By CHAD MATCHETT
Special to The Leader
The Sylvan Hills Bruins swept an American Legion A doubleheader Thursday night at home, 5-2 and 14-2 over Rose Bud.
The pair of wins improve the Bruins to 10-5 overall and 5-2-1 in area play, putting them in good position to possibly earn a bye in the upcoming tournament if they can nail down a one or two seed with another win or two.
“We had really good pitching in both games and that’s always key,” said Sylvan Hills coach Chris Foor. “We had a little bit of help in the first game, but hit the ball well in the second game.”
Sylvan Hills jumped out to a 2-0 in the first inning of the opening game, but watched Rose Bud come back to tie things at 2-2 in the second inning.
But that turned out to be it for Rose Bud as Sylvan Hills starter Hunter Poteet shut them down the rest of the way for a complete game win.
Brandon Baioni led Sylvan Hills at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored. Hunter Heslep had three RBIs in the win, with some help from the Rose Bud battery who had several passed balls in the game, allowing several runners to move into better position on the bases.
“I couldn’t ask anything more out of Hunter than what he gives me,” said Foor. “He’s doing incredibly well for an eighthgrader playing with sophomores. He’s keeping his emotions in check, is really open to learn and hustles with everything he does.”
The second game got out of hand late as the Bruins’ bats heated up as the field was finally cooling down as sun set.
Starting pitcher Charlie Rob-erts allowed just one run over four innings of work before handing off to JD Miller for the final inning.
“I tell you, everybody from one through nine crushed the ball that second game,” Foor said. “Hunter and Brandon hit the ball real well, and Chase Imhoff had a big game too.”
The Bruins had to mix up their lineup with their regular leadoff hitter missing the game, but that worked out well too. Jacob White usually bats near the bottom of the order, but was moved to leadoff and found his way on base with either a hit or walk every time.
“Jacob did a great job setting the table for us,” said Foor. “It was just one of those games where you have almost everything going right for you.”
