Indians set single season win record

Twenty-nine wins in a single season is the number for other Tecumseh varsity baseball teams to reach for in the future as the Indians surpassed their previous record of 28 on Saturday, May 26, with a pair of wins at the Jackson Western Wooden Bat Tournament.The Indians (29-5 overall) defeated Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 7-2 to open the tournament and beat Jackson Western 4-0 in the championship final to break their single season win record.“We have different guys step up for us at the plate each game and we have seniors who are leaders that don’t want the season to end,” commented Tecumseh head coach Tom Bullinger. “I'm proud of how they play the game and how good they get along with each other. It’s a fun team to coach with the type of kids we have and the type of coaches I have in Al Schmidt and Joe Linde.”Tecumseh junior Eric Eldred picked up his 10th win of the season with a seven-inning outing in Game 1. He gave up four hits while walking one and striking out four.Tecumseh’s offense produced nine hits with seniors Brad Vannatter (2-for-4, run, RBI) and Jared Powell, (2-for-3, double, RBI), junior Jacob Britt (1-for-2, run, RBI) and sophomore Phil Carey (2-for-3, double, run, RBI) coming up big at the plate.Carey pitched all seven innings to pick up the win in the championship final. He allowed five hits while walking none and striking out five.“We pitched very well today in both games,” said Bullinger. “Eric and Phil threw strikes all day and kept their pitch count down. We had a couple of big innings with the bats and different guys stepped up for us.”The Indians recorded 10 hits, led by Michael Skelton (2-for-3, double, RBI) and junior Spencer Adams (2-for-3, double, run).Tecumseh took one game out of two in a make-up Southeastern Conference (SEC) varsity baseball doubleheader against visiting Ann Arbor Huron on Wednesday, May 23.The Indians improved their SEC record to 13-3 with the “Senior Night” split.All six of the Indians’ seniors produced hits in the doubleheader and Tecumseh coach Tom Bullinger was pretty proud of their apparent leadership.“This is a great group of kids who put the team before themselves and are very good leaders,” he said. “They lead by example and do whatever it takes for the team. They don’t want this season to end, so they are setting the tone in practice and it shows during the games.”Sophomore Nick Cowen pitched five innings of the opener to pick up a 10-3 win. He gave up nine hits, walked two and struck out three.Junior Eric Eldred pitched the final two innings on relief for the Indians and gave up just one hit, one walk and struck out one.The Indians’ offense produced nine hits with Cowen highlighting the contest with a grand slam home run.Tecumseh’s Britt went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI while sophomore Carey went 2-for-2 with two RBI. Senior Jared Powell hit an RBI double for the Indians.The River Rats won the second game 8-2 with senior Max Patterson recording the pitching loss. He allowed 14 hits in seven innings while walking three and striking out one.The Indians totaled 11 hits in the game, led by junior varsity player Ben Vannatter, who was brought up along with four other players for the varsity games.Junior Spencer Adams finished 2-for-3 for Tecumseh while freshman Jeff Arnett (double) and Carey (RBI) added one hit each.Tecumseh faces Chelsea at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 2, in district action at Tecumseh. If the Indians win they advance to the championship final at 3 p.m.