McSpadden Becomes Jayhawk’s Wins Leader

It wasn’t a matter of if, but more a matter of when Seward County Head Coach Galen McSpadden would break the Jayhawk Conference’s all-time wins mark on the baseball diamond this season. It happened in fitting fashion Saturday afternoon in Dallas, Texas as McSpadden, who has built his Saints dynasty on pitching throughout the years, watched as first Adam Keller and then Jakob Hernandez handcuffed the Galveston Whitecaps in complete game 5-1 and 6-0 wins to give the 35th year skipper his 1,166th and 1,167th career wins to pass Dr. Val McLean for first place on the conferences all-time list.

Game two of the series was a pitcher’s duel early on between Seward’s Adam Keller and Galveston’s Brian Bouffard. Both right handers cruised through the first two innings without allowing a hit before the Saints got a two out single in the 3rd for their first knock of the contest. Keller allowed his first hit as well in the 3rd but neither team could scratch a run across and quickly the game went to the 4th scoreless. A pair of Whitecap errors allowed the Saints to get something going in the top half of the 4th and they took advantage of the extra outs, getting a 2 RBI single from Cody Stineman to plate the game’s first runs before a two run double from Jared Biddy later in the inning made it 4-0 Saints. The Saints gave a run back via an error in the bottom half of the frame, but Keller stranded a pair with the tying run at the plate to keep it a 4-1 game in favor of Seward. The Saints got that run right back in their next trips to the plate as Logan Nethercot and Trent Mulherin doubled back to back to start the Seward 5th to push their lead back to four at 5-1. In the Galveston 6th, the Whitecaps made things interesting as they loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, but Keller came up with a huge strikeout to end the threat and the frame, keeping the Saints in front 5-1. Seward couldn’t add an insurance run in the 7th, but they didn’t need it as Keller saved his best for last, striking out the side in the bottom of the 7th to close out a 5-1 win for the Saints and give Galen McSpadden his Jayhawk Conference record 1,166th all-time victory.

The Saints outhit the Whitecaps 7-6 in the game, getting a 3 hit, 2 RBI performance by Biddy in the win, but their offense wasn’t the story. Keller went the distance on the mound for the Saints, allowing just 6 hits and 1 unearned run while striking out 8 to earn his first win as a Seward County Saint.

SEWARD COUNTY/GALVESTON GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160206_jzep.xml>

With their first win of the 2016 season under their belt, the Saints came out with some confidence in game two of the twinbill. After starter Jakob Hernandez worked a perfect 1-2-3 top half of the 1st inning for Seward, the Saints rewarded him with three runs in the bottom half of the frame, getting RBI singles from Landon Vodka, Antonio Dorado, and Brian Tims to jump out to the early 3-0 advantage. Galveston looked like they were going to answer in the top of the 2nd as they loaded the bases with one out, but Hernandez ended any thoughts of that with a pair of strikeouts to keep the Saints in front 3-0. The speed of Errett Edwards produced a run for Seward in the bottom of the 2nd as he walked with one out in the inning and proceeded to steal second and third base before Judah Sweat drove him in with a single to make it 4-0. Hernandez kept the Whitecaps quiet through four and Seward added another run on Vodka’s second RBI single of the game to make it 5-0 Saints after four. That was more than enough for Hernandez as he settled into a groove with the lead, blazing through the Galveston lineup in the late innings, racking up six strikeouts over the final three frames to secure a complete game shutout win as the Saints swept the doubleheader over the Whitecaps with a 6-0 win.

Hernandez was magnificent in the win, going the distance on 123 pitches, allowing just 4 hits while striking out a career high 15. Seward’s offense provided more than enough thump with 10 hits in the victory, getting hits from 6 of 9 starters on the afternoon. Sweat led the Saints with a 3 hit day while Vodka was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.

SEWARD COUNTY/GALVESTON GAME THREE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160206_hfd2.xml>

The Seward County Saints wrapped up their four game series with the Galveston Whitecaps on Sunday with an 11:00 matinee start in Dallas. A seven run 2nd inning for the Whitecaps gave Galveston the early lead and the Saints were never quite able to recover from the slow start as Galveston hung on to win 11-7 in a game that featured 20 hits.

Early on in the series finale between the Saints and the Whitecaps, it looked as if it might be the fourth straight low scoring game of the weekend between the two as neither team advanced a runner past second base through the first inning and a half of action. In the Galveston 2nd that all changed though as the Whitecaps sent 10 batters to the plate, exploding for seven runs to open up a 7-0 lead in the game. Seward got a pair back in the top of the 3rd as Jared Biddy tripled home a run and later scored on a groundout from Judah Sweat to make it 7-2. West Reddell came out of the Saints bullpen to calm things down for the next three innings, but Seward’s offense was unable to muster anything either against Whitecap pitching as it remained 7-2 after five complete. In the 6th, the Saints inched closer, getting two more runs on RBI doubles from Dylan Paul and Cody Stineman to make it 7-4. As soon as the Saints scored, the ‘Caps answered, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to cushion their lead back to 10-4. The Saints kept scrapping and took advantage of some sloppy Galveston play as they watched four Whitecap walks, including two with the bases loaded turn into runs followed by a sacrifice fly to score another tally to make it 10-7. Again Galveston responded, using a pair of Seward bean balls and two singles to plate an insurance run in the 8th and the Saints could only get the tying run to the on deck circle as the Whitecaps finished them off in the 9th with an 11-7 win.

Galveston outhit Seward 12-8 in the game but it was four Seward errors that were the difference, leading to seven unearned runs for the Whitecaps. Paul was the only Saint to record a multi-hit game, finishing 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI. Sweat had an interesting line, going 0 for 1 officially in the game but walked four times and drove home two runs. Jonathan Castillo took the loss on the mound for the Saints, allowing 7 runs, 3 earned in just 2 innings worked.

SEWARD COUNTY/GALVESTON BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160207_hdiw.xml>

The two teams split the four game set in the Metroplex with the Saints going to 2-3 on the season and Galveston improving to 3-3 on the year.

Next up for Seward is a four game series at home at Brent Gould Field on Saturday and Sunday when they will take on former Saint Bryan Shepherd and the Northeastern Plainsmen.