HUMBOLDT — A pair of comeback attempts fell short on Monday as the Humboldt Cubs suffered a sweep to the Bluestem Lions. Bluestem scored six runs in the first two innings of the night en route to a 10-5 win, before scoring 5 runs on its first trip to the plate for a 7-4 win in game two.
Humboldt fell behind in the early matchup thanks to a number of untimely errors. Head coach Brad Piley made this the focus of his postgame talk, emphasizing that most of the errors were either completely unforced or unexplainable.
“We’ve got to get mentally tough,” he said. “We’ve got the skills, we’ve got the players, but mentally tough is what we’ve got to get.”
Piley believes his team can get back to the stereotypical lockdown Humboldt defense as the season progresses.
“Our defense has always been solid in the past. We had some mistakes tonight… but I think we can usually rely on our defense,” he said. “Hopefully, once we get everything clicking, we’ll be a balanced team. Offense, defense—little bit of everything.”
Although he admits this is far from a valid excuse, five Cubs were absent from Monday’s doubleheader. This allowed — or forced — Piley to field underclassmen who gained much-needed experience.
“They’re going to get experience, and when they’re asked to step up, hopefully they’ll be ready to fill that role,” he said.
A seventh-inning rally was too-little, too late, as the Cubs dropped the first matchup despite a 3-RBI game from Skylar Hottenstein. The junior is currently hitting .357 with 9 RBI and a team-high 12 stolen bases and 3 triples.
Whatever momentum Humboldt built up in that rally quickly vanished as the Lions came out screaming in game two. More errors allowed Bluestem to take an early lead and ride the momentum all seven innings.
“You just can’t have unforced errors, you can’t walk several batters,” Piley said. “Those are things we can clean up, and I think we will. They’re a quality team, so we’ve just got to get better. And hopefully we’ll get tougher. That’s the main thing—just get tougher.”
Junior Laney Hull finally kickstarted the Humboldt offense in the third inning with a no-doubt home run. Hull currently leads the Cubs offensively, hitting .364 with 9 RBI, 4 stolen bases, and 3 doubles.
Seniors Shelby Shaughnessy (.304, 6 RBI, 4 2B), junior Taevyn Baylor (.357, 4 RBI, 6 SB), and sophomore Lakyn Meadows (.308, 3 RBI, 2 SB) followed Hull with doubles off the center field fence.
Although the Cubs have not been known as a powerhouse hitting team in the past, this season’s roster includes more than one player that could begin to change that narrative. Baylor and Hull each have two homers on the season, and Shaughnessy, Meadows, and Hottenstein are more than capable of adding their own to that tally.
“Taevyn and Shelby have always had a little bit of power, but the others have been batting pretty well too,” Piley said. “Skylar’s been hitting the ball really well through the first several games. Lakyn has been coming on strong — she’s really progressed from last year.”
Aside from the aforementioned spurts, Humboldt’s offense was somewhat lacking. Piley was somewhat confused at times when the top of his lineup would fall short of his expectations in scoring situations.
“There were a couple times I thought, ‘Alright, we’re going to score a couple runs here,’ and then we just kind of dinked one or two — didn’t get the solid hits we normally do,” he said. “But, the batting’s going to get better.”
Humboldt’s pitching staff has started to shape up nicely in the early goings of the season. Baylor and Shaughnessy each struck out six in seven innings on Monday, refusing to let the early Bluestem rallies rattle them. Shaughnessy (1-1) sits with a 2.50 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 14 innings, while Baylor (1-3) has a 7.68 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 13 2-3 innings.
Sophomore Jo Ellison did not pitch Monday, but she is another arm the Cubs will lean on heavily this season. Now 2-0, Ellison boasts a 1.47 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 14 1-3 innings.
“We’ll have three solid arms,” Piley said. “I might throw one through a lineup and then switch them back and forth. Shelby and Taevyn have some speed, Jo’s slower but has more movement. Changing up speeds could help us.”
Up next
Humboldt continued a stretch of seven games in five days on Wednesday, suffering a 4-3 loss to the Chanute Blue Comets. Humboldt opened the matchup with a 2-run first inning, before Chanute scored 4 runs across the third, fourth, and fifth innings. The Cubs plated another run in the sixth, but that would be the last mark tallied.
Humboldt (4-4) is also amidst a seven game road trip. The Cubs faced off with the Fredonia Yellowjackets (4-2) on Thursday and are slated to take on the Iola Mustangs (3-3) tonight.
