Stratford vs. Cy Creek – Monday, March 10

Game 1

The Spartans kicked off Spring Break with a doubleheader at the Cy Creek Cougars' field to open District play. Levi Lease would get the start on just 3 days rest after throwing 90 pitches in his previous start. He battled the umpire’s tight strike zone and heckling from the Cy Creek benchwarmers to get through 3 tough innings of work, allowing 2 earned runs with 4 strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Stratford offense struggled to find holes in the Cougar defense, with several hard-hit balls that found Cy Creek defenders. Cy Creek’s starting pitcher was effective at keeping hitters off-balance with his ultra slow off-speed. Hunter Gilbert led the offense with 2 singles, but the Spartans could only plate 1 run in this contest. The Cougars had more timely hitting that found gaps in the Stratford defense and took advantage of 9 free baserunners to win 7-1.

Game 2

The Stratford bats would wake up in a big way in the second game of the doubleheader. Luke Tamez (1-2, RBI, 3B, BB) would kick-start the scoring with an RBI triple on a line-drive to right field in the first inning. The Spartans got more in the second when Carter Saunders (2-4, R, RBI) drove in a run with a sharp single to right to take a 3-0 lead. William Coates took care of the rest, striking out 9 Cougars in 4 innings of work on the mound. The Spartans were in front 6-4 heading into the top of the 6th, looking for insurance, and Riley Braniff (2-3, 3 RBI, 3 R, HR) delivered with a towering BOMB over the leftfield wall for a 3-run homerun to quiet the home crowd! Jack Hope came in to seal the deal with 2 dominant innings (6 Ks) and a 10-4 Stratford win. Other offensive highlights included Luke Szilagyi (2-4, 2R) and John Nugent (2-4, RBI, R).

The Spartans will look to extend their winning streak next week vs. Northbrook on Wednesday night at the Backyard. Go Spartans!