EDINBURGH
When the pitching’s on point from the start, hitting will follow.
That was the case for the Trinity Lutheran baseball team as they decimated Edinburgh 21-5, behind 14 hits, in a five inning run-rule contest Friday.
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In the first inning, the Cougars scored their first run of the night on a walked-in run. Sophomore Matt Fourman, with the next at-bat, dropped an RBI single into center field to put the Cougars up 2-0.
Fellow-sophomore Nick Mensendiek and freshman Chandler Reynolds each hit RBI singles before the end of the first.
Pitcher Jacob Schult struck-out two batters to hold the Lancers scoreless after one inning.
The Cougars scored a pair of runs on Lancers errors in the top of the second, and senior Caleb Reedy added an RBI single to right field to put the squad up 7-0.
Leading off in the third inning, Reynolds blasted a home run.
Four more Cougars runs came-in during the third, highlighted by a two RBI double from Reynolds that sailed into left field.
The Lancers found some life in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs, but the Cougars wouldn’t let up.
In the top of the fifth, the Cougars scored seven runs to put the game out of reach.
The Cougars scored runs in every inning, and committed only two errors.
Schult, a junior, finished as the winning pitcher with a statline of four strikeouts, one walk and one hit and no runs.
Last weekend, the Cougars went 0-2 at the Owl Invitational at Seymour High School. Cougars coach Bob Tabeling was beaming after the game against the Lancers and said he was happy with the way his team played on the night.
“It seemed like our first two games of the year we took a lot of fastball strikes that got us behind,” Tabeling said. “This week we talked a lot about being aggressive at the plate. We caught some really clean hits today. Tonight it seemed to fall in. I was really happy with everyone’s plate appearances, it was a big improvement.
With a young team, Tabeling said it was important to get that first victory of the season.
“It’s always a thrill to get the first win, especially with as young as we are — 12 out of the 16 are freshmen and sophomores,” he said. “We did that at the plate, pitching was good and we kind of rolled from there.”
Today, the Cougars (1-2) will play a double-header at Hauser.