Waubonsie Valley sweeps Metea Valley
Waubonsie Valley’s long journey to a winning record took a fitting path on Saturday.
The Warriors’ baseball team swept rival Metea Valley in an Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division doubleheader to put them over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
After Waubonsie Valley and starting pitcher Mike Murphy dominated Game 1 in an 8-1 victory, the Warriors rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the second game 5-4.
The three-game series finishes Tuesday at Metea Valley (10-9, 6-9).
“I’m pretty proud of the way we played today,” said Warriors coach Dan Fezzuoglio. “This was huge for us today because we get to .500 overall, and now we go a game over .500. Credit to the kids. They’ve worked so hard and stuck with it. Hopefully we can continue the momentum.”
Since starting the season with six straight losses, Waubonsie Valley (12-11, 11-7) has recovered to win 12 of its last 17 games. The hot streak continued in Saturday’s opener behind the strong pitching of Murphy (4-2) and the booming bat of Harry Vickers, who went 3-for-3 with a double, 4 RBI and his first homer of the season.
After scoring 3 runs in the first and 2 runs in the third and fourth innings, the Warriors rolled to victory. Mike Heinz homered in the fifth inning to account for the Mustangs’ lone run.
“It was two team wins today in a doubleheader,” said Vickers, who also singled home the tying run in the sixth inning of Game 2. “That’s all you can ask for. Against a rival team, too.”
The second game played out much differently as Metea Valley broke through for a 3-1 third inning lead sparked by Ryan Solomon’s 2-run double.
Waubonsie Valley tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, but the Mustangs reclaimed a 4-3 advantage on Will Doiron’s RBI single in the fifth.
The Warriors started the pivotal bottom of the sixth with Metea Valley starter Billy Sheeren notching a strikeout. But then Kyle Limanowski and Ryan Vega singled followed by Vickers’ run-scoring hit.
Waubonsie Valley took the lead on Metea Valley’s sixth error of the day. Of the Warriors’ 13 runs, seven were unearned.
Metea Valley put runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh inning, but Limanowski — in relief of starter Matt Risch (2-0) — struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.
“It seemed like every time we made a mistake, it hurt,” said Mustangs coach Craig Tomczak. “It’s a tough way to lose.”