By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Sacred Heart baseball team swept Ellinwood in Salina on Thursday, holding on for a walk-off win in the opener before taking the nightcap in comfortable fashion.
Noah Hines was the game one hero, smacking the RBI single that gave the Knights the victory before Sacred Heart pitching shut down the Eagle lineup in game two.
Game One: Sacred Heart 5, Ellinwood 4
The first of this two-game set saw late drama with two lead changes in the final few innings.
The Knights got on the board first, plating two runs in the first and another in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning.
Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, bullpen woes saw four consecutive walks, a passed ball, and an RBI groundout flip that 3-1 lead into a 4-3 deficit entering the seventh.
With their backs to the wall, and down to their final three outs, Sacred Heart got to work, and after a pair of walks to lead off the inning, Hutch Community College-bound Coehn Gunn was finally chased from the game.
The Knights wasted no time jumping on the Ellinwood bullpen, as Cayson Ivey singled in the tying run, leading to an intentional walk of Graham Armstrong to load the bases for Noah Hines.
Perhaps feeling the disrespect, Hines delivered a walk-off single into left field, clinching a 5-4 win for Sacred Heart.
In addition to the game-tying single, Cayson Ivey was excellent on the mound, opening the game with four innings of two-hit ball in which he struck out seven, walked just one, and didn’t allow a single earned run.
Kolton Sprague slammed the door shut to earn the win, closing out the final two innings without allowing a run, and holding Ellinwood to just a pair of fruitless hits.
Game Two: Sacred Heart 7, Ellinwood 0
While the first game of this doubleheader went down to the wire, the nightcap was smooth sailing for Sacred Heart, who plated a run in the first, five in the third and another in the sixth to roll to a 7-0 victory.
Cayson Ivey picked up right where he left off, driving in a pair of runs and joining Miles Wells in the multi-RBI club on the day.
On the bump, Graham Armstrong earned the win, shutting out the Eagles through five innings of two-hit ball, striking out six and walking just one.
Sprague came in to close out the second victory of the day, holding Ellinwood without a single baserunner over the final two innings to wrap up the sweep for the Knights.
With these wins, Sacred Heart improves to 11-5 on the year while Ellinwood falls to 6-10.
The Knights will be back in action on Monday to continue the homestand against the Ell-Saline Cardinals.
You can watch both of these games on-demand any time below.