By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – Everything came together for the Hamilton Heights baseball team Wednesday during its Hoosier Conference East Division home game against Lewis Cass.
The Huskies put together some timely hits and got an outstanding pitching performance from Drew VanOeveren. All that led to a 6-0 win for Heights over the Kings.
Heights scored two runs in the first inning. Drew VanOeveren doubled in Kaleb Murray, then Colin Kuhn scored on an error. The Huskies added another pair of runs in the third, with Kuhn getting home when Cooper Vondersaar reached on error. Isaac Tuma then hit a sacrifice fly to score Sam Allen.
Heights put up two more runs in the sixth. Nick Hulen doubled Murray home, then later scored on VanOeveren’s center field single. VanOeveren had two hits for the game.
In addition, VanOeveren had a great night on the mound, going six innings with 14 strikeouts, allowing only one hit and four walks. Harrison Hochstedler pitched a perfect seventh inning, striking out two.
“We strung some at-bats together where we were swinging; swinging at strikes and getting hitting counts like 3-1 and 2-0 and putting the ball in play,” said Heights coach Ryan VanOeveren. “We produced enough runs tonight and played good defense and the pitching was excellent, catching was excellent, so it’s a good team win tonight.”
Ryan VanOeveren said the Huskies have been playing with different combinations of players over the season. The team has had to deal with injuries, “especially early in the season,” the coach said, so Heights’ lineup has changed frequently during the season.
“We’re going to continue to play everybody, because everybody’s had a good attitude and worked hard,” said Ryan VanOeveren. “We’re going to reward the players with some consistent play in the lineup.
The Huskies are 4-3 in division play and 9-4 overall, and hosts Lapel this afternoon.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 6,LEWIS CASS 0
Heights AB R H RBI
Dean Mason 3 0 1 0
Nick Hulen 3 1 1 1
Drew VanOeveren 3 0 2 2
Alex Eubanks 2 0 0 0
Sam Allen 3 1 0 0
Cooper Vondersaar 3 0 0 1
Guy Griffey 2 0 0 0
Isaac Tuma 1 0 0 1
Harrison Hochstedler 2 0 0 0
Kaleb Murray 0 2 0 0
Colin Kuhn 0 2 0 0
Totals 22 6 4 5
Score by Innings
Lewis Cass 000 000 0 – 0 1 3
Heights 202 002 x – 6 4 1
2B: VanOeveren, Hulen. SB: Kuhn 3, Murray, Tuma, Vondersaar. SAC: Hulen, Tuma. HBP: Eubanks, Griffey, Hochstedler.
Heights pitching IP R ER H
VanOeveren 6 0 0 1
Hochstedler 1 0 0 0
Strikeouts: VanOeveren 14, Hochstedler 2. Walks: VanOeveren 4.