Winners of a school-record nine games in a row, the Cambridge Bears can chalk much of that up to an offense that has really come to life in recent weeks. It was no different Friday night, March 25th at Kell HS as, for the second game in a row, each Cambridge starter recorded at least one hit on the evening. The Bears got a gritty performance from starter Jon Hirschland, which was more than enough to hold off Kell who entered the week as region leaders. After the series sweep this week Cambridge moves into second place in the region and Kell drops to third.
Following a recent pattern, Cambridge got off to a quick start in the first. Senior Davis Dasher led off the game with a double down the left field line. He would eventually come around to score on a single by Pete Gottschalk to draw first blood. Conner Young drove in Gottschalk with a double to left and the Bears had a 2-0 lead. Hirschland kept the Lonoghorns at bay, escaping trouble of his own in the first. Cambridge would add to its total in the third. A Dasher walk and single by Bradley Wiedman kicked off the inning. A Gottschalk sacrifice moved the runners over, then Hayden Onorato drove both in with a single to center.
Kell would answer with a single run in the bottom of the inning and another run in the fourth to make the score 4-2. But that would be it for the home team. In the fifth, singles by Dasher, Wiedman and Gottschalk plated a run. A walk by Young and a sacrifice fly by Luke Foote pushed the score to 6-2. The Bears closed out the scoring in the seventh. Jacob Cabe singled to center to score Gottschalk and Young to make the final score 8-2.
Jon Hirschland went 6 innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Conner Young pitched a perfect seventh. Offensively, the whole team contributed. Dasher, Wiedman, Gottschalk, Cabe and Hawkins each had two hits. Dasher scored three times. Gottschalk, Onorato and Cabe each drove in a pair of runs.
The Bears continue region play next week with a series against North Springs HS. Game one is Monday, March 28th at 5:55 PM at Cambridge.
Go Bears!
