By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's baseball team didn't necessarily make things easy on itself in Tuesday's non-league doubleheader at Hayden, with the Eagles being forced to sweat things out down to the very last pitch in both games while committing seven errors on the day, including five in the second game, and issuing 13 walks, 10 in the opener.
But the Eagles out-weighed the bad with plenty of good, lashing out 21 hits and getting clutch relief pitching in both games while holding on for a 9-8, 8-7 sweep over the Wildcats and extending their win streak to six games.
Junior Logan Cathcart picked up a pitching win and a save in Silver Lake's doubleheader sweep over Hayden on Tuesday at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Tanner Martin (16) had four hits and five RBI on the day and also picked up the first-game pitching victory in Silver Lake's twinbill sweep at Hayden on Tuesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Those are big ones for us,'' Silver Lake coach Tyler Seele said. "We kind of went through a rough patch at the beginning of the year and lost four in a row and we really stressed the next couple of weeks to just get to the next pitch. No matter what mistakes you're making or the pitch before, get to the next pitch, play for the next pitch, play for the next out and play for the one next to you.
"It wasn't pretty but I was really proud of how we responded and we fought for each other and found a way to beat a really good, really well-coached Hayden team both games. This is good for us and a really good learning experience and I thought we did a good job bouncing back.''
Silver Lake, now 9-4 on the season, trailed 4-3 in the first game before using a six-run rally to open up a 9-4 advantage after five and a half innings.
But Hayden (7-8) cut the Silver Lake lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the sixth and scored two more runs in the seventh and had the bases loaded before junior Logan Cathcart, the Eagles' third pitcher in the game, came on to end the game with a strikeout.
Junior Logan Cathcart celebrates after recording a strikeout to end Silver Lake's 9-8 first-game win over Hayden Tuesday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Tanner Martin, who relieved junior starter Trenten Harris with two outs in the fifth, picked up the victory with two innings of relief while Cathcart got the save.
Martin also went 3 for 4 in the opener with a triple and three runs batted in while senior Brody Renfro also had three hits with two runs scored and a RBI and Cathcart went 2 for 4 with a double and knocked in a run and scored twice while junior Dysen Schooler went 1 for 3 with two RBI.
Silver Lake junior Dysen Schooler knocked in a pair of runs in the Eagles' 9-8 first-game win over Hayden and got the pitching save in the 8-7 second-game win. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The nightcap was tied 2-2 through three innings before Silver Lake erupted for six runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-2 lead.
Hayden answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit to 8-7 but the Wildcats were held scoreless the rest of the way.
After finishing the first game on the mound Cathcart started the second game and pitched the first five innings to pick up the pitching win.
Cathcart gave up all seven of Hayden's runs but only two were earned.
Schooler came on to pitch the final two innings for the Eagles and gave up just one hit while closing out the win to earn the save.
Cathcart went 2 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored and sophomore Dayne Johnson went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Renfro scored two runs and had two RBI with a double while Martin, junior Cooper Campidilli and senior Jack Seele also knocked in a pair of runs.
"We've been fortunate enough to play (Hayden) the last couple of years and they kind of kicked our tails last year, so I know our guys were excited to play them tonight and kind of maybe get back after them a little bit,'' Tyler Seele said. "It wasn't always pretty, but I thought we really did a good job competing and I'm pround of them for that.''
Junior Cooper Grace had multiple extra-base hits to lead Hayden's offense on the day, including nine hits for the Wildcats in the second game, but the hosts were unable to get over the hump in both one-run defeats.
The Wildcats will be back in action Wednesday at Hummer Sports Park, facing Topeka High in a Centennial League twinbill. Those games were originally scheduled for Thursday but were moved up to Wednesday due to expected rain in the area.
