HUMBOLDT — It took a while for Humboldt High’s bats to come around Monday against Neodesha.
But with a pair of masterful pitching performances, the Cubs were afforded time to get things sorted.
Humboldt’s Logan Page tossed a three-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory in Game 1.
Kyler Isbell was nearly as effective in the nightcap, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings before relievers Asher Hart, Sam Hull and Brody Gunderman finished things off in a 7-2 victory.
“Logan and Kyler were really good in both of their starts,” Humboldt head coach Mike Miller said. “Their ability to hold their offense down until we could finally push some runs across was huge.”
A leadoff walk turned into an RBI grounder from Page to push Humboldt ahead 1-0 in the opener, a lead that stood until the Cubs broke through with three in the fifth. Page aided his own cause once again with a run-scoring single. Colden Cook made it 3-0 with an RBI grounder before Mason Sterling brought Page home with a one-out single.
Blake Ellis doubled and scored on a Sam Hull single in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Page struck out five and walked two.
Ellis sparked the offense with a single, double and three runs. Page and Sterling both had two singles. Hull and Gunderman had the other two hits.
HUMBOLDT did most of its damage in the nightcap in the bottom of the third.
Gunderman’s RBI single started the scoring. Jacob Harrington brought in a run with a bases-loaded walk and Cole Mathes made it 4-0 with a two-run double. Ellis tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly and Hull’s RBI single made it 6-0.
Sterling capped Humboldt’s scoring in the fourth after he was hit by a pitch, moved around to second and third on a Bluestreak error and scored on Isbell’s RBI ground-out.
Isbell scattered four hits and struck out six over 3.2 innings. Hart, Hull and Gunderman allowed a cumulative three hits over the final 3.1 innings of work. Hull struck out five in his relief stint.
Mathes had Humboldt’s only extra base hit. Ellis, Hull, Page, Cook and Gunderman all had singles.
If there was a blemish, it was Humboldt’s inability to make consistent contact, Miller said. The Cubs struck out a combined 19 times over the two games.
