MT. CARMEL, ILL. – Wabash Valley scored early and often against Lake Land in the second game of a Great Rivers Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday. The 12-2 win earned a sweep on the day for the second-ranked Warriors, after holding off the Lakers, 6-4, in the opener.
WVC improved to 21-2 on the season, and 5-1 in GRAC games. Lake Land fell to 1-5 in the league and 11-10 overall.
In the second game, the Warriors put up numbers in five of the seven innings, with the line score of the first four innings reading 3-3-2-2.
There was only one long ball – a two-run homer to left field by Ryan Rodriguez on an 0-2 pitch in the fourth. So, the Warriors generated most of their offense on the bases. WVC had 10 hits in the game, but also collected a season-high nine stolen bases.
Three players – Freylin Minyety, Knox Preston and Hylan Hall – had two hits each. On the basepaths, Savier Pinales swiped three, and Curtis Washington two.
All this in support of pitchers Caleb Meeks, who pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, and starter Zac Robinson, who went the first 2 1/3.
The opening game of the twinbill was the more competitive of the two, with the Warriors rallying early then holding off the Lakers for the two-run victory.
After Lake Land scored once in the top of the second on a fielding error, the Warriors countered with three in the home half for a lead they would not relinquish.
The biggest hit of the frame came from Minyety, who lined a two-run single to left. Pinales had tied the game earlier at 1-1 when he coaxed a bases-loaded walk out of Laker starter Jackson Nichols.
WVC added a single run in the third, on a leadoff home run to left by Jonathan Hogart (his second of the year) to make it 4-1.
After Lake Land made inroads to the deficit by scoring two runs in the fifth, the Warriors matched it with two of their own to push the lead to 6-3.
Reliever Scott Harper - the third Warrior hurler of the game - came on with two outs in the sixth after Lake Land had scored to narrow the margin to 6-4. He got out of the jam with a ground ball.
In the seventh, though the Lakers did get the tying run to the plate, Harper was in control, fanning the last two batters to get the save.
On the day, Pinales, Minyety and Hall had four hits each.
These same two clubs meet again on Sunday with a series-ending doubleheader at Lake Land. The next home game for WVC is on Tuesday, when Shawnee (2-14, 0-6) calls for a 12 noon GRAC doubleheader.
UPDATE: Due to field conditions, the Sunday doubleheader has been moved back to WVC.