Cyclones cruise to 10th victory over the Falcons
With one out in the top of the seventh inning with the HCHS Cyclones baseball team up 11-2, a flyball was hit to Cyclone Senior Cade Sears in centerfield, where he made the catch, and threw out Junior Falcon Owen Marshall at home plate attempting to tag up from third base for the final out of the game.
“I don’t think anybody was really expecting me to throw that,” Sears said. “I caught it and let it eat. I was pretty excited. I haven’t thrown many people out, so it felt good.”
Weston Reisz took the mound for the Cyclones starting with a strikeout of Marshall to open the game, throwing just eight pitches in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Sears got the offense going with a home run that bounced off the top of the right field fence, followed by a sacrifice fly by Colton Schneider and a 2-run single by Matthew Sorfonden to give the Cyclones a 4-0 lead at the end of the first inning.
“I was just looking for a fastball,” Sears said of his home run. “I think I got a fastball. I wasn’t really sure if it went over or not, but after I heard it hit the concrete back there, it was good to hear.”
The Cyclones offense continued to add on with a 2-run double by Brett Heese in the bottom of the second inning expanding the Cyclone lead to 6-0.
In the top of the third inning, St. Albert got on the board when Cole Hobbs was able to score from third base on a passed ball that went to the backstop making it a 6-1 ballgame.
It didn’t take long for the Cyclone offense to answer back when Cade Nelson scored the seventh Cyclone run of the game attempting to steal third base and was able to score after that with an attempted throwdown to third base that went past the bag. Hayden Soma knocked in two more runs with a double putting his team 9-1 at the end of four innings.
In the top of the fifth inning, St. Albert got their second run of the game cutting the lead to seven runs, but the Cyclones answered back in the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles by Heese and Quinn Koesters, putting the Cyclones up 11-2.
“After we put the 6-spot up on Kuemper Catholic, it rolled into Atlantic, and that rolled into tonight, so we have a lot of guys that are in a good spot mentally at the plate, putting together good at bats and good swings on balls,” said Cyclone Head Coach Heath Stein. “It’s a good spot to be in right now, and we just have to keep working to continue that.”
Reisz returned to the mound in the top of the seventh inning with 88 pitches, hoping to finish out the game. He was able to get one out when Stein removed him with 99 pitches, replacing him with Koesters. Koesters was able to secure the final two out of the game. Reisz earned his third win of the season.
“A little bit of everything was honestly working,” Reisz said. “Throwing them fastballs over the plate and letting my defense work behind me, they did a fantastic job.”
Sears played his final game at Jim Goeser Field. He will play his final two Cyclone baseball games on the road this weekend. Sears will be heading up to South Dakota State where he will be playing football for the Jackrabbits.
“His career has been outstanding from top to bottom,” Stein said of Sears. “What a kid, what a worker, what a leader, and awesome stuff from him.”
The Cyclones move to 10-3 on the season. They return to action Saturday with a doubleheader. Their first game will be at 12 p.m. against the 5-7 Sergeant Bluff-Luton Warriors, followed by a 2:30 p.m. match with the 5-10 Carlisle Wildcats.
Offensively, the Warriors are led by Tanner Kleene with 16 hits and 10 runs batted in. In pitching, Brayden Kerr has two wins, while Alex Wilson leads the them in strikeouts with 21. Offensively, the Wildcats are led by Hayden Mohwinkle with 17 hits and Kamden Jorgensen with 10 runs batted in. On the mound, Mohwinkle has two wins with 27 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched.
“They’re always very good,” Reisz said. “Very challenging teams. The key will be no free bases, playing great defense, putting balls in play and getting runners on.”