By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Sacred Heart baseball team’s league title defense is off to a roaring start following a doubleheader sweep of Minneapolis on Tuesday, with the Knights taking a pair of mercy-rule shortened wins 17-2 and 12-2.
Game One: Sacred Heart 17, Minneapolis 2
The Knights made short work of the opener in this series, striking for six runs in the first, four in the second, and seven more in the third to put the finishing touches on an early afternoon rout.
In the first inning, Sacred Heart capitalized on three walks and an error, scoring every player that reached on a free pass.
Minneapolis starter Max Helget settled in and found the zone after the first, but the Knight’s bats came to life, rattling off six four runs on six hits in the second, and seven runs on seven hits in the third, capped off by an Ethan Schrant 2-RBI double to end the game and a run of six straight hits.
No one player stole the spotlight for Sacred Heart, as eight different players reached base twice, and seven different Knights scored at least two runs.
On the bump, Graham Armstrong looked dominant, holding the Lions to just two runs on four hits in three innings of work.
Game Two: Sacred Heart 12, Minneapolis 2
The second game of this doubleheader was much more competitive, with Minneapolis striking first and hanging around until the later innings.
Emery Lambdin would open the scoring for the Lions, scoring on a walk in the second inning, but Sacred Heart was quick to rally, taking the lead with three unanswered in the home half and never looking back.
Neither team scored in the third, sending the game to the fourth inning with a tight score of 3-1, but the Knights would tack on six in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two more in the sixth to seal the deal.
Graham Armstrong followed up a 2-3, 2-RBI performance in game one with a nearly identical 2-3, 2-RBI performance in game two that included a game-winning base hit to right field to close out the win.
On the bump, Cayson Ivey muted the Minneapolis bats in the win, tossing four innings of two-hit ball and striking out five before turning the keys over to Tristen Hitchins.
With this result, the Knights move to 3-0 overall and in league play, while Minneapolis falls to 0-4.