Freshman left-hander Brody Bruns was in firm command on the mound Friday evening, when the Rochelle Hub varsity baseball team hosted Belvidere in nonconference play.
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ROCHELLE — Freshman left-hander Brody Bruns was in firm command on the mound Friday evening, when the Rochelle Hub varsity baseball team hosted Belvidere in nonconference play.
Bruns fired six shutout innings against the Bucs, striking out six batters without walking a single batter while holding Belvidere to just two hits. With the freshman dealing on the mound and the Hubs backing him up with quality infield defense, Rochelle cruised over the Bucs for a 9-1 win. It’s the first home victory of the season for the Hubs (2-3, 0-0 Interstate 8), who will face the Princeton Tigers at home on April 2 before traveling to battle Boylan Catholic on April 4.
“All of my pitches were working today and I was feeling it,” Bruns said. “I was throwing strikes and they weren’t touching it. It was a pretty good day overall. My fastball was really good today and I got a lot of swings and misses. I got a couple of swinging strikeouts with my cutter too. It feels good to get a win under our belt, especially before the conference schedule starts.”
Rochelle held a 2-0 lead after the first inning, where senior Brock Metzger singled and scored on a passed ball before Bruns laced an RBI single up the middle to bring home sophomore Brode Metzger, who singled in his first at-bat of the game. The Hubs tallied two more runs in the second inning, scoring on an RBI single from senior Braden Behrens and a sacrifice fly from junior Ryan Senne. Behrens went 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Rochelle offense.
“I thought we all came out prepared after our big loss yesterday,” Behrens said. “The boys were ready to play today. I just took a deep breath at the plate and waited for the right pitch to rip. We’ve been working hard all winter and the boys are ready to compete for a championship.”
An RBI double from senior Brandt Waters sparked a two-run effort from the Hubs in the bottom of the third inning, where juniors Elijah Harley and Carson Lewis both scored after reaching base on Belvidere errors. After a scoreless fourth inning, Rochelle scratched runs over both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 9-0 lead over the Bucs. Lewis smacked a one-out double and touched home plate on an RBI single from Behrens to make the score 7-0 in the fifth inning.
Lewis continued to find success at the plate during the sixth inning, reaching on an RBI infield single that fueled a two-run effort in the frame. Belvidere avoided the shutout with one run in the top of the seventh inning, where the Bucs scored on a catcher’s interference and a wild pitch.
