Baseball team's win streak reaches 18

By Jayden Hewitt
Sports Editor

The LCC men’s baseball team took home their 17th and 18th straight victories of the year at Lake Michigan College on Thursday, April 6.

The sweet-swinging Stars won 14-1 in the first game and 7-2 in the next.

Head coach Steven Cutter spoke to the team’s performance and how it maintains such a winning streak.

“We constantly have taught our team to stay humble and hungry,” Cutter said. “This is the best defense against complacency and has worked well in our program. We are competing against standards and not scoreboards.”

The pitching staff as a whole only allowed three runs through the entire doubleheader. Both Lukas Brewer and Will Case notched wins. Isiah Lindsey and McKeon both pitched well in relief as well.

LCC pitcher Hunter Shaw took home MCCAA Western Conference Pitcher of the Week honors on April 5 from the week prior. Shaw went 1-0 with one complete game, allowing just two hits, striking out 13 hitters and giving up zero runs over 10 innings.

Shaw spoke about winning the award and the team’s goals.

“Winning the award was super cool,” Shaw said. “I’ve been working hard all winter to get to where I’m at pitching-wise now. It felt nice to see hard work pay off.

“The team goal is to get to Enid, Okla. and win a World Series. We all come in every day with this goal in mind and work really hard at practice and compound good practices, one after another.”

Cutter spoke about Shaw’s performance on the mound.

“Hunter has been a pleasant surprise,” Cutter said. “He has really grown in all aspects since arriving on campus this fall. Hunter has also had two or three professional organizations at every game he pitches. He shows excellent upside with a calm demeanor on the mound, contributing highly to his success.”

The offense for the Stars continued to be a driving force, combining for a total of 21 runs between both games. The high-powered offense has become commonplace among this season’s Stars.

The first game had three LCC home runs leave the yard. The round-trippers were hit by infielder Hunter Lay, infielder Shane Juday and designated hitter Vince Hardy. Lay tallied five RBIs.

LCC defeated Kellogg Community College on April 2, as well as sweeping a doubleheader at Schoolcraft College on April 4.

Through April 6, LCC’s record is 21-5 on the year and 7-0 in the conference.

The Stars’ next contests will once again be against conference foe Lake Michigan College. The doubleheader will be played at home on Saturday, April 8.

Cutter spoke about often playing against the same teams and how the team handles that familiarity.

“We will see all of our conference opponents five times this season, and this is something that we have been preparing the team mentally for since August,” Cutter said. “We teach them to focus on competing against our standards and also against the ‘game’ and not focusing on the opponent's jersey.”