.gif)
The Columbus Cardinals started their spring break vacation on Tuesday, March 9, by adding another district win to their record.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead and relied on their stellar pitching to seal the deal for them.
The Cardinals started out the game with some jump offensively, their bats were on fire, and they were able to score early runs because of it. The Cards scored three runs in the first two innings to give them a 3-1 lead heading into the third.
This is the point of the game where both teams began to tighten up defensively. The Cards only gave up one run in the first three innings but knew how opportunistic Tidehaven can be in the later innings.
In the fourth inning the Cards extended their lead to 4-1, they knew Tidehaven were going to push back and let pitcher Kaleb Kuhn take over the game.
Coming off a 19-strikeout performance Kuhn continued to dominate on the bump for the Cards. Kuhn threw 110 pitches on Tuesday, 66 of those pitches were strikes.
During Tuesday’s game, 60% of the time, Kuhn threw a pitch, it was a strike. That helped him strike out eight batters. That gives Kuhn 27 strikeouts over the last 13 innings.
Despite that incredible stat Tidehaven knew the game was not over in the fourth inning. Tidhaven’s defense had a very strong game towards the end of the game which gave them a little confidence boost every time they returned to the dugout without giving up a run in the last three innings.
Tidehaven responded in the fifth inning, they cut the Cards lead to only two runs but Kuhn was not letting them score two runs in an inning. With two innings left Tidehaven knew they had time to chip away at the Cards lead.
Kuhn shutdown Tidehaven’s offense in the sixth inning leading to a seventh inning where the pressure was on Tidehaven. They were able to record one run before James Janak came in to relieve Kuhn.
Janak added one more strikeout to continue the Cards dominance on the mound and closed out the game with a score of 4-3.
The Cardinals will be on the road for their next game against Yoakum where they will look to continue their run in district play so far.
