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Sports

Simley Closes Regular Season With Big Win Over Highland Park

Logan Busch socked a three-run homer as the Spartans dusted Highland Park 7-2 in the regular season finale; section opener is Friday.

The Simley High School baseball team saved perhaps their best game of the regular season for their regular season finale.

 Simley had it all Tuesday afternoon: Good pitching from four different team members, good defense and lots of timely hits. The combination was just right for the Spartans, who brushed off an early deficit on Tuesday and came back to wax host Highland Park 7-2 in the last game of the regular season.

Highland Park (12-7) took a 2-0 lead after two innings, but Simley's Logan Busch erased that lead with one swing of the bat in the third inning, slamming a three-run home run over the right-field fence.

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The Spartans added two more runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to bolster their lead.

"They all played pretty well," said Simley head coach Stanley Winnie. "[There were] a couple small fielding mistakes, but pitching was very good. We worked everyone's arm a little bit, getting ready for section. Again we want to win the game, but it's all about getting everybody ready for section."

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The Spartans rapped out a total of 12 hits in the game. The team was led by Busch, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and a pair of singles, and Nick Briquet, who went 3-for-3 with a double, a run-scoring single, a single and a sacrifice.

"We don't do that very often," said Simley senior outfielder Jordan Pedersen.

"With guys on base we were coming through,"said senior second baseman Tony Illetschko.

Simley used four pitchers in the contest and all were effective. The Scots had plenty of baserunners, but weren't able to string anything together after the second inning.

"I was really happy with the pitchers throwing strikes," said Winnie. "We only had a couple of walks today."

Leading 3-2 after four, the Spartans padded their lead with two runs in the fifth, loading the bases for Briquet, who drove in a run and then scored again on a fielder's choice.

Simley made it a 6-2 game in the sixth on a dramatic dash home by Busch, who was propelled by a single by Jordan Pedersen. The last run came through a double by Cody Dock.

Coming off a two-game winning streak, Simley (4-16) will play on Friday in the section opener. Who they will play and where the game will take place are yet to be determined. After struggling for most of the season, The Spartans will look to extend their winning streak on Friday.

"We didn't play our routine," said Pedersen. "We didn't get in any flip before. But we just came out and we actually had some team chemistry today and it felt good."

"I was really happy with the pitchers throwing strikes," said Winnie. "We only had a couple of walks today."

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