Triad baseball improves record to 9-3
Pitcher Austin Brown begins his delivery against Christian Brothers.
By Anthony Jones
Triad baseball added three wins out of a possible four last week.
Their four game stretch began on April 3, with a visit from the Salem Wildcats. TJ Suter started at pitcher for the Knights in the non-conference affair.
Triad jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings of play, but Salem closed the gap to 6-4 by the end of the fourth. The Wildcats eventually took their first lead of the game after driving in four more in the top of the fifth.
After drawing within 8-7 in the later half of the frame, the Knights loaded the bases. This sent TJ Suter to the plate, where he connected for a grand slam and an 11-8 lead.
Two hitless relief innings from Drew Winslow made the three run lead hold for Triad.
April 6 saw the Knights back at home, facing off against the Christian Brothers Cadets. Their Missouri-based foes entered the contests with an 8-7 record.
It would take just one inning for Triad to jump out to a 2-0 lead, the beginning of a scoring pattern that saw the Knights score twice in each inning. Austin Brown held the Cadets scoreless on the other half of the innings, meaning that Gabe Deaver’s RBI single in the fifth inning triggered the mercy rule for a 10-0 final.
The consistency was much appreciated by Coach Jesse Bugger, “We like that a lot. I thought we had really good team at bats tonight, we moved the baseball, moved runners, we made productive outs and we made good sac flies. Then, we had a mature approach with the left-handers and driving the ball to the opposite field especially early in the game and just really good all around offensive play. Austin was Austin, he was really sharp.”
Brown’s win marked his second complete game shutout in a row from the mound. The senior also allowed just three hits against the Cadets.
While the Cadets may not have played their best, Coach Bugger recognized that CBC was a strong opponent, “They’ve played a lot of baseball already and they played some really good schools. They’ll be there in the end, they had a tough day, but that’s baseball.”
Donny Becker, Wyatt Bugger, Brady Coon, Deaver, Nic Funk, TJ Suter, Wyatt Suter and Carter Vandever each tallied an RBI in the win.
Triad was back in action the following day, visiting the Wesclin Warriors.
The Knights seemed well on their way to an eighth consecutive win in that affair, as they led 5-2 headed to the bottom of the seventh. But that’s when disaster struck.
The now 7-2 Warriors rallied for four runs in the seventh frame, earning a walkoff 6-5 victory. Both Becker and Coon finished with 2 RBI in the Knights’ loss.
Triad closed out their week with their third game in as many days, this time welcoming Granite City to Troy.
As Nic Funk rolled through two scoreless frames from the mound, the Knights found their first tally in the second. Funk scored the game’s first run himself, after being driven in by a Wyatt Suter single.
Funk played a role in the team’s next run as well, scoring TJ Suter with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. McGrady Noyes pushes Triad further ahead after driving a two-run homer later in the frame.
The visiting Warriors strung two of their total hits of the game together in the fifth inning to breakup the shutout for a 4-1 score.
The game’s final two runs came in the sixth inning, both in the home team’s favor. Coon and Vandever were credited with the late game RBI in the 6-1 victory.
Next up on Triad’s schedule is Mississippi Valley play, which Coach Bugger previewed, “I think it’ll be a dog fight like it usually is. Mascoutah has got arms. Highland is Highland, so it’s going to be a tough week, every week. We try to play tough teams early to get ready for conference and then we try to use the conference to get ready for the postseason so we’re ready to go.”
