The Allen Community College Red Devils bats came alive Sunday as they belted multiple home runs while en route to an 18-1, 19-15 sweep of the Coffeyville Ravens.
After coming up short against the Ravens in their Jayhawk Conference opener last week, the Allen Red Devils evened the score, and their conference record, with Sunday’s action.
“It was a tribute to the boys’ work. When we lost to them Thursday I challenged them,” Allen coach Trey Harris said. “I told them we’re going to keep our standards, which requires work. Nothing changes if you don’t work harder. The guys were in the cage at 8 a.m. and it showed in the game.”
Allen’s bats got to work early as they jumped out to a 15-0 lead by the fourth inning. Freshman third baseman Nathan Villarreal set the tone while hitting in 3 of 4 at-bats as leadoff hitter. He ended the opener with a team-leading four RBIs including a home run. Sophomore outfielder Cason McCormac tied Villarreal for the team lead in RBIs with four off a pair of hits while four other Red Devils registered a pair of RBIs each.
Freshman pitcher Preston Lima picked up the win with four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings while allowing one run, three walks and four hits.
In the finale, Allen featured four pitchers including a few with local ties. Ryan Golden, who led the Iola American Legion Indians to the state tournament last summer, got the start with a strikeout. After getting into a bit of trouble, he turned it over to Humboldt signee Logan Page, who picked up a strikeout. The win ultimately went to freshman reliever Jacob Doty.
Over 3 1/3 innings, Doty tallied a pair of strikeouts before Tanner Dickson came in to pick up the save in the ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Similar to the first contest, Allen jumped out to an early lead on homers by freshman outfielder Andrew Carter and sophomore first baseman Nicky Morretto.
Sophomore shortstop Martin Malick also went yard in the winning effort.
Coffeyville clawed its way back into contention with a late rally, but Dickson tamped out any hope of a road win with his two strikeouts.
“The good thing about our pitchers is when they got sped up, they slowed it down and got outs,” Coach Harris said. “Every day is not going to be perfect. It’s about how we respond, and we responded well.”
Carter had a team-leading four RBIs while hitting in 3 of 4 appearances. Malick had a team-leading four hits in five appearances. 
Although pleased with the performance of his freshmen, Harris credited his sophomores for getting Allen rolling.
“It was just the boys’ work. We have an older group,” Harris said. “When you have seven of nine players from last year, and guys from last year you can pull off the bench, it makes it a lot easier to instill confidence, a method and a plan for your hitters.”
With the win, the Red Devils improved their record to 8-9 overall and 2-2 in the Jayhawk Conference. They head on the road to face Hutchinson Community College Tuesday, then host Labette Community College for a Thursday doubleheader. First pitch for Thursday’s games is at 1 p.m.
Find more photos from the doubleheader against Coffeyville here!
