Springs Valley Community High School

Coming into the week, the Springs Valley baseball team had lost five games in a row. Shortcomings in the field, at the plate, on the basepaths, and on the mound rotated to keep the Blackhawks out of the win column as their record fell to 1-6. Then on Monday, they finally snapped the streak by beating Wood Memorial 12-2. They weren’t particularly sharp against the Trojans, but they won and — perhaps more importantly — they had fun doing it. That momentum carried through to Wednesday when Springs Valley traveled to Salem and, for the first time in at least eight years, beat the Lions on their home turf. “The Monday win was just something we needed for morale. We didn’t play the best in the world, but a win’s a win at this point and I think they just played off of it,” Springs Valley coach Rob Denbo said. “They’ve been excited this week, they’ve had fun, and they came out and played with joy tonight and that carried over to their play.” The backbone of Springs Valley’s victory was a strong pitching performance from Kaden Dunn. The junior pitched the first complete game of his career, going all seven innings and allowing only two earned runs on seven hits, three walks, and a hit by pitch. He also registered a career-high six strikeouts. It wasn’t a dominant performance by any means, but it was exactly what the Blackhawks need from Dunn and the rest of their pitching staff. “He was absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t be happier for a guy who’s worked as hard as he has. He mixed his pitches, he started off batters with surprising pitches, and that’s what he’s got to do,” Denbo said. “We don’t have any pitcher that can overpower anybody, but we do have pitchers that if they mix it up like Kaden did tonight, they’re going to be as successful as he was. He was just zoned in, he worked ahead, and that’s what happens when you work ahead.” Offensively, the Blackhawks were sparked by a season-high seven stolen bases, tying the mark that they set in their first win of the season against Vincennes Rivet. That followed six stolen bases against Wood Memorial, giving them 13 this week alone compared to the nine total stolen bases they had during their losing streak. The aggressive style of play kept the Blackhawks in attack mode throughout the game. “I guess that’s partly on me. We haven’t stolen as much this year as we have in the past. We haven’t had a Kannon Chase out there and then other guys who can do it as well,” Denbo said. “We’ve got to get our runners moving, get some blood flowing and get them in the game.” Springs Valley also got some big hits from its power bats. Jonas Hammond was very productive in the cleanup spot on Wednesday, going 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a run batted in. Noah Allstott got a big knock as well, driving a ball through the middle of the infield for a two-RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to give the Blackhawks some breathing room. As a team Springs Valley recorded 10 hits, also getting six runners on via walk and having two batters get hit by a pitch. Compared to just three strikeouts, it’s easy to see how the Blackhawks were able to find success on offense: they forced the Lions to make plays and didn’t beat themselves. “Jonas really barreled the ball well tonight, Noah had a very timely hit as well and drove in a couple of runs, but we only struck out three times and we were putting the ball in play,” Denbo said. “We hit the ball and made them make plays and when you hit the ball hard you find a lot more holes.” For all the big hits the Blackhawks saw over the course of the night, the play that started things for them offensively was a rather unimpressive one. In the top of the third inning, Keyton Jones singled to right field and then, with one out, Landon Farris came to the plate. In his second varsity at-bat, the freshman laid down a sacrifice bunt, successfully moving Jones to second and putting some pressure on the Salem pitcher with the top of the order coming to the plate. Jones would take third on a wild pitch, Konner Chase would walk, and then a double steal would net the Blackhawks their first run of the game. The ball never even left the infield after Jones’ single and the ‘Hawks were on the board. “We scored a run with one out playing small ball which isn’t something we’ve always excelled at,” Denbo said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do and it’s funny how often a bunt sparks a game. It’s just a guy giving up his at-bat to move a runner and Landon did that effectively.” Springs Valley (3-6, 1-2 PLAC) will try to pick up their third win in a row and pull to an even .500 record on Thursday when they travel to West Washington. The Blackhawks hope that their second trip of the week to Washington County will be as successful as the first and they know it can be so long as they continue having fun the way they have against Wood Memorial and Salem. “We’ve talked about it from the beginning of the year, there’s a lot of talent out there and frankly I think they all know that they’re underachieving. I think these last two games, just the energy they’ve had — the idea that it’s fun — has been big,” Denbo said. “We weren’t too sharp on Monday but we still got the win and I think the enthusiasm got us that win, then tonight we just built on that. “When you look out there and see a lot of smiles and guys having fun and you’re talented, good things happen.” BLACKHAWKS 6, LIONS 3 SPRINGS VALLEY;|;SALEM ;AB;R;H;BI;|;;AB;R;H;BI Chase cf;3;1;1;0;|;Ingram 2b, cf;4;0;0;0 C Kovas 3b;3;1;0;0;|;Tucker 3b;4;1;2;2 Cruz ss;4;1;1;1;|;Albertson 1b;2;0;2;1 Hammond c;4;0;3;1;|;McCutcheon pr;0;0;0;0 B Kovas 2b;1;1;1;0;|;Colwell dh;3;0;1;0 Land lf;4;0;2;0;|;Bowling lf;4;0;0;0 Allstott rf;4;0;1;2;|;Burton ss;2;0;0;0 Jones 1b;3;1;1;0;|;Paulley rf;3;0;1;0 Farris dh;2;0;0;0;|;Mull cf, p;3;0;0;0 Weeks cr;0;1;0;0;|;Reardon p, 2b;1;1;0;0 Dunn p;-;-;-;-;|;Davis ph;1;1;1;0 |;Foster c;-;-;-;- Totals;28;6;10;4;|;Totals;27;3;7;3 Springs Valley (3-6);001;120;2—6 Salem (1-6);000;010;2—3 E: Springs Valley 3, Salem 1. DP: Salem 2, Springs Valley 0. LOB: Springs Valley 9, Salem 7. 2B: Hammond 2. 3B: Tucker. SB: Chase 2, Cruz, Farris, Jones, B Kovas, Weeks. S: Farris. SF: Albertson. ;;IP;H;R;ER;BB;SO Springs Valley;Dunn (2-3);7.0;7;4;2;3;6 Salem;Reardon (0-1);4.2;7;5;5;4;1 ;Mull;2.1;3;2;2;2;2 HBP: Chase (by Mull), B Kovas (by Mull), Albertson (by Dunn). WP: Reardon 5.