The Emporia A-16 Blue team may not be at the top of its game yet, but the Blues have found their way into a groove. They’re playing some awfully good baseball these days.
A commanding doubleheader run-rule sweep of the Andover AAA team on Wednesday at Soden’s Grove demonstrated why the Blues — winners of eight of their last 10 games, including a tournament title last weekend at the Burlington Slugfest — are such a dangerous team to face.
Both games showcased Emporia’s ability to string together big innings on offense and the best of its starting pitching. Jacob Loucks gave up just three hits in the Blues’ five-inning, 8-0 win in Game One, and Brett Lechien went all six innings in Game Two, allowing just four hits in Emporia’s 9-1 victory.
“After last night, we feel like we had something to prove against an older team,” said Thomas Lowe, referring to the Blues’ split with Manhattan Manco on Tuesday. “And so we came out here and took care of business going into this (five-day) layoff. ... We’re starting to get there.”
Lowe doubled twice and drove in three runs in Game One, adding a single in his final trip for a 3-for-3 game. His first-inning double drove in Matt Fry, who had singled with two outs, and Loucks, who had walked. One-out singles in the third by James Rodriguez and Fry, followed by a run-scoring throwing error by second baseman Brandon Mikus, set up Lowe’s second two-bagger, a chopper that went past third baseman Alex Leff and down the left field line.
“Ask any of these guys — most of the time, I go opposite field, and that’s what I was looking to do (tonight),” Lowe said. “So I did mostly what I wanted to — had one jam shot, but still went opposite and got a base hit.”
After his second double, Lowe came home on Dalton Cooper’s single to right center, and Lechien then grounded a ball through the middle that was knocked down by Mikus, but Mikus couldn’t make a play. Lechien’s infield hit gave the Blues a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Blues scored two to invoke the run rule. Nate Flanagin got it started with a leadoff walk, and a looper by Lechien bounced in and skipped by the right fielder for a double. Dusty Maas grounded an infield single to the right side to make it 7-0, and Rodriguez ended the game with another RBI hit.
On the mound, Loucks allowed singles to Andover’s first two hitters, then gave up just one more hit the rest of the way. He walked one and struck out four.
Lechien followed Loucks’ lead in Game Two, pitching a gem of his own. The lefty faced the minimum in three of his six innings, striking out three, walking two and hitting a batter. He ended his night with an efficient 68 pitches.
“First inning, he came out and threw six pitches,” Blues coach Jerry Cook said. “He gave us a chance. That really helps, when a pitcher can go out there, throw six pitches and get us out, and hurry up and get us in so we can hit and score runs. That’s what we do.
“He came out fired up, he gave us the best that he could, and the hitters gave him a chance to win, too.”
Four runs in the second inning gave Emporia a commanding 6-0 lead. After singles by Cooper and Dustin Lingenfelter, a near-check swing by Maas on a high and tight pitch resulted in a looper over the pitcher’s mound that fell in, crawled past both middle infielders and made its way into center field. Both runs scored, and Maas hustled to second for a freak-accident double.
“I was (surprised), but my dad’s always told me I’d rather be lucky than good any day,” Maas said. “So I kind of agreed (with) him on that one.”
Rodriguez followed with a single to plate Maas, then scored on a balk to widen the lead to six.
After Andover scored in the fourth to make it 6-1, the Blues added another run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Cooper, then loaded the bases with no one out in the sixth. Fry got plunked on the left side to drive in a run, and a wild pitch brought Maas home to end the game.
Maas had two hits and a walk in Game Two, and Rodriguez also had a pair of hits.
Now a strong 22-7 on the year, the Blues won’t play again until July 7, when they travel to Ottawa.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” Cook said. “I think there’s still a lot of potential left. We just gotta get there, keep working. There’s a bunch of little things that we gotta work on — baserunning, picks, little things we gotta work on. We’re getting there.”