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Belmont blasts #4 Highland, gets swept by #2 Pec
Cushman tag-out
Belmont senior Quinn Cushman applies the tag on a Highland baserunner during last Tuesdays 133 win over the Cardinals. Monday, Cushman improved to 31 on the mound completing a two-hit shutout against River Ridge in the conclusion of a game from April 21.

     BELMONT — The sixth-ranked Belmont Braves took the diamond against a pair of state-ranked Six Rivers foes and had an up-and-down performance against those high-ranked opponents last week.

     The Braves routing Fourth-ranked Highland, 12–2, in six innings at home on Tuesday, April 26, before getting swept by second-ranked Pecatonica, 11–1 and 16–1 both in five innings, in Blanchardville on Friday.

     Then, the Braves (9–4 overall, 8–1 Six Rivers Conference) opened this week by sweeping River Ridge, 5–1 and 2–1, in a Six Rivers West twinbill in Patch Grove on Monday.

     The Braves started strong against the Cardinals on Tuesday, plastering eight runs on the scoreboard in the home half of the first inning behind senior Raine Voigts’ two-run home run and Nate Knebel’s three-run blast.

     Josh Logsdon drilled a RBI-double and Lane Kamps lined a RBI-single, while Jon Bahr scored twice in the stanza for the hosts. Belmont added three runs in the fifth inning and ended the game by the 10-run rule on Quinn Cushman’s two-out, bases-loaded RBI-single in the sixth.

     Kamps allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning 12 batters to earn the win.

     Hits and runs were much tougher to come by on Friday as Pec hurlers Brooks Chandler and A.J. Hendrickson held the Braves’ offense to just six hits and two runs in a doubleheader sweep.

     The Vikings (12–1, 7–0) had no problems with their offense, plating runs in eight of their 10 turns at the plate to roll to a pair of 10-run rule wins over the Braves.

     On Monday, the Braves used a pair of two-hit pitching performances to sweep the Timberwolves in a SRW doubleheader. Cushman (3–1) recorded five strikeouts in the opener, which was completion of a rain-out from April 21, while Kamps (5–1) fanned 11 batters and issued two walks in the nightcap to secure sweep.

     Logsdon went 2-for-3 with a double, a RBI and two runs scored in game one, while Kamps drove on two runs and scored in the Braves’ four-run first inning in the opener.

     Kamps also drove in Bahr in the first inning of game two to tie the score at 1–1, and Cushman singled and came around to score the game-winner in the sixth inning in the nightcap.

     Belmont hosts Barneveld in a key Six Rivers doubleheader on Friday, starting at 4:30 p.m., then the Braves host SRW games against Potosi on Monday, and Cassville on Tuesday both starting at 5 p.m.

Belmont 12, Highland 2
(from Tuesday, April 26 @ Belmont)
Highland    002    000         —  2   6  3
Belmont     800    031        ­— 12 11  0 
Leading hitters — B: Jon Bahr 2x3, Raine Voigts 2x4, Lane Kamps 2x4. 2B — B: Josh Logsdon. HR — B: Voigts, Nate Knebel.
W — Lane Kamps (4–1, 6IP, 6H, 2R, 12K, 2BB). L — Michek.

Pecatonica 11, Belmont 1
(from Friday, April 29 @ Blanchardville)
Belmont      100    00        ­— 1   3  5 
Pecatonica  422    03         — 11 10  2
Leading hitters — B: Jon Bahr 3x3.
W — Brooks Chandler (5IP, 3H, 1R). L — Quinn Cushman (2–1, 5IP, 10H, 11R).

Pecatonica 16, Belmont 1
(from Friday, April 29 @ Blanchardville)
Pecatonica  137    05         — 16 16  0
Belmont     000    10        ­—   1   3  2 
Leading hitters — B: none.
W — A.J. Hendrickson (5IP, 3H, 1R). L — Nick Willborn (1–1).

Belmont 5, River Ridge 1
(game suspended on Thursday, April 21)
River Ridge  000    010    0     —  1   2  2
Belmont       401    000    x    ­—  5   8  2 
Leading hitters — B: Raine Voigts 2x3, Josh Logsdon 2x3. 2B — Quinn Cushman, Logsdon, Nick Willborn.
W — Quinn Cushman (3–1, 7IP, 2H, 1R, 5K, 2BB). L — Lansing.

Belmont 2, River Ridge 1
(from Monday, May 2 @ Patch Grove)
Belmont       100    001    0    ­—  2   4  1 
River Ridge  100    000    0     —  1   2  0
Leading hitters — B: none.
W — Lane Kamps (5–1, 7IP, 2H, 1R, 11K, 2BB). L — Ertz (7IP, 4H, 2R).