DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
FLATROCK – The wind at Heritage Monday night was blowing straight in from left field for the Patriots and the Blackhawk Christian Braves, but it certainly did not prevent the two teams from pushing runs across, with the two teams combining for a 17-11 game that moved the Pats record to 10-1 in 2026.
It was a tough night to be a pitcher on the mound, but the Heritage hurlers helped themselves at the plate, scoring seven runs and going 4-for-10 on the night for coach Lehrman’s squad.
The first two innings looked like a normal Heritage baseball game, with the home team building a 2-0 lead on a Lucas Taylor triple. He later scored on a wild pitch.
Blackhawk got on the board with a five-run inning in the third and they scored in every inning thereafter. That big inning chased starter Beau Stoppenhagen from the mound with one out. He was replaced by Corbin Saalfrank, who went all the way into the seventh inning before Taylor came on to get the final two outs.
While Saalfrank gave up runs, he never allowed more than two in an inning, capitalizing on the opportunity afforded to him by an eight-run fifth by the Patriots.
In that big inning, the home team played good fundamental baseball, waiting on strikes to be thrown and taking extra bases and walks where they were afforded. Garrett Oliver drove in the team’s 15th run with a sac fly to right.
Eli Rauner and Brady Boyle both knocked in three runs to push the Heritage overall record to 10-1.
The Patriots will travel to Woodlan Tuesday night for an important ACAC contest.
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