Photo by mvcyclones.com
The second-year team members gather with their gifts for a team photo during Sophomore Day, during which they won back-to-back games.
By Aidan McGuire, News Editor
Despite a rough season, going 14-29 overall, Moraine’s baseball team managed to win back-to-back Tuesday and advance to the playoffs.
They played a doubleheader against the Sauk Valley Skyhawks. The two wins allowed the Cyclones to advance to place 12, which is the cutoff for playoff eligibility.
The team saw a shift in leadership this season with Mike Kane stepping back into the role of head coach. Kane previously coached at Moraine from 2014-2016, but had to leave due to personal reasons.
Cyclones outfielder Jake Lisk steps up to the plate and gets a hit.
“It looks like we’re on the bubble for the playoffs, and hopefully we can play well for the last few games,” Kane said.
Tuesday also marked Sophomore Day for the MV team, honoring all the second-year players. Between the two games, the sophomores each were given a commemorative poster and flowers, and a group picture was organized.
“It’s just to thank the kids for being here and their parents and that fun stuff,” Kane said. “And the sophomores help out quite a bit.”
The first game began at 2 p.m. The game started off strong for the Cyclones with Danzel Lucas hitting a double in the bottom of the first and bringing Maxwell Hensler home for the first run of the game.
The Skyhawks tied the game in the top of the third with a home run hit by Ryan Pitzer and went on to take a one-run lead in the fifth due to a fielding error from MV pitcher Joshua Basinger.
The innings to follow were consistent for both teams. With some strong pitches from Basinger, the Cyclones were able to prevent the Skyhawks from taking a larger lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cyclones tied the game back up 2-2. Jake Lisk got a hit that brought Maxwell Hensler home.
The winning play occurred in the bottom of the seventh with a hit by Danzel Lucas, bringing the final score to 3-2 for a Cyclones win.
Later that afternoon, the two teams took to the MV field once more. The Cyclones started the game strong and took a significant lead in the first few innings.
The second game “is very important and all the guys know it,” Kane said. “They’re very amped up.”
The Cyclones held their 5-2 lead for the majority of the game and easily moved through the innings, striking out the Skyhawks. In the bottom of the sixth, the Skyhawks scored one run, but this wasn’t enough to put them in the lead.
The second game of the day ended with a win for the Cyclones and a score of 5-3.
“It was a good game,” Cyclones pitcher Ben Cash said. “Defense was lively. The outfield was stellar, absolutely stellar. We had great defense all day.”
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