SEDALIA, MO – Indian Hills picked up two more wins over State Fair on Sunday to complete a season-opening four-game sweep of the host Roadrunners.
The Warriors took Sunday's opener 4-0, before exploding on offense en route to a 14-2 six-inning exclamation point on the weekend.
While it's tough to top four wins versus no losses to start the season, IHCC Head Coach Matthew Torrez had a simpler takeaway from the successful weekend, and it shouldn't come as any surprise after a year in which everyone has battled through unprecedented situations.
"It was just great to for our kids to be able to get on a field and compete in the game of baseball again," Torrez admitted. "It's our expectation, but after this last year, the wins are a bonus."
The weekend featured a pair of close contests and a couple double-digit run-rule victories. The one constant in the four wins was the Warrior defense. IHCC played 25 innings and only committed one error.
"After Saturday's games (which included a 24-2 conquest in the nightcap), you know that the tide will turn in baseball," Torrez said. "I felt like we did a really good job of staying in the game and creating some runs for our defense to keep us in the ball game. Sunday's game one was a really good game for us to learn that baseball is different from day to day, and you have to learn to win in multiple fashions."
Game one saw Ricardo Van Grieken get the offense on the board by driving in Noel Perez in the fourth with a double to put the Warriors up, 1-0. That would stand until the top of the sixth frame when leadoff hitter Samuel Fortier singled to knock in David Janssen and Billy Rivera to make it 3-0, IHCC. The Warriors would tack on another run in the seventh on a Perez single to plate, Noah Butler, but the Warrior pitching duo of Charles Lefebvre and Gavin Hinkley would ensure that Indian Hills wouldn't need it as the two hurlers combined to shut out the Roadrunners while surrendering just four hits.
Lefebvre (1-0) earned the win going 3 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and one walk, while Hinckley closed it out over the final 3 1/3, fanning two and walking one.
"Both pitchers did a good job of keeping them off the board," Torrez said. "The few times State Fair threatened, but they both delivered key pitches when we needed it."
Perez led the offense in the opener, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Fortier delivered a pair of hits from the leadoff slot in addition to two RBI.
The Warrior offense got tuned up in the nightcap as IHCC scored five in the fourth, and seven in the sixth to break open what was just a 3-2 lead for Torrez's group at the time. Indian Hills played long ball in piling up impressive offensive stats as C.J. Castillo homered in the second to start the party, and Janssen and Rivera added round-trippers in the sixth as the Warriors were pulling away.
"Our offense did a great job again of putting pressure on the other team by scoring in four of the six innings," noted Torrez. "Our hitters did a great job of taking advantage of most of our scoring opportunities and maximized those innings."
Fortier was again the trigger man at the top of the lineup as he piled up four hits in five plate appearances including a double and two RBI. Rivera was 2-for-4 with a homer and four runs knocked in, and Castillo ended up 2-for-4 with a single to go with his dinger. Perez, Van Grieken, and Ren Tachioka each added a pair of hits to the Warriors' gaudy hit total of 16.
Freshman Douglas Rojas got the start and the win in three innings on the hill for Torrez as he surrendered six hits and SFCC's only two runs, both earned, on six strikeouts and a walk. Dade Hensley pitched a pair of innings and Gercal Reyes one in relief.
"We were trying to get people mound time in the last contest so we can get them ready for the season," Torrez added. "All three of them did a good job of competing in the strike zone to give us a chance to make plays behind them. State Fair had a couple of opportunities to put up big innings on us, and the pitchers made some big pitches to shut those opportunities down."
The Warriors will now be idle until their conference doubleheader opener on Wednesday, March 17 at Creston versus Southwestern.
GAME ONE
Indian Hills 000 102 1 – 4 9 1
State Fair 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
WP – Charles Lefebvre (1-0), LP – Andrew Clark
(2B – Boucher, Janssen, Van Grieken, RBI – Fortier (2), Perez, Van Grieken, HBP – Boucher, Janssen, Rivera, Tachioka, SB – Boucher, Janssen, Tachioka, CS – Fortier.)
GAME TWO
Indian Hills 011 507 x – 14 16 0
State Fair 020 000 x – 2 7 2
WP – Douglas Rojas (1-0), LP – Rylie Rokusek
(2B – Fortier, Perez, Van Grieken, HR – Castillo, Janssen, Rivera, RBI – Castillo, Fortier (2), Janssen, L'Archeveque, Perez, Rivera (4), Van Grieken, HBP – Butler, Janssen, SB – Butler (2), Fortier, Janssen, Rivera, Tachioka (2).)