On the plus side

Salem CC baseball earns tough sweep from Union, runs winning streak to 11, moves two games over .500

By Riverview Sports News

CRANFORD – Sean Kelby and Aiden Ewe continue to give the Salem CC baseball team just what it needs on the weekend and the Mighty Oaks continued their march towards a playoff berth.

The Oaks extended their winning streak to 11 in a row and improved to two games over .500 with a 2-1, 4-1 sweep of Union College at Shane Walsh Field. They have won 14 of their last 15 overall.

It was perhaps the Oaks’ most mentally taxing series of the year given Union’s record (3-33) and  its importance to the Oaks’ playoff hopes. They were flat the whole series and struggled to score runs, making it even more important their pitchers stay sharp.

Kelby threw a complete-game one-hitter with 13 strikeouts in the opener. Ewe went six innings in the nightcap and struck out 12. The only hit Kelby allowed came in the first inning. Ewe was headed for a complete game until Union put two on in the seventh.

“We had to win and we did enough to do that,” Salem coach John Holt said. “Both pitchers pitched great. They both did exactly what they need them to do right now.”

“I’m just pumped up that we’re on a win streak,” Ewe said. “I just get more fired up every time I’m out there.”

The sweep gives the Oaks (22-20) a winning record for the first time since March 12 and moves them to a season-high two games over .500. They still need to win three of their remaining seven games to lock up a spot in the Region XIX playoffs.

“It was really tight, a nailbiter both games,” outfielder Nick Ciesielka said. “It was huge to win both of these games. We needed them badly. We needed these two big time and it was huge to be able to come through.”

“All the games coming up are must-win games,” sophomore infielder Eli Real said.

Yen Rodriguez scored both of the Oaks’ runs in the first game. He gave them a 1-0 lead in the third when he raced home on an overthrow trying to catch him stealing third, the Owls tied it in the bottom of the inning and then Rodriguez scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on an error in the outfield.

Real had a double and walk.. He had been a starter at the beginning of the year, but had been used intermittently in the second half of the season. Injury and illness at third base pressed him back into the lineup and he played the position solidly in both games of the doubleheader.

“I’ve been prepared for this moment; it’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a while,” Real said. “Obviously, I haven’t been in the lineup, but I never once doubted my ability. Coach gave me another opportunity to show what I could do defensively and offensively and I took that and produced for the team.”

In the nightcap, Matt Murphy went 3-for-3 and Angel Velez drove in a pair of runs.

The Oaks’ run toward a playoff berth continues Monday in a single game at Delaware County CC. It’s another game that could test their mental toughness as the Phantoms are 1-22 with a team ERA of 22.28.

“It doesn’t matter what the jersey says, it doesn’t matter what they’re record is, we’ve got to continue to just focus on playing to our standard, not a scoreboard,” Holt said. “Just got to play Mighty Oaks baseball.”