Thanks to Jay Martin for providing some specifics on the the Seniors Baseball District Championship games between Southern and Western from Wednesday night.
Game #1: Southern jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a ground rule double from Elliott Zimmerman. By the 7th inning Southern upped its lead to 5-1, in large part to a monumental homer from Jake Lewis. Western battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th and force extra innings. Southern responded in the extra frame scoring 2 huge runs, started off by a hit from Austin Huizinga and finished with a 2 run single from Austin Batka.
Bower Snedeker pitched an excellent game, with Mike Priest getting Southern out of a jam in the 7th and winning it in the 8th. Taylor Martin contributed 3 hits and the other RBI.
Game #2: In this game Western took the early lead with 3 runs in the top of the first inninng. Southern bounced right back in their half of the inning to tie the game. Pitcher Austin Batka then settled in to hold Western down while Southern took the lead and increased it to 11-4 after 4 innings. The big hits that lead to the lead came from the heart of the order with a Jake Lewis missle shot HR, 2 doubles from Taylor Martin, and a double from David Zwiers. Once again Western would not quit, cutting Southern's lead all the way down to 1 run 11-10. Mike Priest then had a huge double driving in two in the bottom of the 6th for some much needed insurance runs. Relievers Nick Wojcynski and Taylor Martin maintained the lead for the middle innings, before handing the ball over to Priest to come in slam the door shut, setting off a giant pile of exhausted and elated ballplayers.
Overall it was a total team effort that brought the Title to Southern, making them Back-to-Back District 9 Seniors Champions. Other members that all contributed to the Championship included: Tyler Boyd, Chris Dickow, Mitch Sayfie, Chris Collins, Remy Woods, and Taylor Smith.
