Trinity Lutheran’s baseball team scored four runs in the sixth inning against Eastern (Pekin) in the opening game of the Cougar Invitational on Saturday morning to register an 8-3 win.
The Cougars were playing Borden in the final game Saturday night when the umpires suspended play when fans from the two schools got into a heated argument behind home plate.
The game was in the bottom of the fourth inning with Borden ahead 7-1 when the game was stopped.
The Cougars held a 3-2 lead after four innings against Eastern, then scored one run in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Sage Broughton opened the Trinity scoring in the second inning with a solo home run over the fence in left field. It was the first home run of his career at Trinity.
Later in the inning, Peyton Pollert singled and scored on an error, and Nathan Finke was safe on a fielder’s choice. Courtesy runner Luke Coomler scored on Voelker’s double.
Finke walked in the fifth, and Coomler scored on a wild pitch.
The Cougars batted around in the sixth. With one out, Pollert walked and was replaced by pinch runner Cole Brewer. Kowan Gross singled to drive in Brewer, Jackson Trueblood drove in two runs with a single and one run scored on an error.
Finke and Pottschmidt both had two hits, while Voelker, Trueblood, Drake Goodpaster, Broughton, Pollert and Gross each had one hit.
Trueblood had two RBI, while Voelker, Broughton, Gross and Pottschmidt each drove in one run. Coomler scored three runs, and Pollert scored twice.
“It was exciting to see us have that type of offense,” Cougars coach Ben Kleber said. “It was exciting to see the guys have that type of bats. We really struggled until the fourth, and we talked about it. We came together and said, ‘Good teams find a way to add runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh,’ and we added one in the fifth and four in the sixth, and that’s what you’re looking for, and Peyton came in and shut the door.”
“Sage had a good day,” Kleber continued. “He hit the home run, the first of his career, so that was exciting, and Nathan Voelker finally busted out and hit one deep (for a double), so that was nice to see, too.”
Voelker pitched the first six innings and had 10 strikeouts. Pollert finished up and allowed one unearned run, one hit and one walk and struck out one.
Voelker stranded nine runners. The Musketeers put the first two runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but none of them scored.
“Voelker struck out four in the first. We had a passed ball,” Kleber said. “Today, it seemed like any time he got in trouble, he bared down, and he was a leader and he decided, ‘I’m going to take it in my own hands.’ We know what we’re going to get from Nathan. He’s a gamer, a bulldog and that’s what we need out of him. He’s our leader, and that’s what we expected.”
The Cougars are 3-4 and will travel to Henryville today and be home to Charlestown on Tuesday.