ShawneeDispatch.com

A lack of timely hitting matched against tough pitching meant a 1-3 mark for the Shawnee Mission Northwest baseball team last week, all but eliminating the Cougars from Sunflower League title contention.

"We just left a ton of runners on base," said Northwest coach Rich Kuzydym, reflecting on a week that saw losses to SM East (4-3), Free State (2-1) and SM South (3-0). "All of our pitchers pitched well, we just lacked timely hitting."

The Cougars gave up an average of three runs per game in the losses but could manage to collect only four runs total in the three defeats. In the last 11 games no opponent has scored more than five runs against the Cougars, yet the team has managed just a 7-4 mark during that span.

The Cougars received strong pitching performances from starters Matt Page, Kyle Bates and Jake Maurer during the week.

Kuzydym was especially appreciative of Maurer's performance in the Cougars' loss to No. 4 Free State.

In that contest, Maurer was matched up against Free State ace Jake Hoover, who allowed two Cougar hits the entire evening. Maurer matched Hoover nearly pitch for pitch but did not get the offensive support needed to lead Northwest to victory.

The Cougars took the lead in the contest when third baseman Billy Waldman drove a triple into deep right center that scored courtesy runner D.J. Read from first. However, the next two batters could not drive Waldman in from third and the Cougars were held to one run.

In the top of the next inning, the Firebirds used a two-out rally to score the only runs they would need. Free State junior Brett Lisher drove a ball deep over Northwest's Jason Enyart in right scoring a Firebird runner from first. Those runs would be the last the Firebirds would score, but they would be enough.

The Cougars put runners on in all but one of the next innings but were thwarted by Hoover's timely pitches.

"He just seemed to get the big pitch when he needed it," Kuzydym said of the Free State pitcher.

The Cougars managed to rebound at the end of the week, racking up an impressive 11-0 win against league rival SM West. Junior right-hander Kevin Bamberger pitched a complete-game, shutout victory backed by an offense that saw every starter get at least one hit.

"We finally got some timely hitting," Kuzydym said. "We hit pretty good, but Bamberger pitched better. He had really good command of his fastball and curveball."

For the Cougars, the win hopefully sends them in a more positive direction down the homestretch of the regular season. Four regular-season games remain before regionals.

"We'd like to win all four," Kuzydym said "I think we're capable of it because our pitchers are doing great. Right now we have an outside shot of getting one of the top three spots in the region and hosting a game. We'll just have to wait and see."