BELOIT — In the immediate aftermath of the Beloit Sky Carp’s 5-3 loss to the Lake County Captains that capped off a tough series and dropped its record to 25-31 back on June 9th, the Sky Carp roster looked around the locker room at each other and were in agreement.
“We said ‘We’re so much better than this,’” first baseman Torin Montgomery said. “If we can just trust each other and never panic — there's always times when you're going to struggle, but the second you hit that panic button, you keep digging that hole. If we can trust each other and just have fun while we're doing it, we're going to win. And we've been doing that.”
Beloit had lost that series to Lake County 4-2. After dropping a pair of one-run games to the Quad Cities River Bandits to start the next series and run its losing streak to five-consecutive games, the Sky Carp have majorly turned it around, having rattled off eight-straight wins.
And Beloit is breaking out double the broomsticks after it secured a five-game series sweep of Lansing with a doubleheader sweep over the Lugnuts 6-4, 5-2 on a seasonably warm and sunny afternoon at ABC Supply Stadium.
“We have so much fun with each other and have gotten really close,” Montgomery continued. “That's one of the major things for us. A lot of times, egos get in the way in pro ball clubhouses. But, I don't think anybody feels that here. There's a lot of trust in each other, rooting for each other, which sometimes gets lost when you know you're competing against some of the guys that you're playing with. It's allowed us to get on a nice roll.”
Manager Billy Gardner Jr. said that the team is firing on all cylinders.
“Lansing was a good team coming in,” he added. “(We pitch) really well. You throw it across (the plate) — you play catch — good defense and the timing of the hits. You give yourself a chance to win, and we're finishing games off.”
It only took two batters for Beloit to take a lead in the bottom of the first of the nightcap after Mark Coley singled to left field and Johnny Olmstead blasted a double into deep center to make it 1-0 off starter Luis Carrasco.
Olsmtead, who has upped his average to .261, went 2-for-2 in the second game.
“The big thing that's turned around for Johnny a little bit is that he's going up there and he's attacking,” Gardner said. “He gets a pitch to hit and he gets after it. He's shown the ability to be able to drive the baseball, and he showed up today.”
The Lugnuts answered in the second when Cameron Masterman led off with a walk and came around to score when Brayan Buelvas laced a two-out single back up the middle.
Beloit jumped back ahead when Montgomery’s single in the third scored Olmstead, who had started the frame off with a single, but Lansing tied it back at two with Will Simpson’s RBI groundout in the fifth.
But the Sky Carp went ahead for good with a strong bottom half of the frame.
Olmstead worked a walk to start and he beat an off-line throw to the plate to score the go-ahead run when Josh Zamora doubled into the left-field corner off Garrett Irvin, who replaced Carrasco.
Two outs later, Montgomery sent his fourth blast of the season with a shot over the right-center wall off reliever Dylan Hall.
“That one felt good,” Montgomery said. “I've really been working in the cage about driving the ball through the middle of the field and even getting some pull. I didn't pull that one, but I'm really starting to feel dialed into my approach and trusting myself.”
The offensive surge helped starter Ike Buxton earn his second win of the season after he worked around six hits and three walks to allow two earned runs with two strikeouts.
“Ike’s situational pitching was good,” Gardner said. “He came out of the gate attacking the strike zone, which is what he used to do. If he attacks the strike zone and forces contact, he's going to have a lot of success.”
Caleb Wurster threw a 1-2-3 sixth and Nigel Belgrave sent the Lugntus down in order in the seventh to earn his fourth save of the season.
Zamora said that having such stellar pitching on the squad is an incredible help for the hitters.
“Ike’s a great guy that’s willing to learn and loves the game,” he added. “When you can have all three of those, and not to mention you can throw the ball really well, it's the equation for success. And he brings the guys around him and makes them a lot better as well.”
Buelvas had three hits for the Lugnuts while Montgomery went 2-for-2 for Beloit, which had seven of its nine players in the lineup reach base.
“What works really well for us is when we work pitch to pitch,” Zamora said. “At bat to at bat, we pass the baton. Let the next guy take care of it. It's not all about me, it's about how I can set the next guy up to deliver for us.”
The second half of the season began on Friday, so the Sky Carp are currently in first place at 3-0. Obviously it’s a long way to go, but if Beloit can keep the top spot it would make the postseason for the first time since 2013.
“This is the squad to do it,” Montgomery said. “You could tell even from the beginning of the year. I know we struggled a bit in the middle of the first half, but you can definitely tell this is the type of team that can go on and win a championship.”
• SUNDAY GAME ONE RECAP: Tony Bullard sent a two-run, go-ahead single into right field in the bottom of the fifth as Beloit rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win Sunday’s opening game 6-4.
Sam Praytor had an RBI double in the second but a three-run third put Lansing in front. Osiris Johnson had a one-run single in the fourth and Montgomery had a one-run double in the fifth to tie it up.
Thomas White threw 4 2-3 innings while allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks with seven punchouts. Josh Ekness and Xavier Mechem threw one hitless inning each to wrap the game up.
• FRIDAY RECAP: With 2,291 in attendance for Hawaiian shirt night, Beloit came back from another three-run deficit to win 4-3 when Jake DeLeo sent a walk-off line drive single into center field.
Olmstead’s two-run homer had tied it up in the eighth, and Karson Milbrandt was solid in five innings as he allowed two hits and two runs, one earned, with six strikeouts.
• BOXSCORE:
SKY CARP 5, LUGNUTS 2
Lansing 010 010 0 — 2 6 0
Beloit 101 030 — 5 7 0
LANSING (ab-r-h-rbi) — Buelvas, rf, 4-0-3-1, Bolte, cf, 3-1-0-0, Angeles, ss, 3-0-1-0, Simpson, 1b, 2-0-0-1, Mann, 3b, 3-0-0-0, Masterman, lf, 2-1-1-0, Conn, c, 3-0-0-0, Yamauchi, 2b, 3-0-1-0, Bautsita, dh, 3-0-0-0. Totals: 26-2-6-2.
BELOIT (ab-r-h-rbi) — Coley, cf, 4-1-1-0, Olmstead, ss, 2-2-2-1, Zamora, 3b, 2-1-1-1, Barstad, c, 3-0-0-0, DeLeo, lf, 1-0-0-0, Montgomery, 1b, 2-1-2-3, Santiago, 2b, 3-0-0-0, Luttrell, rf, 3-0-1-0, Fernadnez, dh, 3-0-0-0. Totals: 23-5-7-5.
OF: DeLeo (Buelvas at 2nd base). DP: Lansing 1, Beloit 0. LOB: Lansing 6, Beloit 5. SB: Olmstead (5). CS: Luttrell. 2B: Olmstead, Zamora. HR: Montgomery. SAC: DeLeo.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Lansing, Carrasco (3.0-4-2-2-3-2), Irvin (L,1-2,1.1-1-2-2-1-4), Hall (1.2-2-1-1-0-3). Beloit, Buxton (W,2-5,5.0-6-2-2-3-2), Wurster (1.0-0-0-0-0-1), Belgrave (S,4,1.0-0-0-0-0-1).
T: 1:53. Att: 1,350.
Most Popular
Comments / 0