Mt. Carmel, Ill. – Rob Fournier won his 1,000th game as head coach at Wabash Valley in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Warriors defeated Morton College, 7-2, in the home opener to earn the milestone win for their 25-year head coach. In the second game, No. 1-ranked WVC gave Fournier a head start towards his second 1,000 wins with an 11-0 victory, a combined one-hit performance by four different pitchers.
On a day when the coach ended up on center stage instead of his players for the most obvious of reasons, the humble and reserved Fournier appreciated all the hullabaloo, but was happy to move on.
"Our assistant coach, Aaron Biddle, kept things on the low down for most of the day and week," Fournier said. "Since we had a doubleheader, we waited until after the second game" for a celebration.
With the team gathered around, Fournier was presented with the game ball, remarks were made by coaches and players, then a giant cake honoring the moment was unveiled by the coach's wives.
"It was pretty cool," Fournier said. "You try to put it aside and fight the nerves, but at the end of the day it was about us trying to get better. It was awfully nice getting that one out of the way."
Ryan McCoy added a fireworks show of his own in the opener, with a three-run blast that broke open a 2-2 game in the fifth inning.
The freshman first baseman now has the team lead in RBIs with 13 through the first eight games.
Lefthanded reliever Pablo Suarez made his third appearance out of the bullpen his best to date, with three scoreless innings of work. He allowed only two hits while striking out three in earning his first win of the year.
The nightcap was all about pitching. Starter Keegan Batka struck out the first six batters he faced and gave only one hit in three innings on the hill. That was the only hit Morton (2-6) would get, as three relievers preserved the shutout over the final 2 1/3 innings.
Batka got the win. He is now 1-0.
Then there was Freylin Minyety. Last week's NJCAA Player of the Week made his case for a repeat award with a 5-of-6 day at the plate.
"He continues to swing an extremely hot bat and was difficult to get out," said Fournier of his sophomore second baseman, who was 3-for-3 at the plate in the finale with his second home run of the season to go with three RBIs.
Minyety's batting average of .577 was listed as the 15th best in NJCAA Division I as of Sunday night.
The season is still young, and there are still questions to be answered, particularly on the mound, according to Fournier.
"We just need to play because we're still trying to identify who our best pitchers are," he said. "We have a way to go to see that. It will take care of itself once we get into a normal routine when we play multiple games every week."
WVC (7-1) will be on the road this week. Tuesday, the Warriors play at Vincennes (5-1) at 1:45 p.m. CST, followed by a game at St. Charles (0-0) on Thursday at 12-noon.
Following a return game from Vincennes at home on Tuesday, Mar. 9, the Warriors begin Region 24 play with a twinbill at Frontier (6-4) on Thursday Mar. 11.