It was worth the wait.
With wet grounds stopping play Tuesday, the East Central College baseball Falcons had to wait until Wednesday to host Spoon River of Illinois in a doubleheader.
ECC (12-16) swept Spoon River in the two games, 14-3 and 12-11.
“Good to see the guys get two (wins),” East Central Head Coach Johnathan Mills said. “They are coming together as a team, but we are a long way from being where we need to be on the mound and execution-wise offensively. Too many 2-0 counts and 0-2 to 3-2 on the mound.”
Mills said the doubleheader was a chance to play different players.
“Happy to get almost everyone an inning midweek, which is the only positive to midweek games from an arm standpoint,” Mills said.
The Falcons hit the road for Trenton this weekend. East Central plays a four-game series against NJCAA Division II Region 16 rival North Central with two games Friday and two Saturday at Burleigh Grimes Field.
“With a good weekend, we are in a good position heading into final two weeks of region play with a chance at the No. 1 seed. This is our first goal of the season and we sit at 3-1 in region play thus far.”
First game
The Falcons took care of business quickly, needing five innings to finish off the visitors.
East Central scored in each inning, getting three in the first, four in the second, five in the third and two in the fourth.
Spoon River scored its three runs in the top of the third. The game ended after the top of the fifth on the run rule.
Luciano Terilli (Lake Highlands, Dallas, Texas) logged three hits, including a triple, a stolen base, three runs and two RBIs.
Seth Shannon (Caroline, Woodford, Virginia) had three hits with a home run, three runs and five RBIs.
Tyson Dent (Briarcrest Christian, Memphis, Tennessee) posted two hits, including a home run. He walked once, scored three times and drove in three runs.
Logan Baker (Lake Travis, Austin, Texas) posted two hits with a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
Players with one hit apiece were Trey Orman (Keller, Texas), Mario Colombo (Francis Howell), Will Sisk (Aledo, Texas) and Grant Beck (Hillsboro).
The Falcons used four pitchers, starting with Matthew Hallmann (Scotland Prep, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia), who gave up a hit, a walk and hit a batter in one inning.
Shane Kearbey (Francis Howell) was the winning pitcher, going 1.1 inning, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out two.
Sam Oermann (St. Clair) tossed 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and a walk. He struck out one.
Orman closed the game, allowing a walk and a hit batter. He struck out one.
“(The) highlight was seeing Trey Orman come in to finish game off for first outing of the season,” Mills said. “He will slide into the closer role potentially by year’s end.”
Second game
The Falcons scored five times in the bottom of the seventh to win the second game, 12-11.
Spoon River opened scoring with a run in the top of the first and four more in the second.
East Central came back with two runs in the second and three more in the fourth. ECC added two more runs in the fifth.
Spoon River scored five runs in the top of the sixth and added a run in the seventh. East Central won the game with a five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Beck logged two hits, a double and a home run. He also walked, scored three times and drove in three.
Nathan Turner (Dover, Delaware) had two hits, including a double. He scored twice and drove in one run.
Patrick Dale (Crestview, Florida) also doubled. Trevor Packan (Byron Nelson, Trophy Club, Texas), Blake Whitlock (St. Francis Borgia Regional), Ethan Lindemann (Rockwood Summit) and Shannon singled.
Austin McKim (Linn), Josh Gardner (Kirkwood), Packan and Whitlock also walked.
Andy Hueste (Linn), Orman and Dale were hit by pitches. McKim added a sacrifice fly.
“Defensively, we had 11 runs given up with five earned,” Mills said. “Not much to highlight here — too many errors and mental mistakes. Flush the outing and move on to weekend.”
Six different Falcons pitched in the game with Hudson Stark (Weatherford, Texas), Alfred Ulloa (Cenapec, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), Cristian Gonzalez (Waxahachie, Texas), Levi Betts (Lincoln), TJ Schwartz (Timberland) and Sisk seeing action.
Betts went the longest, two innings, allowing a hit and a walk.
Sisk pitched 1.1 innings and earned the win, allowing an unearned run on four hits. He struck out two.
Gonzalez also fanned two batters.