The Collinsville High School baseball team’s struggles against non-conference opponents continued Saturday when they lost both ends of a double header to Highland at Arthur Fletcher Field.
Jacob Grzywacz / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Kahoks raced out of the gate to a 6-0 record in 2014, all against non-conference opponents. However, since the Southwestern Conference season began, Collinsville has limped to a 1-6 non-league record, including a loss in their past five contests.
Head Coach Pete Trapp said that, after the conference schedule starts, the team uses games against non-conference opponents to get other players at bats, to keep them sharp, as well as to allow his top starting pitchers to rest in preparation for league opponents. The long-term strategy does not always produce short-term results.
Jacob Grzywacz took the ball for Collinsville (12-10) in game one against Highland (13-6) and took the loss in the 13-4 defeat. Despite allowing eight runs, four earned, Trapp said Grzywacz pitched better than his statistics suggest.
“His line was not very good, but he did all right,” Trapp said. “He pitched pretty well,”
The Kahoks made many defensive mistakes in both games of the double header, Trapp said, and the Bulldogs took advantage of them.
“Highland is a team that if you make mistakes against them, they capitalize,” Trapp said. “They run and do a lot of small ball stuff.”
Aaron Peskar scored two of the Kahoks four first-game runs. Mitch Reising and Tanner Houck scored the other two runs. Houck and Reising also contributed RBI doubles. Sean Edrington had an RBI groundout for the Kahoks. Reising scored on an error, so the Kahoks had only three RBI.
Collinsville had nine hits in game one, but could scratch out only four in a 7-0, game two loss. Reising started the game for the Kahoks and was followed on the mound by Nick Chance and Houck.
Trapp said the Kahoks’ ace, Houck, pitched in lieu of a bullpen session.
“We had hoped he would come in to close out a win, but it didn’t work out that way,” Trapp said.
Collinsville returns to Southwestern Conference play with a 4:30 p.m. contest at home against Alton.
