Mead defeats red-hot Centaurus
Campbell silences Warriors’ lineup
LAFAYETTE >> Mead baseball’s 13-2 win against Centaurus on Saturday was a statement for the Mavericks, suggesting it might be a team back on the rise after a rough start to the season.
The Mavericks won their third game in the past four outings, this after coming up on the short end three out of their first four games of the campaign.
A scoreless first inning between the teams suggested, initially, that a close game might be in store. But, when Mead surged ahead by three in the top of the second and then added another four runs in the third, the tides began to change.
Mead only continued to keep pressure on the Centaurus defense, scoring two more runs in the fourth inning, and the Warriors — which went 3-0 this past week during a spring break trip to Arizona — found itself unable to keep up.
“We just went 3-0 in Arizona this week, so coming off a great trip, I think we just kinda all got in our heads,” CHS pitcher Braden Dornier said after the game.
“We went into today thinking we were going to beat these kids, and we were just sloppy out there.”
For Mead, starting pitcher Ike Campbell was all it needed to suppress the Warriors’ bats. The senior spent five innings on the mound where he threw 84 pitches, 51 of them for strikes, and only allowed six hits.
“We’re just working on playing as a team and I think today was a glimpse of that,” Campbell said. “I’ve got to give all credit to my guys in the defense, though, because they made all the plays. I just pitched a hard contact on the ground and they did their job, and I did mine too.”
Of the eight RBIS the Mavericks collected, five were a joint effort between Dalton Berg and Willie
Eilers. The Warriors, on the other hand, only managed one — the contribution of Will Pauletto.
“I think we were kind of high on our horse because we beat those teams in Arizona
we don’t know,” Jack Parana, another Centaurus pitcher, said. “Then we came back here and I think we thought we had it.”
Despite their slow start to the game, the Warriors strung together some hits to plate a run in each of the fourth and sixth innings. A late four-run seventh for the Mavericks then put any
thoughts of a rally to rest.
“We expect a lot better out of us, but we just need to keep a level attitude and play games the same way every time,” Parana said.
Mead’s win over Centaurus raised it to a .500 mark, at 4-4, with another matchup against Centaurus set for Monday. The Warriors are now 5-2 overall.