Scorching Cadets push win streak to five

ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor

After a comeback at home against the Collegiate Cougars fell short on March 17, the Benedictine baseball team has been on a tear, running off five consecutive wins since that 7-4 loss to bring its season record to 6-3.

Road wins against Flint Hill and St. Paul VI started off the streak, before the Cadets stayed at home for the next three games, beating Walsingham, Greenbrier Christian Academy and Bishop O’Connell in their own ballpark. The Cadets outscored their five opponents 38-9 in that span, shutting out Walsingham and Bishop O’Connell.

Three different pitchers earned wins over the five games, with juniors Riley Roarty and Eli Ranson earning two and sophomore Jake Wise earning the other. The lefthanded Ranson has been humming bullets past the plate to start the season, tossing six strikeouts in the 6-2 win over Flint Hill and in the 13-4 win over Greenbrier, allowing just a total of four hits in 10 innings.

The young hurler Wise also put on a show in the 8-0 shutout of the Walsingham Trojans, a 6-2 team that suffered its worst loss at this point in the season to the momentum-riding Cadets. In Wise’s five-inning appearance, he struck out eight batters, allowed only two hits and didn’t walk a single batter on the way to the team’s third straight victory.

Great pitching has led to lowscoring outputs for their opponents, but the Cadets have been dynamic when it’s their turn to bat. They’ve averaged 7.6 runs per game over the five-game sample, while recording 9.8 hits per game. The best offensive performance came in the win over Greenbrier, where the Cadets finished with 15 hits, 11 RBIs and home runs from senior Terrence Rhodes and junior Sam Kaczmarek.

Rhodes was unstoppable in the win, connecting on the ball with four hits, a first inning homer, a third inning double and two singles. His home run on his first appearance over the plate came on a 3-1 count, where he sent the ball sailing past the center field fence for his team’s first run of the day.

He was also great in the 7-3 win over St. Paul VI on March 18, a week before the Greenbrier matchup. The senior was a per- fect four-of-four on his at-bats, scoring three of the team’s seven runs to help bring them the road win.

When Roarty wasn’t making life miserable for opposing batters, he was finding success of his own on his at-bats, connecting on 8-of-17 attempts during the win streak with four runs and six RBIs.

The Cadets have an opportu- nity to continue their winning ways when they take on Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy at home on Wednesday, March 29 at 4:30 p.m.

The out of state Eagles will be a very interesting matchups for the Cadets, with the Eagles just starting their season on March 25 and coming into the season ranked 18th in the Ohio Division II Prep Baseball Report preseason power rankings. With the Eagles entering into enemy territory, they’ll have to prepare for a Cadets team playing their best ball at this point in the season while showcasing talent across the board that allows them to beat any opponent they face in a variety of ways. robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.