Lakers lean on seniors for season-opening sweep

By DL News Staff

April 17, 2007 at 11:00 PM

Senior leadership had its advantages for the Detroit Lakes baseball team, with a sweep over Mid-State Conference rival Staples-Motley Tuesday.

Senior Jake Kiebke garnered four hits in the double header, collecting seven RBIs, to go along with a potent top of the order.

Pitching also was solid, as senior Matt Huberty threw a gem in an 11-3 opening victory, while junior Chris Gilson tossed a one-hit 10-0 five-inning shutout.

The Lakers' bats provided the right amount of cushion for the DL pitchers, as the top five batters in the lineup did the most damage, led by Kiebke.

In the first game, the top five hitters -- Kyle Danner, Alex Provo, Kiebke, Joe Schiller and Huberty -- went 6-13 with seven RBIs and seven runs scored.

By the way, all are seniors.

"The seniors adjusted and hit the ball well," said DL head coach Steve Fuhs. "The top of the order was very good. That's exactly what we need from our seniors, because they have been playing varsity now for three years.

"If we are going to be successful this year, it's going to be those guys to do it."

Huberty used an early 3-0 first inning lead -- keyed by a Provo RBI triple and a Schiller run-producing double -- to keep the Cardinal batters in check.

He struck out nine in six innings of work, while allowing just four hits and two runs. Brian Arola came in to mop up the final inning of the game.

DL would continue to zone in on Staples-Motley's pitchers, scoring two in the third and three in each the fifth and sixth. Kiebke put the exclamation point on the game with a bases-clearing double in the sixth to put the home team up 11-2.

Each of Provo, Kiebke and Schiller would go for two hits in the eight-hit attack. S-M pitchers also struggled with accuracy by walking 11, while DL belted out five doubles and a triple.

The second game was over as quickly as the first inning. The Lakers batted through the order in the top of the first, scoring eight runs. Kiebke would hit for two singles, score a run and collect two RBIs in the frame.

Provo notched two singles -- including a two-run one-bagger his second time up off of S-M starting pitcher Colton Thompson, who would go just one inning of work.

This time, the top five DL batters in the order -- the same as the first game -- would go 7-9 with seven RBIs and scoring seven runs. Senior center fielder Kyle Danner would score three times and Provo twice.

"We've been concentrating on putting the ball in play," Fuhs said. "They hit the ball pretty hard today, but we are not a power team. We'll have to work on keeping the ball in play."

Gilson was as effective on the mound, finding his curveball and changeup as good tools. The junior pitcher pulled the string several times to baffle the Cardinal hitters, allowing just one hit in the complete-game five-inning shutout.

"Both Matt Huberty's and Gilson's curveball were working and we've been working on a changeup with our pitchers for a third pitch," Fuhs said.

DL finished with nine hits and all 10 runs were produced by a Laker at-bat. Kiebke had three RBIs, while Provo had two.

The Lakers will host Moorhead Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and will have Bemidji and Thief River Falls next week.

"We'll find out more about ourselves in the next two weeks because we face all section opponents," Fuhs said. "But winning our first two was important for our confidence."

Laker stats

Staples-Motley at Detroit Lakes, Tuesday, April 17.

Cardinals 010 001 1 - 3 5 2

Lakers 302 033 x - 11 8 2

Detroit Lakes

AB R H Bi

K. Danner 2 2 0 0

C. Tovson 1 0 0 0

A. Provo 4 2 2 2

No. 19 1 0 0 0

J. Kiebke 3 1 2 4

J. Schiller 2 1 2 1

M. Huberty 4 1 0 0

D. Dickey 3 0 0 0

C. Gilson 3 2 1 1

B. Bormann 2 1 1 0

A. Thielen 3 1 0 0

Totals 28 11 8 8

3B: Provo...2B: Kiebke (2), Schiller, Gilson, Bormann.

Staples-Motley

AB R H Bi

N. Rinas 3 1 1 0

T. Ness 4 1 2 0

C. Thompson 3 0 1 0

T. Roline 3 0 0 0

R. Halverson 2 1 0 1

J. Rosenthal 3 0 0 0

B. Enney 3 0 1 1

R. Lang 3 0 0 0

J. Odden 1 0 0 0

N. Waverik 1 0 0 0

Totals 27 3 5 2

Pitching (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): DL: Huberty (WP, 1-0) 6-4-2-2-2-9; B. Arola 1-1-1-0-1-2...SM: Roline (LP) 3-2-5-2-6-4; S. Duberowski 1.2-3-6-6-3-0; Eney 1.1-3-0-0-2-2.

Cardinals 000 00 - 0 1 0

Lakers 802 0x - 10 9 0

Detroit Lakes

AB R H Bi

Danner 1 3 1 0

Provo 2 2 2 2

Kiebke 3 1 2 3

Schiller 1 1 1 1

Huberty 2 0 1 1

Dickey 3 1 1 1

Gilson 1 1 0 0

J. Griffith 1 0 0 0