Normal West Baseball

5-13-2010 vs. Bloomington Purple Raiders

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bloomington Raiders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
NCWHS Wildcats	1	5	0	0	1	2	X	9	10	0

Vaughn Shuts Out Purple Raiders

Kyle Vaughn had the howling wind behind him and his fastball popping as he stymied the Bloomington Purple Raiders on three hits over six innings, leading the Normal West Wildcats to a 9-0 victory.  The win raises the Wildcats record to 23-6 overall and 10-0 in the Big 12 conference.  Vaughn raised his team-leading record to 8-1, never allowing a runner past second base as he gave up three walks and had four strikeouts.  Erik Sipes pitched a perfect 7^th inning as well.

The Wildcats played small ball very effectively with the wind blowing in so hard.  In the 1^st inning, Michael Collins drew a walk to start things off.  He stole second and third base before a walk to Jason Cullen put runners on the corners with two out.  When Cullen got caught in a rundown, Collins was able to beat the throw home with all runners safe.

In the 2^nd inning, the Wildcat bats did most of the damage.  Erik Sipes led off with a line drive beyond the shortstops reach and stole second base.  Wes Sery singled to left to put runners on the corners again and then stole second as well.  On a suicide squeeze, Adam Seifert’s bunt was good enough for a hit, again putting runners on first and third.  Seifert stole second before Kyle Vaughn laid down a suicide squeeze to score Sipes.  Seifert then did the very unusual, stealing home by beating the pitch to the plate.  Michael Collins walked on the play and got moved around to third base on a Brock Stewart line single to right.  Stewart took second when the fielder misplayed the ball, leading to a Jason Cullen single to left that scored both Collins and Stewart. 

In the 5^th inning, Jacob Birlingmaier led off with a bunt single before Sipes got hit by a pitch and Sery walked to load the bases.  After a fielder’s choice forced a runner at the plate, Vaughn drove an RBI single to right, making it 7-0.  In the 6^th inning, Stewart led off by getting hit in the back and then stealing second base.  Birlingmaier scored him on a single up the middle.  Courtesy runner Alex Jefferson came all the way around to score on a double by Sery to finish the scoring for the Wildcats.

Jacob Birlingmaier led the Wildcats with three hits while Wes Sery had two and Kyle Vaughn and Jason Cullen both had two runs batted in.

The Wildcats next play the Danville Vikings at home on Saturday at 10:00 in Big 12 action.  Hopefully the day will be calmer after three straight hurricanes at home.

5-11-2010 vs. Bloomington Purple Raiders

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	0	1	0	1	3	0	0	5	9	0
Bloomington Raiders	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	5	0

Collins Pitches Wildcats Past Purple Raiders

Michael Collins used a sharp breaking curve ball and some sharp defense to shut down the potent offense of the Bloomington Purple Raiders in a key Big 12 Conference matchup at Howard Saar Field in Bloomington.  The result was a 5-2 victory and a two game lead in the conference standings as the Wildcats move to 22-6 overall and 9-0 in conference.  The Purple Raiders drop to 7-2 in conference.

Collins allowed four hits over the first five innings, getting out of a second and third with one out jam in the 2^nd inning when third baseman Wes Sery snagged a line drive and getting a clean 4-6-3 double play to end the 5^th inning.  In the 6^th inning, three walks sandwiched around an Alex Ludwig single brought in a run with one out.  A ground ball to short forced the second out at second base and Collins locked up the next batter with a curve ball for strike three to end the threat.  In the 7^th inning, he fanned the first and last hitter on breaking pitches to end it.  Collins allowed five hits and three walks and struck out four in the complete game victory.

Two deep home runs highlighted the Wildcats offense.  Jason Cullen’s solo shot to center field in the 4^th inning gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead and Brock Stewart two-run homer to center in the 5^th gave the Wildcats some breathing room, making it 4-0.  The Wildcats broke on top in the 2^nd inning when Jacob Birlingmaier led off with a single to center.  Courtesy runner Alex Jefferson moved up to second and third base on wild pitches and scored on an Adam Seifert single to left.  In the 5^th inning, Kyle Vaughn got things started with a walk and moved to second on a Collins sacrifice bunt before Stewart crushed a Dylan Johnson offering for his homer.  Birlingmaier got things started again with a double to right center and scored on a Sery line drive single.

The Wildcats were led by Birlingmaier and Sery with two hits and Stewart had two runs batted in.

The Wildcats and Raiders will meet again on Thursday at West Varsity Field in Normal.