LEON — Sterling pitching kept things in check for Humboldt High Monday until the Cubs’ bats came to life.
Humboldt rode the arms of Trey Sommer and Logan Page to a doubleheader sweep of host Bluestem, winning 7-5 and 12-0.
“Trey was great in his start in the first game,” Humboldt head coach Mike Miller said.
Sommer allowed two hits over four-plus innings as the Cubs built a 4-1 lead. Kaiden Barnett came on in relief in the fifth and pitched a scoreless sixth, but ran into trouble as Bluestem rallied in the seventh.
The Lions pared Humboldt’s lead to 7-4, prompting Miller to call on Page, who promptly retired the final batter of the game to seal the win. Barnett struck out four batters over his two innings of work.
Page then took the hill to start the nightcap, and pitched a three-hit shutout, allowing three hits, while striking out nine.
“He was incredible,” Miller said. “Bluestem has a couple good pitchers, and for him to shut them out while our offense struggled for the first five innings was huge. He kept us in the game when things weren’t going well.”
The Cubs broke a scoreless deadlock with a run in the fifth inning.
But the floodgates opened once Bluestem went to its bullpen. The Cubs tacked on three in the sixth and eight in the seventh.
Barnett went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Maddox Johnson doubled twice with two RBIs as well. Sam Hull singled and doubled with a pair of runs scored. Sommer singled and doubled with two runs and an RBI. Logan Page also doubled. Gavin Page, Ethan Lucke, Jacob Harrington and Colden Cook all had singles in the 14-hit attack.
Things were a bit tighter in the opener.
The Cubs led 3-0 after half an inning and 4-1 after two. Humboldt pushed across single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh before Bluestem’s rally.
“They were able to find some holes late to make it interesting,” Miller said. “It was good to see us respond in a tight game. Wins like these will only help you in the future.”
Hull singled and doubled out of the leadoff spot with an RBI. Barnett, Cole Mathes and Cook all had a pair of singles. Sommer, Gavin Page, Lucke and Hunter Bauer all singled as well.
