NORFOLK – Every team wants to play well on their home field, and Northeast Community College is making sure they do that on the baseball diamond.
In their first seven home games leading up to yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) contest, the Hawks held a 5-2 record at Veterans Memorial Park, including winning their last five games by a combined score of 52-15.
Northeast continued that home domination again, coming out with two more wins over Miles Community College by finals of 13-3 and 11-1 to complete their second straight doubleheader sweep.
The win also marked the seventh straight for Northeast and eighth out of the 10 games they’ve played in March.
“We’ve been swinging the bat really well,” head coach Marcus Clapp said. “We’ve taken advantage of runners in scoring position and have been aggressive on the bases. I thought we did a really good job of putting pressure on them and taking care of business.
One of those guys that has been taking care of business is Guiseppe Salvatore, who blasted a grand slam to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning to seal the 13-3 Game One win.
Hayden Parrish also had the hot bat on the day for the day for Northeast, as he belted a two-run homer to right-center field in the fourth inning of their eventual 11-1 Game Two win.
“Those two have been their for us all year,” Clapp said. “It’s nice to have two lefty bats in the lineup. They continue to find ways to get on, and we continue to find ways to get other guys on for them so they can drive runs in.”
While Parrish and Salvatore have been the two experinced players that have stepped up, other newer faces have come in and been a big addition to the program.
On Tuesday, it was Chris Lundeen Jr., who finished with two hits and three RBIs, while Alex Martin and Aaron Artsen combined for six hits and six RBIs during Wednesday’s contest.
“Aaron’s been swinging the bat well while Alex has been on fire the last three or four games,” Clapp said. “It’s nice to get those young guys at bats and get them rolling, as it helps create our depth for later in the season.”
A big part of Northeast’s runs also came with the fact that the were able to take advantage of 13 walks issued by Miles City pitchers between the two games.
“We have to take advantage of those,” Clapp said. “I say it on our end that when we give up free bases, it bites us. So when other teams do that, we have to take advantage of that, which we did.”
The Hawks will be back in action for another home series against Iowa Western Saturday at 12.