The Macomb High baseball squad completed a perfect week on the diamond with three victories in as many days.
It started Thursday at Phil Bradley Field as the Bombers defeated visiting Palmyra, Mo. 11-2.
The following day, the Bombers headed to Canton where they defeated the Little Giants 13-2 in seven innings at Bob Ems Field.
On Saturday, the Bombers returned home, defeating visiting Pittsfield 13-3 in six innings.
Macomb improved to 9-2 on the season. “I thought we had a really good week of baseball,” said MHS coach John Ogle. “Whenever you are able to pick up four wins in a week, you have to be excited about that, especially when those wins come against some teams who have had quite a bit of success so far.”
Against Palmyra, the Bombers came out swinging, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. MHS had four hits in the inning, including a two-run double by Blaine Eddington.
Palmyra also committed three errors in the frame. After the visitors scored twice in the top of the third, Macomb answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Eddington had his second run-scoring double of the game, while Emmett Beck added a two-run single.
Macomb tacked on its final runs in the sixth, finishing the game with 12 hits and two errors.
Palmyra finished the game with nine hits and four errors. Eddington and Beck each had three hits including a pair of doubles. Eddington knocked in three runs and Beck had two RBIs.
Jake Ogle had two hits and two runs scored, while Jaxon Barclay also scored twice, while also knocking in a run.
Drew Watson and Isaac Leinbach each had a hit and a run scored. Nick Elbe and Kaden Knupp chipped in one RBI each.
On the mound, Elbe pitched four innings in picking up the win.
Elbe allowed two earned runs on six hits. He struck out four and hit a batter.
Hayden Katz pitched the final three innings to earn the save. He scattered three hits and one walk, striking out one. Katz also hit a batter.
Raeson Miller had three hits, including a triple for Palmyra (6-4). Brodie Webb and Griffin Scifres added two hits each for the Panthers.
Miller and Webb each knocked in a run for the visitors. Westin Jones was the pitcher of record for Palmyra. In two-plus innings, he allowed nine runs, seven earned, on seven hits. He struck out one, walked three and hit a batter.
Webb pitched three innings, allowing one earned run on four hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Rylan Compton pitched one inning, allowing one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout and one walk.
The following day at Canton, the Bombers scored in five of the seven innings they batted, finishing the contest with 16 hits.
MHS had two-run rallies in the first two innings before scoring four times in the fourth in building an 8-0 lead.
The Bombers scored twice in the sixth to make it 10-0 before Canton scored once in the bottom of the inning.
Macomb scored three times in its final at-bat before the Little Giants scored their second run.
Canton finished with four hits with both teams committing two errors.
Kaden Knupp had four hits, including a double with three runs batted in and two scored for the Bombers.
Elbe added two hits, including a double with three RBIs and two runs scored. Leinbach added three hits from the lead-off spot in the batting order, scoring four runs.
Barclay also knocked in three runs for the Bombers. Eddington pitched three scoreless and hitless innings for MHS. He struck out six, walked two and hit a batter.
Leinbach pitched two innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits. He struck out three and hit a batter.
Aiden Reynolds pitched one inning, allowing one unearned run. He struck out one and walked one.
Caleb Jochums had two hits, including a double with a run batted in for Canton (2-7-1).
The Little Giants used four pitchers.
Hayden Trigg pitched 1.2 innings allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits. He struck out two, walked two and hit two batters.
Brody Ketchum allowed four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings before Ben Parry allowed two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings.
Parker DeRenzy allowed three runs on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Against Pittsfield, the Bombers piled up the runs early, scoring five runs in the first inning before adding four in the second and two more in the third.
Leading 11-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth, MHS scored its final two runs to close out the victory.
Macomb out-hit Pittsfield 9-6 with the Saukees also committing five errors.
Jake Ogle had three hits, scoring three times while knocking in four runs for the Bombers.
Leighton Lambert added two hits with two RBIs, while Eddington also knocked in two runs for the Bombers.
Elbe scored three runs, while Beck scored twice, also knocking in a run, along with Barclay.
“Offensively, our guys are putting together a lot of good at-bats up and down the lineup right now,” saod Coach Ogle. “They are doing a really nice job putting pressure on the defense by working counts and getting the baseball in play.”
“The thing that I really like about our lineup right now is that it seems like each game we have a different guy stepping up and having a big game,” he added. “Isaac, Nick and Jaxon had big games against A-Town. Emmett and Blaine had big games against Palmyra. Kaden had a big game against Canton. Then Jake and Leighton had big games against Pittsfield.”
“That depth throughout our lineup was a big reason we were able to score double-digit runs every game this week.”
Jake Ogle pitched four innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out six, walked one and hit two batters.
Kollin Knupp pitched two innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out two.
“I was also really happy with our pitching this week. We had nine different guys throw in varsity games this week, and I thought all nine of them looked good,” said Coach Ogle. “We got really good starts out of Jaxon, Nick, Blaine and Jake.”
“Hayden has stepped up and been a really solid piece coming out of the bullpen for us,” he added. “Tyler gave us a couple solid innings against A-Town out of the pen. Isaac and Aiden came in and gave us good innings against Canton. Then Kollin made his first varsity pitching appearance against a solid Pittsfield lineup and did a really nice job.”
“I love the way our guys are attacking the strike zone right now while also changing speeds and keeping hitters off balance. Coach (Max) Dakin has done a fantastic job working with those guys,” Coach Ogle said.
Peyton Camp, Brody Tomhave and Knox Dunham each knocked in a run for Pittsfield (8-6).
Ryan Harris pitched one inning, allowing five runs on four hits. He struck out one, walked two and hit a batter.
Collin Bernard pitched two innings, allowing six runs on five hits. He struck out one, walked three and hit two batters.
Tomhave pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs. He struck out seven and walked one.
The Bombers were scheduled to open Prairieland Conference play Monday, hosting West Prairie/Southeastern (3-3-1, 1-1 Prairieland) at Phil Bradley Field.
On Tuesday, the Bombers are slated to head to Brimfield to face Brimfield/Elmwood (8-1, 1-0) in another Prairieland Conference contest.
