ShawneeDispatch.com

Monday was a perfect day for the Mill Valley baseball team.

No rain. No wind. No cold. Perfect weather.

Most important, however, was that the baseball was nearly perfect, too. The Jaguars swept their doubleheader against the Bonner Springs Braves, 4-3 and 4-2, at the 3&2 West Complex.

"For the first time this year the elements didn't play a factor in the game, which was nice," MVHS coach Jeff Strickland said.

And with the elements out of the way, the Jaguars played flawless baseball in an entertaining, down-to-the-wire twinbill against one of the Kaw Valley League's most improved teams.

"We played great defense. We had great pitching from both clubs. It was fun to watch," Strickland said.

Sophomore Montana Kyler threw six strong innings in game one, and senior Miles Malec entered in the seventh and earned the save.

Bonner Springs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one, but Kiler settled down and took control while his teammates rallied with their bats and pulled out the victory.

"Kyler's a sophomore, so that's good when you can get a young kid to come in and step up big," Strickland said.

Game two was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. Mill Valley plated two runs on a base hit by junior John Theis and a two-out hit by senior James Ogden. The Jags extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth on a two-run hit by sophomore Luke Lawyer.

Bonner Springs scored twice in the top of the seventh before junior Ben Hartman put the game away.

Hartman threw a complete game in the nightcap.

The victory is Mill Valley's fifth in its last six games, and it improved its record to 8-8. Strickland said the recent hot streak should give his team confidence.

"Some of our younger kids have come along, and with the exception of the Tonganoxie game (a 16-14 loss Thursday) our pitching seems to be where it needs to be now, so hopefully we're getting some confidence now," he said. "Things seem to be going in the right direction, and they deserve some success because they've worked pretty hard."

Mill Valley next plays a 4 p.m. doubleheader today at home against Basehor-Linwood.