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Rockets living up to promise
Routt blasts back-to-back homers in 12-1 win over Spartans
As Routt’s Devin Vaughn crossed home plate after a first-inning home run Wednesday, Joe Zeller made Vaughn a promise.
“Whenever he came to home plate after he hit it, I was like, ‘Devin, I’m going back-to-back,’” Zeller said. “And I did.”
The back-to-back shots gave the Rockets all they would need Wednesday. Zeller pitched five innings of two-hit ball, and Vaughn went 3-for-3 with two home runs and four runs batted in as Routt (16-4, 12-2) took a 12-1 Western Illinois Valley Conference win over North Greene (8-14, 4-9) in five innings.
The first-inning home runs from Vaughn and Zeller were just a glimpse of what was to come for the Rockets.
“It’s a great feeling,” Vaughn said. “I hit a home run, he hits a home run — it gets the team going.”
Vaughn went deep again in the second inning for his seventh homer of the season. Nick Cosgriff hit an inside-the-park home run down the right-field line for his first career home run in the fourth inning.
“We’ve turned it up a notch, I think, offensively, really the last couple days,” said Routt coach Bob Lonergan. “Our 3-4 kids (Vaughn and Zeller) right now are really on fire.”
Zeller (5-2) allowed just two hits and one unearned run over his five innings of work. A single from North Greene’s Anthony Willeford ended his no-hit bid in the fourth inning.
“Joe is Joe. He always comes out and gives you a pretty good performance,” Lonergan said. “I think he’s 5-2 now with two tough-luck losses early in the season. If we’d had any run support at all, he would be sitting at 7-0 right now.”
Zeller said getting the early lead helped.
“It’s a lot easier because you can afford a few mistakes and there’s not as much pressure behind you,” he said.
Routt got two doubles and two runs from both Caleb Ruyle and Ben Heinemann. Tim Denney had a walk, two stolen bases and an RBI.
“You’ve got to give our kids credit. They’ve kind of zeroed in on the goal at hand and I hope we’re focused here,” Lonergan said. “We’ll be tough to beat if we play like we did today.”
Jake Hull (1-2) took the loss for North Greene. Hull pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and four earned runs, but was pulled in the second inning after experiencing discomfort in his abdomen.
“It really hurt us losing our pitcher. He had a knot — I think it’s a sports hernia or something — right above his belt on his left side,” North Greene coach Tony Rhoades said. “It was hurting him before the game, but he didn’t tell me about it because he thought he could pitch through it.”
Hull was relieved by Matt Voigts, who allowed four hits and four runs, only two of which were earned, over 1 2/3 innings. Shane Hopper pitched the fourth inning, allowing two hits, three walks and three earned runs.
The win kept Routt at the top of the WIVC standings with just two conference losses. As long as the Rockets beat Brown County today and Greenfield on Friday, Routt will be the conference champion.
The Rockets’ closest competitor in the conference race is Virginia/A-C Central, a team that handed the Rockets their most recent conference loss.
“We don’t want to have that happen again,” Lonergan said, referring to the conference loss. “I’ve talked to (the team) the last week-and-a-half or so, about taking care of business and winning the thing the way we should, going out and winning the ball game.
“So I think we’re focused, and hopefully this is an omen of what’s going to come down the road.”
