HUMBOLDT — Early troubles didn’t sink Humboldt High’s spotless record Thursday, but head coach Mike Miller noted there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Humboldt fell behind its visitors from Fredonia in both games, but rebounded with a wallop, winning 6-4 and 20-5 to stay unbeaten at 8-0.
“I’ve got to do a better job of having our guys ready to play from the first pitch,” Miller said. “We had too many defensive mistakes in the first inning that led to early deficits in both games.”
Fredonia led 2-0 after one inning, 3-0 after two and 4-0 going into the bottom of the fifth before Humboldt struck for four runs. Two more in the sixth gave the Cubs their first lead of the contest.
Miller credited Kyler Isbell for his relief pitching.
“He kept us in the game,” Miller said. “We were hitting the ball well, but everything was right back at them.”
Isbell pitched four innings in relief, allowing four hits while striking out one and allowing one run. He came on in relief of Gavin Page, who allowed just one hit over two innings and struck out four, while walking three. But a Cub error also led to a pair of unearned runs.
Trey Sommer shut the door to earn the save with a scoreless seventh, allowing one hit and striking out two.
Evan Lucke paced the offense, going 3-for-3 with a double. Both Sommer and Gavin Page had two hits, including a double. Colden Cook singled twice. Logan Page and Jacob Harrington also had singles.
The Yellowjackets took a quick 2-0 lead in the nightcap, but Humboldt didn’t take nearly as long to respond this time.
The Cubs scored six in the first, four in the second, six more in the third, and finally ended the game with a four-run rally in the fourth.
Humboldt took full advantage of five Fredonia errors and 12 walks.
Meanwhile, Isbell singled and doubled with four RBIs; Blake Ellis and Sommer both doubled, while Logan Page had a pair of singles. Sam Hull, Lucke and Cook also had singles.
“I liked the way we responded offensively,” Miller said. “We batted around the first three innings and continued to pressure them all night.”
