Last Monday the Musketeers began what would be the last full week of the regular season. They traveled to Gibault to take on the Hawks in an effort to spoil their Senior Night. The Musketeers sent Griffin Ziebold to the mound and he did not disappoint. Ziebold was on his game from the start. Mixing speeds and hitting corners, Ziebold had the Hawks’ hitters fooled from the first pitch. The Musketeer bats were also on fire in the first inning. Putting up four runs in the first inning. Ziebold led the team at the plate as well, going 3-4. The Musketeer bats did cool down only scoring a pair of runs for the rest of the game. Ziebold pitched six innings, allowed no runs, and struck out 11 batters. He was relieved in the seventh inning for Alex Birchler who ran into a little bit of trouble, but was able to shake it off and seal the game for the Musketeers. Red Bud would go on to win 6-2.

The good starting pitching did not stop there for the Musketeers, when they challenged the Roxana Shells at home on Tuesday. Blake Cowell took the bump for the Musketeers in an effort to pitch deep into the ballgame and preserve the other Musketeer arms, and he did just that. Using his fastball to effectively hit the outside corners, he also used his change-up to catch the Shell hitters on their front foot and get easy strikeouts. The Musketeers gave Cowell some run support early and the team as a unit did not look back. Cowell would also go a full six innings and would begin the seventh before he was lifted due to his maximum pitching limit. Alex Birchler entered the game and again locked the game down for the Musketeers. Striking out two of the three batters that he faced, Birchler sealed the 5-0 win for the Musketeers.

On Thursday the Musketeers kept the offense rolling in a “Future’s Game” for the Musketeers. While the Seniors were enjoying their “Senior Trip” at Holiday World in Santa Clause Indiana, the underclassmen stayed behind in an attempt to beat the New Athens Jackets. Cole Steibel took the bump and pitched well as usual. Unfortunately for Steibel, he was not gifted the same run support as the other Musketeer starting pitchers had gotten earlier in the week. They struggled to put the bat on the ball and create any type of run support for their starting pitcher. Steibel went six and two-thirds of an inning before being lifted due to pitch limit restraints. Due to a few miscues by the Musketeer’s defensively, and the inability to hit the ball, Red Bud would fall 3-0.

The Musketeer’s great week of pitching did not stop there when they traveled to Trico to play the Pioneers in a Regional Semi-Final precursor. Thomas White started on the bump for the Musketeers and was effective early. Even though White did not have his swing and miss stuff, he was able to induce weak contact all game long. The Musketeers did their only offensive damage of the game in the very first inning. The first three batters for the Musketeers all reached base. Dorion reached on a single to left, Cowell on a walk, and Birchler on a single to center field. All three baserunners made their way around the diamond and would score. From there on out the bats would be very quiet from both dugouts. The Musketeers did struggle to make any contact after that first inning, striking out twelve times, and not putting any more pressure on the Trico pitcher. However the Musketeers did not need the extra run support because White was pitching so well. Inducing weak contact and placing his pitches effectively, White pitched the full length of this ballgame. The only run he allowed was in the top of the seventh on a home-run by one of the Trico batters. White pitched seven innings, allowed one run, struck out the final batter, and did it all in only 78 pitches. The Musketeers hung on to win 3-1.

The Musketeers will have their Senior Night on Monday against the Valmeyer Pirates before they have to play “do or die” baseball on Thursday. The Musketeers will play Trico on Thursday with the mindset to defeat them, and advance to the Regional Championship on Saturday.