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Final Tuneup
Squirrels thump Ford and Sons 13-2 to end regular season
CHARLESTON -- With only four days to go before this year's Senior Babe Ruth Missouri State Tournament the Charleston Fighting Squirrels entered Monday's contest against Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons Post 63 looking to stay sharp.
What they got was a 14-hit effort at the plate while using nine pitchers to down visiting Cape 13-2 in a nine-inning contest that gave the Squirrels their 41st and final win of the regular season.
"This was a good tuneup to get everybody going," Charleston head coach Michael Minner said. "Defensively we were solid and we ran nine different guys out there to the mound. All of them threw the ball really well.
"We had a couple days off to get our legs under us before today. Now we're going to take tomorrow off, Wednesday we'll practice and Thursday is all that matters."
Charleston's goal of getting everyone some playing time against Cape was helped when the Squirrels broke out for a eight-run rally in their first trip to the plate. Post 63 ignited the rally by allowing the Squirrels' leadoff hitter, Chase Young, to reach on an error, starting a string of seven straight Charleston hitter who reached before coming around to score.
By the end of the frame the Squirrels had collected four hits while taking advantage of five Cape errors and a pair of walks to jump out to an early 8-0 lead.
"That's a big deal," Post 63's head coach Justin Lieser said of his team's early struggles. "I was talking to our boys tonight about what we have coming up and who we have to play.
"You can't give any team this time of year nine errors (in a game), especially a darn, good ball club like Charleston."
A double by Cord Sheehy and a single from Caleb McCord each plated a run in the third inning to put the Squirrels ahead 10-0. It wasn't until the fifth frame that Cape (19-22) finally broke up the shutout with their only two runs of the game.
Charleston added two insurance runs in the seventh inning and another in the eighth to make up the 13-2 final.
"You take away those nine errors and they had two earned runs," Lieser said of Charleston. "So we pitched well. We didn't hit the ball well, but those are nine of the best arms in this area.
"If we play defense we're fully capable, but give all the credit to them. As far as their pitching they were lights out."
As a unit the Squirrels struck out 10 Cape batters while allowing six hits and six walks. Cody Payne started out the game for Charleston, striking out all three batters he faced.
At the plate Ian Householder led the 14-hit effort by the Squirrels, going 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Tyler Anderson, Caleb McCord and Cord Sheehy also had two hits each.
The win leaves Charleston at 41-9 to end the regular season. They'll start the Senior Babe Ruth Missouri State Tournament on Thursday against Leopold at 7:30 p.m. at Hillhouse Park.
Cape 000 020 000 - 2
Charleston 802 000 21x - 13
WP -- Cody Payne. LP -- Trevor Propst. Multiple hitters: (CA) Devin Austin 2-3; (CH) Ian Householder 2-4, Tyler Anderson 2-4, Caleb McCord 2-4, Cord Sheehy 2-4. 2B -- (CA) Cordon Hight; (CH) Brad Potts, Householder 2, Chase Young. 3B -- (CH) Anderson.