HUMBOLDT — Senior starting pitchers Daylon Splane and Rayce Hoepker have been in postseason form the entire season for the Cubs, but what makes coach Mike Miller so excited about Thursday’s 16-1 and 6-0 victories over Uniontown is that the offense is starting to catch up.
“They have both been sharp,” Miller said of his aces. “We definitely lean on those two and our bullpen has been strong.
“We are starting to swing it pretty well too. We are seeing some guys that have been struggling start to put it together and that is good to see.”
Game one’s 16-1 victory in four innings was a prime example of just the kind of outbursts the Cubs are capable of.
“(Splane and Hoepker) are going to go out and pitch well and we are going to play good defense behind them,” Miller said “We just have to make sure we get run support.”
The Cubs scored three in the first inning with the big hit coming from freshman Conor Haviland on a two-out, two-run single.
The got right back after it in the second with four more runs. Four-straight hits from the top four batters in the Cub lineup – Hoepker, Josh Vanatta, Splane and Dagen Goodner – were the catalyst for the big inning.
The Eagles got their only run of the day in the third inning when they connected on a home run to cut the lead to 7-1, but the Cubs quickly had an answer.
Humboldt posted five runs in the third inning. a Vanatta single, a Daniels triple and a Griffin Voorheis double all knocked in runs during the big inning.
The Cubs were able to put the game away in the fourth with four runs to get the 15-run margin needed to end the game after four innings.
Splane finished the game with a 3-for-3 day at the plate, two doubles, four runs scored and two RBI. Vanatta also had three hits.
Splane pitched the first three innings and the home run was the only blemish on his stat line. He allowed just one hit and one run with three strikeouts and no walks. Gunner Elder pitched a perfect fourth to seal it.
In game two, Hoepker picked up right where Splane and Elder left off and threw six innings of three-hit ball with no walks in the team’s 6-0 win.
“It is fun,” Hoepker said of pitching in a low-scoring game. “It makes you have to pitch just that much better. It is always fun to have run support, but that just makes you have to compete.”
The game remained tied at 0-0 for the first three innings, but in the fourth, the Cub offense broke through with a run in the fourth when Splane scored on a wild pitch.
They added three more in the fifth on consecutive hits by Vanatta, Splane and Goodner.
Single runs sixth and seventh provided the final margin and the Vanatta closed it out with a scoreless seventh inning as the Cubs took to 6-0 win.
Vanatta, Splane and Goodner all had three hits and Daniels walked in all three of hit at bats to lead the Humboldt offense.
UP NEXT
The Cubs host Caney Valley on Monday to close out the regular season.
“We have two more games to tune everything up, then it is show time,” Hoepker said. “Start Monday where we left off tonight and just keep it going from there and we will have a good chance of going to state.”
