ALBANY - Pecatonica head coach Jim Strommen watched his team rip the cover off the ball in 10-4 win over Belleville, Thursday, the 400th of his career.
"It just means I've been around for a long time - 29 years," Strommen laughed. "It was kind of emotional. But you have to have a lot of good kids to get that many wins."
On Friday, the No. 1 ranked Vikings (12-1, 7-1 Six Rivers East) swung early and often, then exploded for six runs in the final two innings to earn a 7-0 victory against the Comets for win No. 401 of Strommen's career.
"Part way through the game, we talked about taking a little bit of a deeper approach in the count; they had a five-pitch inning tonight," Strommen said. "We hit the ball well last night, and the confidence maybe carried over a little bit."
Lee Vlasak opened the game by reaching on a dropped third strike.
A perfectly executed tomahawk hit-and-run by Milton Kurschner two pitches later moved Vlasak to third, which put Albany southpaw Bryce Hulbert in early trouble. Two batters later, Vlasak scored on a groundout by Bryan Daley.
Albany's Tyler Briggs singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw from Pecatonica pitcher Devin Jeglum for the Comets only hit of the game. Moments later Briggs was called out on a steal attempt and Jeglum got threw the inning just three pitches later.
"With them swinging aggressively, I think our guys kind of followed the lead," Comets head coach Brian Dahl said. "If we could have just hit the ball, it would have been a closer game."
Neither team scored over the next four innings, though both squads did have the opportunity.
Hulbert loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with one out, but struck out Vlasak and got Milton Kurschner to fly out to end the threat.
In the bottom half of the same inning, Albany loaded the bases on walks, knocking Jeglum out of the game and putting Kurschner on edge in relief. However, Kurschner got Mike Elmer to fly out to left on the first pitch and struck out both designated hitter Tyler Bauman and Boomer Detra to end the threat.
Pecatonica again loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Hulbert struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.
"Bryce pitched a heck of a good game. He did not back down to any hitter. He went right at them," Dahl said.
As the bottom of the fifth rolled around, Vlasak took the mound with the intention of picking up a nine-out save.
"Lee pitched well for us, Milton gave us an inning and Devin gave us some needed innings," Strommen said.
Albany was the third game in the past four days for Pecatonica, with a doubleheader today and a showdown with No. 3 ranked Barneveld for the top spot in the conference on Monday.
"We have a lot of games coming up, and a few young guys will see some action on the mound this weekend."
Vlasak went to work early, striking out Adam Zurfluh on three pitches before retiring the last two batters of the inning in only a matter of pitches.
In the sixth, Strommen went to small ball. A walk and two errors - one on a bunt by Jeglum - allowed for a second run to come in. After a Daley walk, Tannar Johnson then doubled home a pair with bases loaded. Bauman took over in relief, but a squeeze by Harley Demler on the second pitch finished off the four-run inning.
Vlasak sat down the Comets 1-2-3 in the home half of the inning and then hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the final runs of the game.
"When (our) guys start playing well together, we're going to be a hard team to beat," Dahl said.
"It just means I've been around for a long time - 29 years," Strommen laughed. "It was kind of emotional. But you have to have a lot of good kids to get that many wins."
On Friday, the No. 1 ranked Vikings (12-1, 7-1 Six Rivers East) swung early and often, then exploded for six runs in the final two innings to earn a 7-0 victory against the Comets for win No. 401 of Strommen's career.
"Part way through the game, we talked about taking a little bit of a deeper approach in the count; they had a five-pitch inning tonight," Strommen said. "We hit the ball well last night, and the confidence maybe carried over a little bit."
Lee Vlasak opened the game by reaching on a dropped third strike.
A perfectly executed tomahawk hit-and-run by Milton Kurschner two pitches later moved Vlasak to third, which put Albany southpaw Bryce Hulbert in early trouble. Two batters later, Vlasak scored on a groundout by Bryan Daley.
Albany's Tyler Briggs singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw from Pecatonica pitcher Devin Jeglum for the Comets only hit of the game. Moments later Briggs was called out on a steal attempt and Jeglum got threw the inning just three pitches later.
"With them swinging aggressively, I think our guys kind of followed the lead," Comets head coach Brian Dahl said. "If we could have just hit the ball, it would have been a closer game."
Neither team scored over the next four innings, though both squads did have the opportunity.
Hulbert loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with one out, but struck out Vlasak and got Milton Kurschner to fly out to end the threat.
In the bottom half of the same inning, Albany loaded the bases on walks, knocking Jeglum out of the game and putting Kurschner on edge in relief. However, Kurschner got Mike Elmer to fly out to left on the first pitch and struck out both designated hitter Tyler Bauman and Boomer Detra to end the threat.
Pecatonica again loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Hulbert struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.
"Bryce pitched a heck of a good game. He did not back down to any hitter. He went right at them," Dahl said.
As the bottom of the fifth rolled around, Vlasak took the mound with the intention of picking up a nine-out save.
"Lee pitched well for us, Milton gave us an inning and Devin gave us some needed innings," Strommen said.
Albany was the third game in the past four days for Pecatonica, with a doubleheader today and a showdown with No. 3 ranked Barneveld for the top spot in the conference on Monday.
"We have a lot of games coming up, and a few young guys will see some action on the mound this weekend."
Vlasak went to work early, striking out Adam Zurfluh on three pitches before retiring the last two batters of the inning in only a matter of pitches.
In the sixth, Strommen went to small ball. A walk and two errors - one on a bunt by Jeglum - allowed for a second run to come in. After a Daley walk, Tannar Johnson then doubled home a pair with bases loaded. Bauman took over in relief, but a squeeze by Harley Demler on the second pitch finished off the four-run inning.
Vlasak sat down the Comets 1-2-3 in the home half of the inning and then hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the final runs of the game.
"When (our) guys start playing well together, we're going to be a hard team to beat," Dahl said.
