The Kuemper Catholic Knights swept the Atlantic Trojans in a doubleheader Monday night by scores of 5-1 and 15-6. Game one saw two solid pitching performances from Atlantic’s Jack Muller and Kuemper’s Caden Handlos. However, free passes and a few mistakes allowed the Knights to turn a slim 2-1 lead into a four-run advantage. In game two, free passes remained an issue for Atlantic. A mixture of six walks and hit batters contributed to Kuemper Catholic taking a 10-0 lead in the first inning. Although the game was never truly in reach, the Trojans battled to avoid the mercy rule. Keaston Schmitt drove in two runs on three doubles as the Trojans outscored the Knights after the first inning. However, the early deficit was too much to overcome.
Game one was a pitcher’s duel for most of the contest. Despite both teams loading the bases in the opening frame, neither managed to push across a run. In fact, neither team recorded a hit until the fourth inning. Muller brought one of his better performances of the season. Through five innings, he had struck out eight. Although the eighth strikeout resulted in one of Kuemper’s first two runs due to it being dropped, Muller held the line, only giving up 2, and Atlantic scratched across a run in the bottom half to cut the deficit in half. However, this would be the end of his line. He was pullled after walking the first two in the sixth, and a mixture of the walks, and error, and timely hits from Kaden Coppock and Trey Lorenzon extended the lead to five, which was ultimately too much for Atlantic to overcome.
Giving away free bases was the biggest outlier in game two. The Trojans walked four and hit two others as 14 batters came to the plate in the first inning. Where the Knights struggled to make contact in game one, they did not in game two playing station to station, with the exception of a three-run double from Alex Pudenz. Despite being down 10-0, the Trojans never quit. They out scored Kuemper Catholic 6-5 the rest of the way, highlighted by a 3 double and 2 RBI night from Keaston Schmitt. Ultimately the deficit was too much to come back from. However the Trojans showed remarkable effort to battle back from the brink of mercy rule.
Head coach Nathan Block was proud of how his team handled the situation despite what was on the scoreboard.
Block also gave a lot of credit to Schmitt for his resiliency
The Trojans feel that the schedule is turning in their favor. However, they know limiting the number of free passes they give out will be crucial.
The Trojans will be back at it Tuesday as they hit the road to face off against Clarinda.
