Newcastle Longhorns Babe Ruth baseball off to 4-0 start to season
The season open for the Newcastle Longhorns took place on Wednesday, (4/25), with a double header in Gillette against the Gillette Babe Ruth team. The Longhorns also began their attempt to defend their back to back State Championships.
In the first contest the Longhorns started several of their “new” players, who are moving up from the Jr. Babe Ruth league to the Sr. League. Peyton Tystad and Grant Darrow took turns on the mound in the first contest of the season, with contributions from Luke Harris and Cameron Williams in the field. The game Longhorns were able to generate a 6 to 5 win in this initial contest. The second game saw the veteran pitchers Ryan Oliver, Cam Quigley, and Sawyer Roberson take the mound for a convincing 6 – 0 win, with the Gillette team only placing one runner as far as second base.
On Sunday, 4/29 the Lonhorns traveled to Buffalo for another double header against the Bison. The first game saw the Longhorns jump out to an early lead and coast to a win with convincing pitching performances from Roberson, Quigley and Oliver,as well as dynamic offense. Nathan Behnke, Cam Quigley, Jake Lacy, and Sawyer Roberson all recorded multiple hits in the 10 to 6 win. The game also included a 30 min rain delay and rapid dipping temperatures.
In the second game Jake Lacy pitched a complete game that included fierce winds and continued dropping temperatures. At the end of four innings the Buffalo team came from being down by four runs to tie the game at 4 – 4. In the end the Longhorns generated 10 more runs mostly on the strength of aggressive base running, while only allowing one more run to claim a 14 to 4 win. While the temperatures were cool the contest was heated between these two familiar foes. The games were well attended by the Longhorn faithful who actually outnumbered the Buffalo fans. The 4 win 0 loss start mirrors the teams start from last year, and Coaches John Lacey and Ron Behnke expressed comfort with the good start.
The Longhorn Schedule is still evolving, with multiple tournaments and some home games coming in the next few weeks. Listen for Longhorns baseball on 1240 KASL with Jay Whitney.
