For 10 innings work in two games Sunday afternoon at Wintercrest West, a 25-hit performance was not too shabby.
Indeed, Anoka-Ramsey batters had their hitting shoes on tight. They collected 11 hits in the first game of the day, a 10-0 win in five innings over Hibbing, then added another 14 in a later game, a 12-2 win in five innings over Central Lakes College.
The wins, which put Anoka-Ramsey over the .500 mark for the first time this season since its 3-win, 8-defeat spring training trip into Arkansas during March, were also its fifth and sixth straight victories.
Those numbers in the win column were a welcome figurative feeling, but the air temperature of 56 degrees on the 10th day of April, 2016 at the ball park was literally the best feeling of all. In contrast to the 34- to 36-degree temps in which the team had played 24 hours earlier, 56-degree weather was a Caribbean beach holiday.
And to celebrate, Anoka-Ramsey provided an array of fireworks at the plate.
Against Hibbing in the early game, Anoka-Ramsey came out swinging. Five of the first seven batters in the lineup produced hits and combined with a couple walks and a sacrifice fly, the team had a quick 4-0 advantage. Two runs in the fourth and another four in the fifth ended the contest via the 10-run rule.
Designated hitter Justin "Jaws" Reeves, right fielder Joe Lewis and third baseman Haven "Juice Box" Williams, all collected two hits. Five other members of the order collected a single hit, while Reeves led the line-up with three RBI.
This was all lefty Tanner Kinney needed in securing the pitching win. Kinney gave up five hits over the five innings he pitched, while striking out seven Hibbing batters.
Against Central Lakes College in the late game of the day, a seven-run third inning broke up a tight pitchers' duel and gave Anoka-Ramsey command of the game 8-0.
Right-hander Zack Waalen, was tagged for a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning — one of five hits he gave up in the game — but his consistent persistence on the mound in getting Central Lakes batters out and his teammates' unrelenting assault at the plate put the game away.
Shortly after having its lead cut to 8-2, Anoka-Ramsey scored pair of runs in the last of the fourth to make it it 10-2 and another pair of runs in the last of the fifth — thanks to a two-run single by Lewis — to finalize the score at 12-2.
Reeves, first baseman Brennan Beese, left fielder Mike Zimbeck and center fielder Mylo Hommes all had two hits during this contest, but the team leader was the "Juice," Haven Williams, who had three. Williams also drove in four runs, three of which scored on his bases-loaded, bases-clearing double in the third inning.