By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
WESTFIELD – With six of eight seniors committed to the next level, the Westfield Shamrocks are primed to contend this spring, but, collectively, they know talent alone won’t get the job done.
The unbeaten Class 4A Shamrocks (3-0, 2-0) swept Hoosier Crossroads Conference foe Franklin Central (0-2, 0-2) Thursday night at Grand Park after winning their two-game series’ second contest by run-rule 11-1 in six innings.
The Rocks took the first game 3-1 at Franklin Central on Wednesday behind a four-hit, 10-strikeout 5.0 inning gem from senior Ty Anderson, an Eastern Illinois recruit.
However, even in sweeping victory at their home away from home, there remains room to improve moving forward.
“Anytime you get a sweep in the HCC, it’s a good week, but we certainly have things we have to do better,” Shamrocks head coach Ryan Bunnell said. “We aren’t clicking offensively like we’re capable of, and we have some things we have to do better offensively.”
While a luxury to win, especially by 10 runs, Bunnell remarked, the nearly 10 strikeouts by his hitters is the glaring issue.
In Game 1, the Rocks struck out 14 times, while facing Franklin Central’s pitching and Flashes’ standout Weston Harvey, an Indiana Tech commit. In Game 2, the tally dropped to nine, but shaving off five is only the first step.
“We have to cut the strikeouts down. There’s no doubt about that. I stopped counting at around eight. We’ve been around 10 or more each game, and that’s just not acceptable,” Bunnell said. “It’s the way we’re striking out, too. That’s the concerning thing for us. We’ve done too much work in the offseason for us to come out like this.”
The Rocks countered their own strikeouts problems with a combined two-hitter from senior Preston Tamm and junior Jackson Blevins on the mound, while swatting eight hits of their own, including two of the extra-base variety.
Tamm, a Manhattan commit, went 3.1 one-hit innings with four strikeouts and four walks issued. Blevins had three strikeouts and one walk issued in 2.2 frames.
“In the series, we pitched it really well. Ty was good yesterday. We had a good relief appearance out of (Brayden) Hibler. Today, Preston pitched really well, and Jack came in and did a great job in relief,” Bunnell said. “We were really good on the mound.”
In Game 1, the Rocks posted only four hits, but two of them went for extra bases, which provided all the offense needed to win.
In the rematch, Hibler, who was 0-for-3 on Wednesday, set the tone at the plate by going 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a two-run triple in the bottom of the first.
Hibler, who is committed to Central Missouri, later scored on a passed ball in the frame to put Westfield up 3-0.
“We just kind of came out ready to roll, and our pitcher did an even more exceptional job for us,” Hibler said. “Starting off the game with a back-swung fly ball to left field off the wall felt amazing.”
The good times carried into the bottom of the third with a two-run inning sparked by sophomore Nick Fero’s RBI single to make it 4-0. Fero (3-for-4) scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0 before Franklin Central responded with a run in the fourth.
“Fero had his first game today, and he came out and absolutely swung the bat like a crazy man to be honest. He was awesome to watch,” Hibler said. “All of us have played at least two years on varsity, and we’ve done an exceptional job of building team chemistry all the way around it.”
The team rallied in the bottom of the sixth, plating six more runs capped by a walk-off, run-rule walk drawn by sophomore Gabe Garcia with the bases loaded.
Senior Alex Rudolph, a Grace College commit, was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Ethan Colling was 1-for-2 with a two-run double, and junior Ian Wilson finished 1-for-4 with two RBI.
However, the Rocks left runners stranded in three of four innings, which ended in strikeouts.
“It’s funny how this game goes. (Pitching was) our biggest question mark coming in, and we felt our offense was going to be our biggest strength, and we still do, but pitching is always ahead of offense this time of the year,” Bunnell said. “We’ll be fine. Nothing to panic about, but we do have some things we need to fix.”
Their next chance will be on the road on April 4 when the Rocks head to Tennessee to face Beech, followed by games against Clarksville Academy and Ohio’s Whetstone on April 5.
“It’s always a luxury when you win by run-rule. We’ll take that anytime, but yeah, it’s early. You come out and start 3-0, and we still know we have a lot better baseball in us. That’s a good thing. Now, we just have to get to that part because we’re going to have a really tough stretch coming up here with Tennessee and deeper into HCC play,” Bunnell said.
“What I’ve been telling them is that the strongest team doesn’t always win. I think the better question is, do we have enough talent? And I think we have enough talent, yes,” Bunnell said. “We have to understand who we have to be to be successful, and as we do that we’ll be just fine.”