UNION MILLS — South Central (Union Mills) continued its trend putting plenty of runners on base and having plenty of them cross the plate.

The top three hitters in the Satellites lineup — junior Evan Walters and seniors Carson Husmann and Kyle Schmack — each reached base in their five plate appearances in helping South Central top visiting

Kouts 14-4 in five innings on sunny and breezy Saturday, April 20.

“They did a good job of looking at pitches — Evan, Carson and Kyle,” said Satellites coach Ryan Kruszka. “They were selective and not chasing pitches out of the (strike) zone. “Our biggest thing is to see if we can get guys on-base, move them and get them to score. That’s our game plan. We can’t do anything if we don’t have guys on-base.”

In moving to 7-4 overall and 3-0 in the Porter County Conference, South Central reached double digits in runs for the sixth time in 2019.

Husmann drove in three runs and junior Karson Bailey drove in two.

Walters scored three runs while Husmann, Bailey, senior Wes Battleday and junior Trent Oling tallied two runs apiece.

Two hits each rang off the bats of Husmann, Schmack, Oling and senior B.J. Intaglia. Led by Oling with two, the Satellites swiped five bases.

“Our mindset is to put the ball in-play and run hard,” said Kruszka. “That’s what they did today.”

Junior right-hander Trent Smoker was the winning pitcher. He gave up six hits (five singles) with three strikeouts and one walk. Only one for the four runs he yielded were earned. He lost his hat numerous times during a wind-swept contest.

“Trent’s been great for us on the mound,” said Kruszka. “He’s been our best pitcher.

“He’s not a blow-it-by-you guy. He’s got a pace and a good tempo. He’s got a fastball and a change and can mix it up and get a lot of ground balls, fly balls and things like that.”

Junior Will Carpenter swung for three hits and drove in two runs for Kouts (2-6, 1-2).

The Mustangs were credited with six errors and gave up 10 hits, seven walks while hitting three batters.

“We got beat by a really good team. Some of our guys are going to use that as a learning experience,” said Kouts coach Jim Tucker. “Our older guys need to be more accountable. We need to understand that we’re not the victim. We’ve got have some accountability.”

South Central produced three runs against sophomore right-hander Cole Deardorff in the bottom of the fifth inning for the 14-4 score.

Intaglio led off with a single to left, stole second base and scored on Battleday’s double to left.

Battleday scored on Bailey’s triple to the fence in center.

A bases loaded walk by Schmack forced in Bailey with the game-ending run.

The Mustangs left a runner at first following a two-out single by junior Will Carpenter against Smoker in the top of the fifth.

The Satellites scored three runs against Deardroff in the fourth for an 11-4 lead.

Deardorff relieved senior Ian Garavalia to begin the inning.

With one out, Battleday was hit by a pitch and Bailey reached on an error.

Battleday scored on a wild pitch and Bailey was driven in on sophomore Todd Snyder’s safety squeeze bunt.

Oling lashed a two-out single to right and later scored when Schmack was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The sacks were filled when the inning ended.

Kouts went scoreless against Smoker in the fourth.

The first out was a diving catch of senior Triston Bolton’s foul pop by South Central catcher Bailey.

Senior Hunter Yager thumped a one-out single to left and got picked off — pitcher Smoker to second baseman Snyder — for the second out.

The final out was a strikeout.

The Satellites scored a pair of two-out runs against Garavalia in the third for an 8-4 lead.

After a comebacker to the mound and strikeout, Oling placed a two-out single to left, stole second base and crossed the plate on a two-base error on a ball put in play by Walters.

Husmann’s single to left drove in Walters.

The Mustangs produced three runs against Smoker in the third to cut the gap to 6-4.

Yager got on by two-base error to lead off, moved to second base on sophomore Mason Capouch’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Garavalia’s infield single.

After freshman Owen Winters reached on a fielder’s choice, Carpenter slugged a 1-2 pitch to center for a two-run home run.

South Central’s advantage moved to 6-1 with three runs (two earned) in the second.

Husmann’s socked a 1-2 Garavalia pitch for a two-out home run to center. Walters was on second base after a one-out walk and stolen base.

Schmack cracked a one-out double to center, moved to third base on awild pitch and scored on an error.

All three outs were Garavalia strikeouts.

After the first two batters reached base in the Kouts second, Smoker got three straight outs on a fielder’s choice, foul pop-up and fly-out.

The Satellites tallied three unearned runs against Garavalia in the first for a 3-1 lead.

Walters and Husmann both drew walks and scored on errors.

Smoker reached on an error and later trotted home on Bailey’s fielder’s choice.

The Mustangs scored one unearned run against Smoker in the top of the first.

With one out, Capouch reached on a two-base error.

A two-out double to left-center by Winters plated Capouch. Winters made the third out at third base trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Both teams are slated to play against Monday, April 22 — Westville at Kouts and South Central against Washington Township at U.S. Steel Yard in Gary.

Before Saturday’s game, South Central honored 2019 Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Bob Schellinger. He was head coach at SC from 1978-93.

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