Trinity Lutheran’s baseball team feels that it’s starting to peak at the right time.
With postseason action just two weeks away, the Cougars aim to enter the sectional with a winning streak.
As far as Cougars coach Ben Kleber is concerned: everything’s going according to plan.
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The Cougars (8-8) clicked on all cylinders Thursday in a 10-0, five-inning win over Greenwood Christian Academy at Alf Snyder Field.
The Cougars scored runs in four of the five innings while sophomore pitcher Jack Marksberry gave up just three hits in the shutout.
“Jack hadn’t thrown in a while because of all the rainouts, so he was excited to pitch,” Kleber said. “He settled in and threw strikes. I was most happy with our approach at the plate. We want to attack fastballs. It was nice to see.”
After a scoreless first inning, the Cougars got two on base with a single and hit-by-pitch. Josh Rowe then stepped in the box and delivered a shot to deep center field to score Marksberry. After another hit-by-pitch, which loaded the bases, Chris Mau sacrificed to score Noah Voelker to put the Cougars up 2-0.
In the third inning, Trent Shoemaker stole second and third base after getting walked. Shoemaker then scored on an error by GCA’s second baseman to put the Cougars up 3-0.
Following a pitching change, Trinity faced loaded bases again.
After an RBI single from Rowe, Mau cleared the bases with a double to left-center field to extend the Trinity lead to 7-0.
The Cougars’ offense didn’t stop there.
Noah Voelker brought in two runs with a single in the fourth inning and Shoemaker sacrificed in the fifth to end the game.
Trinity finished with six hits in the game. The visitors had four errors to the Cougars’ three.
On the mound, Marksberry struck out eight, walked one, and gave up three hits.
While the Cougars have a handful of games left on its schedule, the focus is still on the postseason.
“We’re just working for the sectional,” Kleber said. “I think we’re getting hot at the right time.”