Saints Pound Out 18 Hits in Mid Week Win

The Seward County Saints pounded out 18 hits and shook off 16 walks on the mound Wednesday afternoon in Borger, Texas, coming away with a 12-9 non-conference win over Frank Phillips in a tune-up for a big weekend series against Dodge City.

Taking on a familiar foe in Frank Phillips Wednesday afternoon, it didn’t take the Saints long to get going against the Plainsmen as a two out Antonio Dorado double and subsequent single off the bat of Cody Stineman gave Seward a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning.

Frank evened the game with a run of their own in the 1st and neither team scored in the 2nd to take the game to the 3rd tied at 1-1.

Dorado was in the middle of the action again in the 3rd for Seward, blasting a two out solo home run to put the Saints back in front 2-1.

Seward blew the game open in the 4th, getting a two run home run from Trent Mulherin with one out in the inning to make it 4-1 and two more runs later on as Judah Sweat tripled home one and Dorado singled home another to make it 6-1.

Just when it looked like the Saints were in control, the wheels fell off in the bottom of the 4th. Seward pitching walked the bases loaded before back to back singles cleared the bags to make it a 6-4 game. Two more walks pushed a run home to cut the Saints lead to one and the sixth Seward walk of the inning added another to tie the score at 6. Still with just one out in the inning, a single plated two more and after going into the inning with a 6-1 lead, all of a sudden the Saints trailed 8-6.

Seward got a run back with a two out RBI double from Landon Vodka in the 5th to make it 8-7 and the Saints bullpen put up back to back scoreless frames in the 5th and 6th to keep the score that way as the teams headed to the 7th.

The first five Saint hitters all reached to begin the 7th as Jared Ledbetter drove home two with a double to put Seward ahead and Logan Nethercot singled later on to push the Saints lead to two at 10-8.

Another bases loaded walk by Saints pitching cut their lead to 10-9 in the bottom of the 7th and zeroes from both sides in the 8th took the game to the 9th and final inning with Seward still clinging to a one run lead.

The Saints added some much needed insurance in the top of the 9th, getting an RBI single from Sweat and an RBI groundout from Dorado to cushion their lead to 12-9.

Two more Seward walks on the hill made things interesting once again in the bottom of the 9th, but a big double play ball and lineout then a lineout finished things off, giving Seward a 12-9 win over the Plainsmen.

Seward outhit Frank Phillips 18-8 in the contest but allowed 16 walks on the mound to allow the Plainsmen to hang around. Dorado and Stineman had huge games in the middle of the Seward order, combining to go 6 for 8 with four RBI’s in the win. Mulherin and Sweat also had solid contests, each picking up two hits and two RBI’s for the Saints. Yates Sutton earned the win on the mound for the Saints, tossing a scoreless 6th to improve to 2-1 on the year. Dylan Paul came in to finish Frank off in the 9th, picking up his fourth save of the season.

The Saints improve to 28-22 on the year with the win while Frank Phillips falls to 11-36.

Seward will now turn their full focus to the Dodge City Conquistadors who they will take on in a key four game series to wrap up the conference season Saturday and Sunday in Dodge. Anything less than a series win will put the Saints on the road for the Region VI Tournament while winning three or four against the Conqs will give the Saints one last weekend at Brent Gould Field in Liberal.

SEWARD COUNTY/FRANK PHILLIPS BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160427_sht7.xml>

Roy Allen