Saints Strike Late to Take Two from Northeastern Colorado

The Seward County Saints relinquished early leads in both ends of their Saturday double header with the Northeastern Plainsmen at Brent Gould Field, but scored late runs in both game one and game two to come away with 7-4 and 7-5 wins to sweep the twinbill.

Game one was a pitchers dual early on between Seward’s Nathan Dockery and Northeastern’s Chase Dunker. Both lefthanders were sharp through the first three innings, with the Saints mustering just two hits while Northeastern had just one baserunner. Dockery kept the Plainsmen off the board in the 4th and the Saints rewarded him in the bottom half with a pair of runs on three hits, getting an RBI double from Justin Graff-Rowe and their second run on a Northeastern error to take a 2-0 lead. Northeastern finally got their first hit of the game in the 5th, a looping fly ball that happened to fall in the Bermuda triangle of the Saints infield, right over the mound to put a runner on with two outs. After a walk, Dockery came up big, getting a groundball back to him to end the threat and keep the Saints in front 2-0. Seward added two more runs in the bottom of the 5th, getting a two RBI single from Judah Sweat to extend their lead to 4-0. For the first time all afternoon, Dockery found himself in some trouble in the top half of the 6th, allowing a double and a walk before being lifted as the Saints went to the bullpen with two outs. After leaving with a 4-0 lead, Dockery saw his win go up in smoke after just two batters as an RBI single scored one run and a three run home run tied the game at 4. Seward’s offense kept on plugging along though as Chad Kennedy tripled to lead off the Seward 6th and promptly scored on a single off the glove of the Plainsmen shortstop to put the Saints back on top 5-4. An RBI double from Josh Nicol scored Logan Nethercot from second to make it 6-4 and the Saints added another run later in the inning on Northeastern’s seventh error of the contest to make it 7-4. That was more than enough for Braden Terrell to shut the door on the Plainsmen in the 7th as the lefty worked a 1-2-3 top half of the 7th to close the game out and give Seward a 7-4 win.

Seward outhit Northeastern 10-5 in the game led by a pair of knocks from Brian Tims and Nethercot. Dockery took a no decision despite allowing just 2 hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Terrell earned the win in relief, pitching the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing a run.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160213_gr4i.xml>

The Saints didn’t waste long in game two to get the scoring going as Landon Vodka singled with one out in the Seward 1st and scored on an RBI triple from Dylan Paul to quickly make it 1-0 Saints. Northeastern answered with a run of their own in the top of the 2nd after a Seward error to tie the game up at 1. The Saints put a crooked number on the board in the bottom of the 2nd, getting an RBI triple from Easton Herring, an RBI double from Jared Ledbetter, and an RBI groundout from Jared Biddy to make it 4-1. Neither team plated anything in the 3rd, but the Plainsmen picked up a tally in the 4th on another Seward error to make it 4-2. Northeastern made it a one run game in the 5th as they used a hit batter and a double to start the inning to score a run as they closed the Seward gap to 4-3. The Saints pushed back in front by two in the bottom of the inning as a Northeastern error started the frame and an RBI single from Paul scored Biddy from third to make it 5-3. As they did in game one in the 6th inning, the Plainsmen leveled the score at 5 in the 7th, using a walk and a hit batter with two outs to get something going before a single and an error by the Saints allowed the equalizer to score to make it 5-5. After stretch time, the Saints took the lead back as Paul smacked a two out RBI double to the gap to put Seward back in front 6-5. Brian Tims held the Plainsmen at bay on the mound in the 8th and the Saints pushed across an insurance run with an RBI single from Errett Edwards to make it 7-5 and Tims finished things off in the 9th with a pop out on the infield to secure the 7-5 win for the Saints.

Both teams had 10 hits in the contest and somehow Seward managed to win despite 6 errors behind their pitching. Paul was the offensive hero, going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, missing the cycle by just a home run in the win. Tims earned the win on the mound for Seward, going the final 2 2/3 innings without allowing a run.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/boxscores/20160213_dpoa.xml>

Seward improves to 4-3 on the year with the two victories while Northeastern drops their first two games of 2016.

The same two teams will be back at it on Sunday at Brent Gould Field as they wrap up their four game set with a 12:00 double header.

Roy Allen