Monday night against West Rusk, Sabine made sure that this wasn't a 3-3 game going into the 7th inning, as happened last Thursday night in Chapel Hill. The Nationals put up a "7-spot" in the first inning to back the stellar pitching effort of Dylan Cook, enroute to a 12-0 win and a season record of 6-0. Cook proved that Dakota Stewart and Jared Streeter aren't the only HOSSES in the stable as he faced the minimum 9 batters in a 3-inning stint.

Observations from the front row:
(1) On this night, Coach Cook decided to give his two top guns, Stewart and Streeter, a rest. Stewart played first base and Streeter caught as Dylan Cook got the opportunity to prove that he can be the IMPORTANT "THIRD PITCHER", necessary in post-season tournament play. And did Cook ever come through.

(a) 3 innings ... 0 hits ... 0 runs ... 1 HBP (hit by pitcher) that "officially" lasted 10-15 seconds on 1st base.
(b) Pitched to minimum 9 batters = 9 outs.
© All outs involved Cook (1), Streeter (2), and Stewart (3).
-- 7 K's, 1-3 grounder to Cook, PO 1-3 .. picked off runner @ 1st base.
-- the only time the other 6 guys got to play with the ball was between innings . . . at least the 1st 3 innings.
(d) Only one batter reached a 3-2 count. He struck out.

(2) After WALKING off with a 3-run 7th enroute to a 6-3 win against Chapel Hill last Thursday, the Nationals made sure that wouldn’t happen against the West Rusk Raiders. They scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, 6 before an out was recorded.

(a) The 1st inning sequence …
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. AB . . . Loc . . .. . On Bse . . . . .. .. . Run . . .RBI’s . . . . . . . . .Score
-- Zack Martin......................... 2B ...... LL .......... 2nd .................... 1 ......... -
-- Spencer Gregory................. E-5 ................. 1st, 2nd ................ 1 ......... -
-- Dylan Cook.........................Walk .............. 1st, 2nd, 3rd ........... 1 ......... -
-- Jared Streeter.................... .1B ...... LF ....... 2nd (SB) ............... 1 ...... 2 +1 (E-7) .......... 3-0
-- Chase Clifford..................... 2B ...... RL .......... 2nd .................... 1 ........ 1 ...................... 4-0
-- Dakota Stewart................... 1B ...... LF ......1st (SB)(WP) ........... 1 ........ 1 ...................... 5-0
-- Brandon Florence................ E-4 ................. 1st (WP) ................ 1 ........ 1 ...................... 6-0
-- Chase McCann.................... 1B ...... LF ......1st (SB), 3rd ............ - ......... - ........................ -
-- Bruce Broyles ....................Walk .............. 1st, 2nd, 3rd ............ - ......... - ......................... -
-- Tell DeFreece .................... F-9 ................ 1st, 2nd, 3rd ............ - ......... - ... 1 out ............ -
-- Jay Horan .......................... F C .....3rd .... 1st, 2nd, 3rd ............ - ......... - ... 3 outs ........ 7-0
-- Johnathan Chambers ......... KO ................ 1st, 2nd, 3rd ............ - ......... - .. 2 outs .......... -
-- Zack Martin........................ F C ..... 4-6 ........... n/a .................. n/a ...... n/a

(b) Left ‘em loaded, but 7 runs made up for it.

(3) Sabine offensive output was led by . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AB ..... Hits ... Runs ... RBI’s ...Walk .. SBse
-- Jared Streeter .......... 2-3 ...1B, 1B .... 1 ........ 4 ........ - ....... 4
-- Zack Martin .............. 2-3 .. 1B, 2B .... 2 ........ - ........ - ........ -
-- Chase McCann ......... 2-2 .. 1B, 2B .... 1 ........ - ........ - ....... 2
-- Dylan Cook .............. 1-2 ..... 2B ....... 2 ........ 2 ........ 1 ....... –

(4) West Rusk’s only hit came in the 7th inning off Sabine’s Brandon Florence, when Anderson dropped a two-out Texas Leaguer into left-center field. It fell between Horan (LF), Martin (CF), and McCann (SS). That hit was bracketed by walks and left the bases loaded when Bell grounded out .. 4-3. Florence had two strikeouts in the inning.

(5) Sabine continues to be aggressive on the base paths. Led in steals by Jared Streeter with 4 and Spencer Gregory with 3, the Nationals topped the Raiders 11-0 in the stolen-base category.

(a) Both teams were caught stealing once. Of course, Sabine was a little more dramatic with theirs. Streeter led too far off 3rd base on a strikeout by Stewart, and was picked off. He was tagged out in the ensuing rundown to complete the double play .. KOK-2-5-2 (CS).

(b) The Nationals recorded four doubles for the game. They would have had a fifth, but the Raiders’ right fielder, T. Reneau, gunned a strike to 2nd baseman, Anderson, who tagged out Brandon Florence (9-4). Florence was trying to stretch a single into a double. He hit a hard line drive over the head of the right fielder to the fence, but Reneau made a great play on the ball.