Sophomore righthander Cole Milam pitched one of the 10 innings the Jefferson College baseball team played Sunday in Hillsboro.
Milam consistently hit 92 or 93 mph on the radar gun and the line for his inning of work against North Central College is commonplace among hard throwers: 2 hits; 3 runs (2 earned); 1 walk; 2 strikeouts; 1 home run allowed. Milam recorded the final out in the Vikings’ 15-3 win and relieved starter Jason Rackers, who was lifted after striking out five and no-hitting the Cardinals.
“Cole’s got arm strength and is big and strong,” Jefferson College head coach Pat Evers said. “When he’s on, he can be unhittable. There’s some things he needs to work on, but we need to get him going so we have a weapon in the back end.
“Jason threw three pitches for a strike. It’s what you expect out of him and it was a really good job.”
The Vikings fattened up on a soft North Central College pitching staff and won both games Sunday in five innings, completing a four-game sweep of the Cardinals of Naperville, Ill.
Jefferson College outscored North Central 41-6 in the four games.
After being swept by 2017 Region 16 tournament champion Crowder College in Neosho on March 10-11, the Vikings have righted the course with five consecutive victories (they beat John A. Logan College 15-5 on March 13) and are 17-6-1 this season. Jefferson has won the last 11 Midwest Community College Athletic Conference Championship titles and are 4-0 this season.
“We take a consistent approach and don’t get too up or too down,” Evers said. “If things go bad, it’s not as bad as you think, and when things go good, you’re not as good as you think you are. The game’s got a funny way of humbling you when you start to think you’re better than you are. It was a good week after a tough weekend.”
On a gray, chilly Sunday, the Vikings clubbed four home runs to subdue the Cardinals 15-3 in the first game. Freshman leadoff hitter Matt Turino continued his torrid pace with a homer and two runs scored. Sophomores Joey Polak (two) and Jacob Kalusniak also supplied the long ball in the first game. Polak leads the Vikings with nine home runs and 26 RBIs.
Turino drew six walks in the four weekend games and his on-base average is up to .443.
“He really had a good start to the season and didn’t have a lot to show for it,” Evers said of Turino, who is from Toronto. “He’s found some holes and it’s nice having that leadoff guy getting on base to set things up for the other guys.”
Turino had the Vikings’ lone round-tripper and scampered across home plate four times in the Vikings’ 12-2 win in the getaway game Sunday. The Vikings needed just nine hits to score their 12 runs as generous North County pitchers issued 10 walks in five innings. Sophomores Raul Elguezabal (3 RBIs) and Andrew Colin had doubles for Jefferson.
Sophomore lefthander Bailey Vuylsteke won his first start of the season in the second game after pitching all five innings and striking out seven batters. Vuylsteke allowed six hits and two walks.
“Bailey’s going to throw a lot of strikes and give up a lot of hits,” Evers said. “You know he’s going to throw three pitches for a strike. You know he’s going to compete. He’s not going to put people on base. He’s going to field his position. He might give up three hits in an inning but he does a good job of minimizing a big inning.”
Sophomore Jacob Kalusniak caught every inning for the Vikings last weekend. Kalusniak had a home run and four RBIs in the 15-3 win, then scored two runs in the 12-2 win.
Evers said Kalusniak has done a good job of replacing two-year starter Cole Bornhop.
“Jacob has done the bulk of the catching, and defensively he’s probably as good as anyone we’ve had,” Evers said. “He throws well and controls the running game. He does a good job of handling the pitchers.”
The Vikings host regional rival Maple Woods today (Thursday) in a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m.
Softball team sweeps Shawnee
It was a light week for the Jefferson College softball team, which traveled to Ullin, Ill., and beat Shawnee Community College in both ends of a doubleheader to improve to 16-5 and run its winning streak to six games.
A doubleheader scheduled against Central Methodist University (a four-year NAIA school) in Fayette on March 16 was cancelled due to bad weather.
Jefferson outscored Shawnee 29-1 in its two games. In the first game, a 14-0 victory, freshman Skylure Barrlow hit a home run, had three hits and five RBIs to fuel a Viking attack that stroked six doubles. Starter Corryn Hill and reliever Kaitlynn Williams combined to shut out the Saints from the circle.
In the second game, second baseman Maddy Hart came alive for the Vikings with a homer, five RBIs and four runs scored. Sophomore Taylor Nordwald got the start in the circle and pitched two innings and allowed the only run. Kate O’Day and Sarah Berry held Shawnee scoreless in relief of Nordwald.
The Vikings host conference and Region 16 rival St. Charles Community College today (Thursday) in a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m.