VASJ vs. Brush baseball: Vikings blank Arcs, 8-0
Apr. 6—VASJ started strong from the batter's box and the mound as the Vikings found an early rhythm against Brush on April 6. The Vikings jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs in the first and never looked back.
The Arcs began to threaten as the game progressed with runners on base all through the final three innings. But the Vikings' pitching and defense locked in as they went on to record an 8-0 victory.
The game started with Brandon McBride and Bo Jackson driving in runs. The hits didn't stop there for the Vikings (2-1) as they finished with 11 in the game.
Three of those came from Joe Szmania, who finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven across. With strong bats up and down the order, he believes the young Vikings are only going to get better as the season goes on.
"You have to trust in yourself," Szmania said. "We do a lot of work on it at practice. If every guy can go out there and hit hard, you have a good chance at a win. We were really able to take advantage of their fastballs today and that proved to help our game plan of coming out and being aggressive."
With an abundance of run support, the Vikings' pitching went to work. Chase Polunus started and didn't allow a Brush base runner until the fourth inning. He had five strikeouts.
The early success at the plate allowed him to work on his pitch speed and other mechanics.
"We were working first-pitch fastballs a lot and following it with a lot of off-speed," Polunus said. "The changeup was really working well today for me and the defense was incredible. I was able to put the ball wherever I wanted and they did the rest."
The ball was handed to Bo Jackson in the fifth inning, and while he kept the shutout going, that was when the Arcs bats started to find some life.
In all three innings of his save, the Arcs put runners in scoring position as they tried to mount a comeback. But each and every time, Jackson put the kibosh on those hopes.
He struck out eight and kept the Arcs off the scoreboard despite a run being 90 feet away multiple times.
"I just needed to remind myself to stay calm and trust the defense," Jackson said. "It was a lot of big moments but not only was I able to handle it, but the defense was more than ready to back me up for the ones they got a hold of."
While the two pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts, they gave credit to the fielding for backing them up every time even with their lack of game experience this season.
With rain in recent days, the chances to play games or practice have been few and far between. So to see the fielders come through in a big way was huge for the Vikings' shutout efforts.
"We work a lot on the fielding in practice," Polunus said. "We do a lot of infield outfield work and sometimes throw bullpens. We know that as long as we rely on our defense, we'll be able to do anything."
Brush continues its quest for its first win April 8 at University. VASJ continues April 8 at Wickliffe.
