Twice as nice

By Ryan McCracken on July 13, 2017.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

Medicine Hat K of C Knights pitcher Ashtyn Street was near-flawless in his 12-0 victory over the Great Falls Chargers to open an American Legion Baseball A doubleheader Wednesday at Jeffries Field. Then he did it again.

After Game 2 starter Travis Small found himself in some trouble to start the second inning, Knights coaches Lane Aman and Intek Hong opted to go back to the winning formula.

“If you throw a complete game in, I think it was 56 pitches, that’s usually unheard of. He was strike-one, strike-two, all three pitches for strikes. That’s what we like to see,” said Hong, whose Knights swept the doubleheader with a 13-8 win, again credited to Street. “When we started walking a few guys in the second game, today he was just feeling it so why not go to him?”

The decision to bring Street back to the mound came under protest from the visiting Chargers — one that required a quick conference call with a league executive to determine he was in fact eligible to continue pitching.

“The ruling we weren’t sure about is, if you go past 30 (pitches), if you can still re-enter that day and then get your rest, or if you have to sit out Game 2 and then take your rest,” said Hong. “It turns out it was day and not game so he was eligible to pitch Game 2.”

Street opened his day with a five-hit win, fanning four batters before marching off the mound with the five-inning shutout. When called upon again about an hour later, the young righty picked up right where he left off. Street got the ground ball he needed to escape a bases loaded jam in the second before holding Great Falls to four runs on four hits — two earned — over 3 2/3 innings for his second win of the day.

“I was a little shocked. I didn’t think I would be coming in to pitch again but I guess it worked our really well and the defence performed great behind me,” said Street. “It feels really good. The team pulled together really well.”

Easton Brooks earned the save after a clean line through 1 2/3 innings.

Knights right fielder Keon Vereschagin went 3-for-4 in the second game, cashing 3 RBI with a triple, while left-fielder Zach Stark and first baseman Wyatt Bergen each added three more RBI in 2-for-4 performances.

Ethan Bartram led the offensive push in the opening shutout, connected for two hits and 4 RBI. Theryn Berndt added 2 RBI while going 2-for-2 with a walk.

“I’d say a lot of our guys had very good approaches. We left the offspeed, took our fastballs, hit balls hard and ran the bases hard,” said Hong. “I like that we took two today.”

The victories put Medicine Hat on a nine-game conference winning streak with a 17-7 record. The Knights hit the road to take on the Lewistown Red Birds in a doubleheader on Friday.

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