LINDEN – Matt Voorhees pointed over the centerfield fence at Charger Field – northeast to be exact.
“We kind of have a saying – keep everything moving ‘northeast,’” Voorhess said. “That’s our growth, development and how we conduct ourselves.”
Voorhees took a little extra time with his team after the game.
It was still understood North Montgomery’s 6-0 baseball win over Lebanon was huge Wednesday evening.
The victory completed a two-game sweep over the Tigers. The Chargers outscored Lebanon 14-0 in the pair of contests, outhit Lebanon 18-7 and North only committed one error. Tiger hitters saw less than 150 pitches combined from Charger aces Jarrod Kirsch and Cade Cole.
Cole tossed a complete game Wednesday, gave up four hits and struck out five in raising his record to 3-2 and lowering his already sub-2.00 ERA.
“You know when you have Cade going out there you’ll get a lot of strikes. He doesn’t overpower anybody, but he does a good job of attacking the strike zone, keeping the ball down, get a lot of ground balls and trusting his team behind him.”
North (12-3, 6-3 Sagamore Conference) got all it needed with a four-run first inning. Five of the first six hitters reached against sophomore Luke Dunshee. Kirsch scored on a RBI single by Ross Dyson. Cole helped himself by driving in two runs with a hit later in the inning as North sent eight to the plate.
“It’s huge not only on our enthusiasm, but also (Lebanon’s) energy. You jump out against their starting pitcher and then what’s his mentality and that of his team? I thought (Dunshee) did a good job after that and hung in there. It’s tough with (senior pitching ace Corbin) Wells down for them. He’s such a competitor.”
The home team added two more in the fifth thanks to a two out, two run double by Corbin Meadows.
“We’ve had so many guys step up in this series. Corbin Meadows has been great. He’s been an inspirational leader in the dugout, he’s hit the ball well and doing things the right way.”
Lebanon (7-9, 3-6) loaded the bases in the fifth, but a ground ball hit to Roman Utterback at shortstop ended the threat. Utterback had that putout plus five assists in the game.
The on-field accomplishments continue to grow and the off-field mentality continues to be molded.
“These games are huge, obviously, in the conference, but they’re more important because we’ve had a lot of teachable moments beyond the game, like how we react to certain situations and overcome adversity. It’s been instrumental the last two nights on a lot of stuff that takes place off the field as well.”
Voorhees is counting on his eight seniors to lead.
“I’ve seen a little ‘me’ baseball and that’s what our talk was about. A guy can go 4-for-4 and not win the game. He has to depend on the other eight guys. There’s got to be a lot more ‘we’ baseball, if you want to win championships. These seniors are carving that path.”
North has won eight straight with non-conference tilts against Benton Central Friday and at Clinton Prairie Saturday. Those are the prelude to the SAC and Montgomery County doubleheader against SAC leader Crawfordsville next week. The Chargers have moved into a tie for second place in the SAC with Western Boone as the Stars came away with sweep of Crawfordsville. The Athenians stand at 7-2 with North and WeBo just a game behind at 6-3.
“We’re marching toward continuing to grow as a team, play as a team and the pursuit of championships as a team. We’re definitely progressing that direction.
