Jackson Senior Babe Ruth sweeps Coyotes

When Jackson Senior Babe Ruth third baseman Heath Pobst wasn't stealing hits from the Anna, Ill., Coyotes, he was getting hits of his own.

Pobst had two hits and scored two runs to help Jackson knock off the Coyotes 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday night at Legion Field. Jackson completed the sweep with a 10-0 victory in six innings in the second contest.

"We played really good defense," Jackson coach Paul Sander said after his team's first win. "It seems as though with Heath at third, the harder you hit the ball, the better he fields. He made a couple game-saving plays."

Pobst's biggest fielding play came in the fifth inning. With runners on first and third with two outs, Pobst made a diving stop to his left and got to his feet in time to get the out at first base. He also made two other diving stops, both to his left, to save runs.

"We were all fielding the ball great and just coming up with the big plays," Pobst said.

Jackson starter Alex Buessink threw a complete game to earn the win. He recorded 15 ground ball outs while allowing six hits and striking out four. He did not surrender a run until the seventh inning.

"He did really well," Sander said. "He was out of gas a little bit at the end. We have three doubleheaders in a row, so we're trying to get as much out of our pitchers as we can. The key to our game tonight was our defense."

Buessink retired the Coyotes in order in the first and fourth innings but was in trouble in the other five frames. The Coyotes put at least two runners on base in each of those innings and stranded 10 runners in the game, including the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

Pobst, along with B.I. Howard and Matt Stueve, had two hits each.

Jackson scored its first run in the second inning on a Stueve double. An error by the Coyotes shortstop scored Stueve to give Jackson a 2-0 lead.

Pobst and Stueve combined to go 4 for 6 with a double and single apiece. Stueve had two RBIs and executed a perfect suicide squeeze play in the sixth inning to give Jackson a 5-0 lead. Buessink said the team has practiced the suicide squeeze often, so it was nice to be able to execute it.

"It was great," Buessink said. "It helped me out a lot on the mound. It got my adrenaline running."

Jackson scored again in the fifth and got two insurance runs in the sixth despite no production from the Nos. 2 and 3 batters in its lineup.

Spencer Sander and Buessink were a combined 0 for 6 at the plate and both grounded into a double play.

"With the top of the order not hitting, our bottom guys picked it up," coach Sander said. "If you're going to win games, guys have to pick each other up."

Spencer Sander rebounded to get two of Jackson's 15 hits in the second game of the doubleheader. Jesse Long got the shutout victory.

The wins improved Jackson's record to 17-1. The team plays a doubleheader at 6 p.m. today at Bloomfield.