The Seward baseball team opened the 2021 season March 18 with a back-and-forth battle against Columbus.
The Jays took the lead 8-7 in the bottom of the sixth, but Columbus scored three in the top of the seventh to pull out a 10-8 win.
SHS Coach Brock Anderson was happy with how his team responded when Columbus took the lead in the first, fifth and sixth innings.
“I saw lots of good things from our young guys,” he said. “Essentially we’re a brand new team.”
He said some of the mistakes the Jays made were because of first-game jitters, and those are easy to fix.
“The coaches fall back into a groove, and we forget the kids haven’t played in a year,” Anderson said.
Trevor Roth led the team against Columbus with two hits, including a double.
Seward came back on March 20 with a 7-5 win over Fairbury. This time, the Jays took the lead in the top of the seventh and didn’t relinquish it.
“We were down the whole game,” Anderson said.
He said Fairbury’s starting pitcher did a good job, but once he reached his pitch limit, the Jays were able to take advantage of the bullpen.
“We scratched, clawed and fought our way back,” Anderson said. “We picked off a runner at third to end the game.”
Derek Erickson was 3-4 with a double to lead the offense. Gavin Sukup hit a home run.
Ruth and Malachi Lyon shared pitching duties, both striking out five.
The Jays were scheduled to play at Norris March 22, host Wahoo Thursday, March 25, at 4:30 p.m. and travel to St. Paul Saturday, March 27.
“This is a very fun team to be around,” Anderson said. “We push them hard and they respond well. They push each other and are good teammates.”
With pitch counts in play, Anderson said Seward has a couple pitchers who come out of the bullpen. He’d like the starters to get deep into games, throwing strikes.
