BOSCOBEL – Darlingon sophomore Jason Singer fired a five-inning no hitter with seven strikeouts and he helped his own cause by driving in four runs as the Redbirds opened SWAL play with a 13-1 victory over the Boscobel Bulldogs on Tuesday, April 16.
    “Jason’s no-hitter was a great way to start conference play. He kept the ball in control and never got distracted when things didn’t go his way,” said Darlington head coach Matt Austin. “The defense played great behind him, making the plays necessary to win. As a team, this is the way that we want to play. Our pitchers need to give the others a chance to support them. And, we did just that.”
    The Redbirds (3-2 overall, 2-0 in SWAL) took the lead for good with a run in the top of the first inning, and then added insurance runs in each of their next four at-bats to put away the Bulldogs.
    The ‘Birds put up four runs in the second and added five in the fifth to lock up the mercy-rule victory.
    Aric Geissbuhler went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while Cody Hardyman was 3-for-5 with two RBI to aid the Redbirds’ 16-hit attack. Singer, Cole McDonald, Griffin Heinberg and Ben Muhlstein each had two hits for the ‘Birds.
    “Seeing the bats work that way last night was exciting because we were being aggressive and attacking the baseball rather than hoping for calls. It was nice to get some hits early on. That way we had the confidence to build upon that lead,” noted Austin.
    At Darlington, on Monday, April 22, the Redbirds’ bats stayed hot as they pounded out 17 hits to out-slug the Southwestern Wildcats, 17-12, in a SWAL shootout.
    Darlington scored seven times in the bottom of the second inning to erase an early 8-1 deficit, and then plated seven more runs in the sixth inning to pull away from the Wildcats.
    Every Redbird starter had a least one hit in the game led by Aric Geissbuhler and Ben Muhlstein who had three hits apiece. Griffin Heinberg went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Jason Singer (three RBI) and Cody Hardyman (two RBI) each banged out a pair of doubles.
    Cole McDonald and Andrew Kelly also had two hits apiece for the Redbirds.
    Kelly also earned the victory after allowing one earned run over three relief innings on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
    At Galena, on Saturday, April 20, the Redbirds posted a 1-1 record on the day en route to a second-place finish at the Galena Tournament.
    The Redbirds used a pair of four-run rallies– in the first and fifth innings– to vanquish the host Pirates, 10-3, in the opening game of the day, but Fulton used an eight-run outburst in the top of the fifth inning in the championship game to put down the ‘Birds, 15-5, for the tournament title.
    Darlington held a 4-3 lead until Fulton’s eight-run rally, and the guests tacked on four more insurance runs in the sixth to put the game away.
    The Redbirds pounded out 12 hits in each game. Jason Singer went 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles against Fulton, while Aric Geissbuhler went 4-for-7 with a double and two RBI against Galena.
    Against Galena, Cole McDonald went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored, Griffin Heinberg was 2-for-2 with a run and a RBI, and Ben Muhlstein went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run while earning the complete-game win on the mound after allowing one earned run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
    Against Fulton, Cody Hardyman went 2-for-4 and Andrew Kelly was 2-for-3 for the ‘Birds.
    Darlington has upcoming games scheduled at home against Mineral Point on Friday, April 26, against Iowa-Grant on Monday, April 29, and against Fennimore on Tuesday, April 30. All three are set to start at 4:30 p.m.

Darlington… 141  25 - 13  13  1
Boscobel….. 001  00 -   1    0  7
Leading hitters: Jason Singer 2x5, Aric Geissbuhler 2x4, Griffin Heinberg 2x3, Ben Muhlstein 3x4. 2B- Geissbuhler.
WP- Jason Singer. LP- Stenner.

Southwestern… 260  010  3 - 12    7  2
Darlington…….. 170  117  x - 17  17  4
Leading hitters: Jason Singer 2x5, Cody Hardyman 2x4, Cole McDonald 2x3, Aric Geissbuhler 3x4, Griffin Heinberg 2x4, Ben Muhlstein 3x5, Andrew Kelly 2x5. HR- Heinberg. 2B- Singer (2), Hardyman (2).
WP- Andrew Kelly. LP- Digman.

Darlington… 400  042 - 10  13  3
Galena…….. 010  020 -   3    6  2
Leading hitters: Jason Singer 2x4, Cole McDonald 3x3, Aric Geissbuhler 2x3, Griffin Heinberg 2x2, Ben Muhlstein 2x3. 2B- McDonald, Geissbuhler.
WP- Ben Muhlstein. LP- Hesselbacher.

Fulton……… 110  184 - 15  18  1
Darlington… 202  020 -   5  12  2
Leading hitters: Jason Singer 2x4, Cody Hardyman 2x4, Aric Geissbuhler 2x4, Andrew Kelly 2x3. 2B- Singer (2).
WP- Dail. LP- Griffin Heinberg.