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Lee's Summit, MO —
One thing Blue Springs baseball coach Marc Hines could care less about this time of year is style points.
With six regular season games remaining, and the Wildcats in the middle of a Suburban Big Six Conference title race, aesthetics are a secondary concern. So despite some sporadic hitting and a few base-running blunders Monday against Lee’s Summit North, the 3-2 conference road victory sufficed for Hines and the Cats.
The win was especially crucial considering Blue Springs (11-7, 5-2 conference) is just a half game back of Liberty in the conference standings with a game against the Blue Jays looming on Wednesday.
“Bottom line, it was a game we needed to win and we found a way of winning it,” Hines said. “... I thought our kids made the plays when they needed to make them. It was kind of ugly at times, but we found a way at the end to scratch across the run that we needed.”
Blue Springs notched a pair of runs in the opening frame when Kyle Reed ripped an RBI single and Nick Dorman drew a bases-loaded walk after North committed a pair of errors.
The Broncos (9-11, 2-6) sliced the margin in half in their half with a run-scoring single from Seth Soto and later tied the game on Jordan Rice’s RBI infield single.
But as the game progressed, Blue Springs starter David Stober settled in and shut down North’s lineup. Stober struck out the side in the fourth, retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced and tossed only 35 pitches over the final three innings.
“I thought I did well,” Stober said. “I hit my spots, especially late. The strike zone was there and not there, but I thought I did pretty well hitting the zone.”
North coach Jeff Diekmann also referenced that wandering strike zone but added that he thought it was spotty for both sides. So while he said his players were frustrated by the inconsistency, he credited Stober for maintaining his focus.
“I think (Stober) questioned a little bit where some strikes were,” Diekmann said. “But I don’t think it bothered him as much as it seemed to bother us. You start to kind of question (the calls), and he just came back and pounded it again. I think that was key.”
Blue Springs’ decisive run came in the sixth inning when Nick Dorman stroked an RBI single to left field after falling behind 1-2 in the count to score Nick Gulotta.
One thing Blue Springs baseball coach Marc Hines could care less about this time of year is style points.
With six regular season games remaining, and the Wildcats in the middle of a Suburban Big Six Conference title race, aesthetics are a secondary concern. So despite some sporadic hitting and a few base-running blunders Monday against Lee’s Summit North, the 3-2 conference road victory sufficed for Hines and the Cats.
The win was especially crucial considering Blue Springs (11-7, 5-2 conference) is just a half game back of Liberty in the conference standings with a game against the Blue Jays looming on Wednesday.
“Bottom line, it was a game we needed to win and we found a way of winning it,” Hines said. “... I thought our kids made the plays when they needed to make them. It was kind of ugly at times, but we found a way at the end to scratch across the run that we needed.”
Blue Springs notched a pair of runs in the opening frame when Kyle Reed ripped an RBI single and Nick Dorman drew a bases-loaded walk after North committed a pair of errors.
The Broncos (9-11, 2-6) sliced the margin in half in their half with a run-scoring single from Seth Soto and later tied the game on Jordan Rice’s RBI infield single.
But as the game progressed, Blue Springs starter David Stober settled in and shut down North’s lineup. Stober struck out the side in the fourth, retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced and tossed only 35 pitches over the final three innings.
“I thought I did well,” Stober said. “I hit my spots, especially late. The strike zone was there and not there, but I thought I did pretty well hitting the zone.”
North coach Jeff Diekmann also referenced that wandering strike zone but added that he thought it was spotty for both sides. So while he said his players were frustrated by the inconsistency, he credited Stober for maintaining his focus.
“I think (Stober) questioned a little bit where some strikes were,” Diekmann said. “But I don’t think it bothered him as much as it seemed to bother us. You start to kind of question (the calls), and he just came back and pounded it again. I think that was key.”
Blue Springs’ decisive run came in the sixth inning when Nick Dorman stroked an RBI single to left field after falling behind 1-2 in the count to score Nick Gulotta.
“Just got a curveball and I sat there and hit it,” said Dorman, who finished 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. “That’s it. Just hit the ball. See the ball, hit the ball.”
Dorman’s single negated the Cats’ otherwise meek offensive performance, which included nine runners stranded.
“(Dorman’s) been hitting the ball well of late for us,” Hines added, “and he did a heck of a job. He had a heck of an at bat. ... That’s what we’re talking about. Somebody’s got to be there to pick us up. And tonight, it was Nick.”
Stober was able to finish the seventh thanks to a pair of nifty defensive plays to start the frame. Third baseman Gulotta called off catcher James McKinley on a potentially hazardous pop-up for the first out, and McKinley then made a diving grab of a foul ball for out No. 2 before Stober whiffed the final batter for his sixth strikeout.
Gulotta also reached base four times and scored once while going 2-for-2 with a double. Andrew Warner led North by finishing 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.
