By Robert O'Reilly
The Bushnell Beacons beat the Corban Warriors 8-5 in game one and 11-6 in game two of their second doubleheader in two days in Springfield.
Leadoff batter and shortstop Ethan Stacy went 4-for-6 with two walks, three RBIs, and six runs (scoring in each plate appearance in game 2) on the day. Third basemen Cayden Delozier had a great start to the day, ripping two doubles in his first two at bats of the game. Continuing his great walk-off form from yesterday, Jacob Stoner found himself on the base path very often today, getting on base five times and scoring three times. DH Jeff Fripp also shined today with a 4-for-8 performance with a walk, 6 RBIs, and a run scored. Despite the offensive beatdowns, the biggest standouts today was Bushnell’s starting pitchers, Ethan Paulson and Adam Sabatino.
Paulson had a difficult first two outings this season, holding a 13.50 era, but his form drastically improved after 5 innings with four hits, one earned run, and six strikeouts. In game 1, Trevor Hammond also had a good outing, two hits and one earned run in three innings. Entering the ninth, Bushnell lead 8 to 2 and Blake Starvos looked to finish the game off. However, after facing seven batters, Stavros gave up two hits, three walks and only recorded two outs. Caleb Watson was brought out for the save as the tying run was at the plate. Thankfully, no damage was done and Bushnell started the day 1-0.
In game 2, Adam Sabatino started off uneasy, giving up two unearned runs. But, Sabatino settled in as the offense added runs every inning, scoring in each of the first 5 innings. Between the 2nd and 4th innings, Sabatino retired 9 straight batters and escaped an eventful 5th with only two earned runs. Jayden Soriano took the mound for the next two innings and gave up two hits and two runs. But the game was finished with a door slam as closer Colby Knutzen came in for the 8th and 9th giving up no baserunners and three strikeouts.
Despite a rocky 9th inning, Bushnell really dominated the day.
Bushnell Baseball’s next series is next weekend against Oregon Tech.