ARCANUM – Arcanum used strong fundamentals to overcome Dayton Christian 6-1 on Monday afternoon.
The Trojans combined pitching that worked ahead in the count for most of the game with solid defense that flashed stellar plays on occasion to shut down the Warriors offensive attack while using top of the order speed and timely hitting to score themselves.
The Arcanum hurlers – Austin Baker, Nathan Kubik and Cole Burrell – limited Dayton Christian to only four hits for the game. The trio allowed only one run while striking out four and walking just one. At one stretch they retired 14 Warrior batters in a row.
“We’ve gotten really good pitching this year,” Trojans baseball coach Randy Baker said. “The guys were really around the zone today.”
Arcanum made all the routine plays in the game. Two standout plays were made by shortstop Burrell as he short-hopped a low liner and threw out the batter at first on one play. He later would field a grounder on the first base side of second and have time to throw out the runner at first.
“We made some excellent defensive plays today,” Coach Baker said. “Good pitching and defense go together. When they throw strikes they stay on their toes and are into the game.”
The Trojan offense quickly struck against the Warriors. Burrell singled and stole second. He was promptly singled home by Jordan Dubbs, who would steal second himself. Conner Pohl flied to right to move Dubbs to third, who then came home on an RBI ground out by Austin Baker.
“We got pretty good jumps on the pitcher,” Coach Baker said of the stolen bases. “We’ve got good speed up top in the order.”
Arcanum ended the first with a 2-0 lead that would carry the Trojans to the fourth inning when they added another run. The fifth would see the Trojans finish their scoring for the day with a three-run rally that was capped off by a Ben Sease two-run pinch hit single. After five, Arcanum led 6-0.
The Trojans are back in Cross County Conference play this week as they face National Trail Tuesday, visit Tri-County North Thursday and play Franklin Monroe Friday.
