandon Rix made it a 13-9 game in favor of Seward. 

Cloud got a walk and a double to start their half of the 8^th as they attempted for yet another comeback, but Seward right hander Grant Glaze came out of the bullpen guns a blazing and quickly retired all three T-Birds he faced to lock down the 13-10 win for the Saints. 

The Saints were actually outhit in the game 14-11, but 5 Cloud County errors led to 4 unearned runs for Seward which ended up being the difference in the game.  White and Dorado each had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the Saints in the win while Williams and Drury also drove home 2 runs apiece.  Sylvester actually picked up the win out of the bullpen for the Saints, allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in 1/3 inning pitched to improve to 1-2 on the year while Glaze picked up his second save in as many weeks with a perfect inning of relief. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME THREE BOX SCORE

As they did in the first three games of the series, the Saints jumped out to a 1^st inning lead in the series finale, scoring a pair on RBI's from Williams and Rix to get out to a 2-0 lead. 

The Saints picked up another run on an RBI double from White in the 2^nd and Seward starter Thomas Garland retired the first six T-Bird hitters he saw to keep the Saints in front 3-0 after two.

In the 3^rd the Saints blew the game wide open.  With two outs, a pair of Cloud County errors gifted the Saints the Saints two runs to make it 5-0 and after the miscues, freshman Chad Kennedy lifted off on his first career home run, a two run shot to extend the Saints lead to 7-0.  Another Cloud County error allowed the Saints to remain at the plate and Urquizo made the T-Birds pay, hammering a two run shot of his own to push the Seward lead to 9-0.  

Things quieted down from there as both teams had trouble making contact with the opposing teams pitcher.  Of the next 13 outs in the game, nine of them were recorded via strikeout and it remained a 9-0 game into the 6^th. 

The fifth Cloud County error of the game began the Seward 6^th inning and Nic Ricigliano made the most of his only swing of the weekend, blasting a pinch hit two run home run to extend the Saints lead to 11-0. 

Despite the run rule looming on the T-Birds, Cloud couldn't get anything going against Garland as the sidewinder induced three ground balls in the bottom half of the 6^th inning to not only wrap up the win and the sweep for the Saints, but his first career shutout in only his third career start 11-0. 

Garland was magnificent for Seward on the mound, striking out 6 in his 3 hit shutout.  The sophomore improved to 4-1 on the year and dropped his season ERA below 3.00 for the first time in his Saints career.  The Saints offense backed him with 14 hits in the win including multiple hits from six different starters.  Urquizo and Kennedy each went 2 for 4 with a home run, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored while White was 2 for 4 with a pair of runs scored.

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME FOUR BOX SCORE

The sweep for the Saints rocketed them from 5^th place to a tie for 1^st in the Jayhawk West standings at weekends end.  Seward has now won 13 of their past 14 games to improve to 25-18 overall on the season while move their Jayhawk West record to 15-9 with two weekends to go.  Cloud drops to 16-29 on the season and is now in danger of missing the Region VI Tournament all together as they fall to a Jayhawk West worst 8-20 in conference play with just one weekend left to go. 

The Saints return to the diamond on Wednesday at home against Clarendon in non-league action.  The Saints and Bulldogs will play a doubleheader starting at 3:00 at Brent Gould Field in Liberal.