Baseball: Hubs swing the momentum against Sycamore

Johnson, Beck combine for seven RBIs in 9-3 win over Spartans

Russell Hodges
Posted 4/16/19

Members of the Rochelle varsity baseball team could feel the momentum shifting toward the home side as the Hubs looked to ice their conference crossover against Sycamore on Tuesday.

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Baseball: Hubs swing the momentum against Sycamore

Johnson, Beck combine for seven RBIs in 9-3 win over Spartans

Posted

ROCHELLE — Members of the Rochelle varsity baseball team could feel the momentum shifting toward the home side as the Hubs looked to ice their conference crossover against Sycamore on Tuesday.

Rochelle led 6-3 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Hubs put three consecutive runners on base after two Spartan errors and one single from senior Brandon Johnson, who went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the game. After one run scored, junior Gavin Ansteth hammered the final nail in the Sycamore coffin, belting a two-run double to left that sealed Rochelle’s 9-3 victory over the Spartans. The Hubs improved to 8-2 on the season.

“We feed off momentum and when we feel that other teams are starting to get down,” said senior Johnny Beck, who homered and delivered four RBIs for Rochelle on Tuesday. “We started taking advantage of them once we felt they were getting down, and Brandon was awesome on the mound today. I don’t think there was anything they could do.”

Johnson pitched three perfect innings to begin the game, striking out four Spartans along the way. Rochelle broke the score open with a four-run bottom frame in the third inning behind Johnson’s RBI single and Beck’s three-run homer over the left-field fence.

“We’re doing a lot of things in practice that are helping me see the ball better,” Beck said. “I’m feeling good at the plate right now and I just need to stay positive and continue doing what I’m doing.”

Despite recording the first out, Johnson ran into some trouble on the mound during the fourth inning. Sycamore singled and walked before slapping three consecutive singles to score three runs and cut the Rochelle lead to 4-3. The Hubs struck right back, though, with seniors Hayden Jones (single) and Noah Knight (double) reaching and scoring on Johnson’s two-run single to second base to put Rochelle up 6-3.

“We’re seeing the ball really well and it snowballs for us,” Johnson said. “Once one guy starts hitting, the whole team starts hitting. I told myself to keep throwing strikes after the fourth inning and get some ground balls. I trusted my defense and the guys came through.”

After the fourth inning, Johnson and the Rochelle defense recorded seven straight outs without allowing a hit until Sycamore singled to open the top of the seventh inning. Senior Cody Johnson entered in relief and recorded the final two outs to secure the victory. Brandon Johnson finished with nine strikeouts and only five hits allowed.

“We’re really good on the mound,” Johnson said. “We have a few guys who can go deep into games and we have guys who can come in and shut the game down. It’s really nice to have a good pitching rotation.”