Check back Friday for Game Time Rewind Highlights of Game 1 of the doubleheader!

KENOSHA – Prior to Thursday’s doubleheader against Kenosha Tremper at Sheridan Park in Kenosha, the Racine Horlick baseball team couldn’t get all three phases to come together.

Taking on the No. 2 ranked team in this week’s Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Division 1 poll brought out the best of the Rebels in a 13-5 and 7-6 sweep of the Trojans with solid performances all the way around for Horlick.

Things started with the defense that helped the Rebels (3-1, 5-6) by committing just a lone error in the two games.

“If we do that, we’ll be in a lot of baseball games,” Horlick coach Joe Wendt said of the solid showing from the defense. “It was a complete team effort.”

Without everything coming together, Horlick had been inconsistent thus far this season. Finally bringing it all together could be a springboard to the rest of the season.

“We’ve been struggling and we knew this was going to be a fight down here against a good team,” Horlick senior pitcher Drew Pearson said. “We’ve got a good lineup, we just never put one together until these two (games).

“Today it really seemed like the intensity was there. We played as a team and pulled two out.”

The punctuation on the day came in the seventh inning of Game 2 when Tremper put runners on the corners and Chad Langley came on to close the game and the door for the Rebels.

Minimizing the errors let Kyle Kisner and Pearson focus on going after hitters. Both aren’t overpowering pitchers and have to rely on the offense putting the ball in play and letting the defense make the plays behind them to get outs.

“It builds your confidence when you’re pitching,” Kisner said after going the distance his third victory of the season. “You throw a bad pitch and they hit it and you know (the defense) has got it.”

With the defense and pitching clicking, the bats came through and in a big way. Horlick combined to notch 25 combined hits. Pearson led the hit parade with five of his own (5-9 with 4 RBI and 3 R) in the sweep and Kisner had four hits (4-7 with 2 RBI and 2 R). Logan Neibaur and Langley both added two hits in each of the two games to help the cause, as well.

“(Wednesday) against Oconomowoc in a nonconference game, our No. 2 through No. 4 hitters went 2 for 18,” Wendt said. “They rebounded very nicely.”

Nine of those hits in the first game came against sophomore Sam Mahar who was a second-team all-conference pick as a freshman last year and had not allowed a run in his previous two starts of the season while allowing nine hits, compared six in 11 and 1/3 previous innings.

“ What it does is it gives our guys some confidence,” Wendt said. “We’ve seen some crafty pitchers all year that bring it to you when you’re at the plate.

“The first time around he had our number, the second time through the order, we got some hits and that built confidence and rolled from there.”

Tremper coach John Matera said he told his Trojans (2-2, 7-3) after the game the same thing after the losses the same he would have said if both had gone the other way.

“We tell them keep playing,” Matera said. “Our effort was there today, we just didn’t get the result we wanted. When you win not everything is great and when you lose, not everything is terrible.”

Notes: Shawn Miller was the only Tremper batter to have multiple hits in both games, going 2 for 4 in Game 1 with a two-run home run and 2 for 3 in Game 2 with a double and an RBI. … The first game of the doubleheader was supposed to be played at Horlick Tuesday which was why Horlick was the home team on the scoreboard for that game.

Game 1

KENOSHA TREMPER.……012 020 0—5 13 3

RACINE HORLICK………..002 074 x—13 14 0

Pitching: KT—Sam Mahar (L, 2-1) 6.1 IP, 9 K, 2 BB, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER; Cody Miller 1.2 IP, 2 K, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER; RH—Kyle Kisner (W, 3-0) 7 IP, 6 K, 13 H, 5 ER.

Leading hitters: KT—Shawn Miller 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R; Cody Colbert 2-4, R; Derek Binninger 2-4, 2B, R; Ryan Neu 2-4, R; Aaron Wemerling 2-4, 2 RBI, SB; RH—Kyle Kisner 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 R; Drew Pearson 3-5, 4 RBI, R; Logan Neigaur 2-4, 2 RBI, R, 2B; Chad Langley 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R.

Game 2

RACINE HORLICK……….004 021 0—7 11 1

KENOSHA TREMPER…..002 013 0—6 7 2

Pitching: RH—Drew Pearson (W) 6 IP K, 5 BB, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER; Chad Langley IP, K; KT—Alex Newberry (L, 1-1) 7 IP, 9 K, 3 BB, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER.

Leading hitters: RH—Jon Capasso 3-4, 2 RBI, 3B, 2 R; Logan Neibaur 2-4, RBI, R; Drew Pearson 2-4, 2 R, SB; Chad Langley 2-3, 2 RBI; KT—Shawn Miller 2-3, RBI, 2B.