NWF State sweeps weekend
By SETH STRINGER
NICEVILLE – Even amid a 1-3 start, NWF State manager Doug Martin could sense this was a talented Raiders squad.
A 12-2 run later, capped by this past weekend's dominant 3-0 showing, and the pieces are starting to come together.
The Raiders outscored Sante Fe, Motlow State and East Mississippi by a combined 33-2 in three run-ruled affairs over the weekend to improve to 13-5 on the season.
On the mound, Matt Boswell, Jacob Kelchner and Conor Angel each went the distance with gems.
Boswell (2-0) silenced Sante Fe – ranked tops in the state and 12th in the nation at 16-6 – in an 11-1 win with five strikeouts and allowed one unearned run on five hits and four walks over seven innings. The sophomore righthander has a 1.25 ERA, .97 WHIP and 19 strikeouts over 21 2/3 innings with complete games in both starts.
In the 11-0 victory over Motlow State, Jacob Kelchner (4-0) struck out six and allowed just four hits over five shutout innings. The freshman southpaw has a 3.54 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings.
In the 11-1 win over East Mississippi State, Angel (2-1) struck out nine and allowed just one run on two walks and a hit. The sophomore righthander has a 2.08 ERA, .92 WHIP and 18 strikeouts over 17 1/3 innings.
As was the case with each starter, the run support over the weekend was overwhelming.
Over the three-game home stretch, the Raiders went a combined 37-for-79 (.468) with 33 runs scored, 13 extra-base hits, nine walks and just 10 strikeouts.
Five of those extra-base hits went to Brock Franks, who went a combined 5-for-8 with seven RBIs, two runs, four doubles and a triple to raise his batting average to .298 and OPS to .886. The freshman now leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Will Moriarty added two homers in a 6-for-9 effort that produced seven RBIs and four runs. The freshman is hitting .364 with a team-best three homers and 1.249 OPS to accent 13 RBIs.
Noah Bailey continued his torrid hitting with a 4-for-7 effort with five RBIs and is now 10-21 on the season with a team-best .607 on-base percentage. Jake Randa, who last week was the NJCAA Player of the Week and is hitting .459, went 5-for-10 with four runs.
Kaden Polcovich added a 5-for-10 effort with six runs, KC Simonich chipped in four RBIs and three runs and Blaine Smith and Justice Lucas each had three RBIs for the Raiders.
Sure to rise from No. 7 in this week's Region 8 rankings, the Raiders host Coastal Alabama-East tomorrow at 3 p.m.