McCook Upends Saints in Baseball Opener

The Seward County Saints kicked off their 2015 baseball season Friday afternoon at Brent Gould Field in their earliest ever start to a season as they took on McCook. The Saints fell behind early 3-0, but battled back to tie the game at 3 in the 6^th. It remained 3-3 going to the 9^th where McCook played small ball and the Saints couldn’t handle it as the Indians pushed across a run and Seward went down in order in their half of the inning to fall 4-3.

On a cold and breezy day at Brent Gould Field, it was visiting McCook that struck first, scoring a 2^nd inning run on a pair of singles and an RBI groundout to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Saints had a chance to answer right back in the bottom of the inning, but a baserunning blunder spoiled their chances in a frame in which they had three baserunners but couldn’t push a run across.

McCook added to their lead in the 3^rd as they got three straight two out hits to pick up their second run of the game and added another on a wild pitch to go on top 3-0.

Seward scored their first run of the 2015 season in the bottom of the 3^rd as Brandon Rix legged out a two strike, two out infield single to cut the McCook lead to 3-1.

Saints starter JB Olson worked a speedy top of the 4^th, needing just nine pitches to set the Indians down in order and Seward inched closer with a run in the bottom half of the frame as Logan Nethercot doubled with one out and was later driven in by a Chad Kennedy single to make it 3-2.

It remained a 3-2 game into the bottom of the 6^th when the Saints caught a break on a McCook defensive mistake and were able to push a run across to tie the contest at 3.

Seward lefty Hayden Howard dialed in two more scoreless frames against McCook in the 7^th and the 8^th, but the Saints were unable to muster anything on the offensive end and the teams remained deadlocked at 3 as they went to the 9^th.

McCook led off the 9^th with a single on an 0-2 pitch and the Indians bunted with their next two batters and the Saints weren’t able to record an out. With the bases loaded and one out, a groundout gave the Indians a 4-3 lead and Seward went down quietly in their final at bats as McCook closed out the win 4-3.

McCook outhit Seward 8-7 in the contest while the Saints defense was not sharp in the opener, committing 4 errors while the Indians kicked it around twice. Nethercot and Dillon Drury each had two hits for the Saints and Nethercot had Seward’s only extra base hit in the contest. Howard showed the best of the three Seward pitchers in the game, going 4 innings and allowing just 1 hit while striking out 8 in his return to the Saints rotation.

Seward loses its season opener for the first time in three seasons to start the year at 0-1 while McCook earns its first ever win against the Saints as they begin 2015 with a 1-0 mark.

The Saints will take the field again next weekend when they travel to Dallas, Texas to meet the Galveston Whitecaps in a four game series Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.