The Collinsville Pirates baseball team sailed into the playoffs on a 15-game winning streak and rolled right through their first-round opponent, the Celeste Blue Devils, on May 1 and 3, extending the streak to 17 wins in a row.
The Pirates pounced on the Blue Devils and controlled both matchups, taking the first game 18-5 and the second 21-0.
“For us, this one was just about playing ball and getting the work in,” Collinsville head baseball coach Derrick Jenkins said. “We did a good job of having good at-bats and doing what we're supposed to do with a series that got out of hand in a hurry.”
Collinsville first baseman Cash Morgan started the Pirates’ scoring barrage with a line drive single to right field that drove in three runs, giving Collinsville a 3-0 lead.
Second baseman Jaxon Spivey kept things rolling for the Pirates with a single to left field that drove in two more runs, pushing Collinsville’s lead to 5-0.
Spivey crossed home plate a few plays later after Brandon Cantu singled on a bunt to the pitcher, and Cantu got home after Paxton Davidson was struck by a wild pitch with the bases loaded, giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead after one inning.
Collinsville added two more runs in the second inning when center fielder Caysen Schafer hit a triple that put the Pirates up 9-0.
Celeste would get on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom of the third inning, but the Pirates would go on to outscore the Blue Devils 9-2, taking the win 18-5 after six innings.
Collinsville continued bombarding the overmatched Celeste team in Game 2, with the first five runs of the game coming off errors from the Blue Devils’ defense.
The Pirates would add four more runs after big hits from catcher Paxton and Peyton Davidson, closing the first inning up 9-0.
Spivey tripled in the second inning, driving in three runs, followed by back-to-back sacrifice outs from Paxton and Peyton that put Collinsville up 180.
The Pirates collected three more runs, taking Game 2 21-0 and the series.
Peyton, who led Collinsville at the plate with three hits and five RBIs, credited the team’s strong hitting performance to the work they put in during the week.
“Hitting in the cages a lot at practice, and we hit as a team,” he said. “It takes a team of bats for us to get our runners in scoring position, and we were able to score some runs.”
Pitcher Jaxon Jenkins, who opened the series on the mound for the Pirates, echoed his catcher’s sentiments, citing the team’s practice habits for helping them prepare for whoever they face.
“We work on everything that everyone else does, but we also work on the little stuff— bunting, bunt defense first and third, and all the stuff that a lot of people look past, and that helps us,” he said. “When those situations happen, we're not nervous.”
Despite the big win, Derrick said the Pirates still have their eyes on the ultimate prize.
“We're going to play a good team next week, but our focus is always trying to win a state championship,” he said. “We are not a one-game-at-a-timetype group. We talk about winning a state championship every day, so we'll be focused on next week because Wendy's going to be really, really good, but, for us, our focus is to go win every week because we want to go win a state championship.”
The Pirates were scheduled to start a best-of-three series against the Windthorst Trojans hosted at Eagle Mountain High School on Thursday, with Game 2 scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. and Game 3 to follow, if necessary.
