By Ryan S. Jessen
Pilot Correspondent

CULVER - It was a game of timely hits and solid pitching on a beautiful, yet windy day at the Culver Military Academy.

In the end it was the hometown Eagles who claimed victory in game one of the double-dip against Bremen, 7-6.

The Academy jumped out to an early 2-0 lead scoring two runs in the first inning.

Nick Cecere set it up with a ringing double, followed by a Tyler Weddington RBI base hit. After Weddington stole second base, left fielder Buddy Hornbeck drove him in with another RBI rip.

The Eagles were having their way with Bremen scoring two more runs in the third and fourth innings running the score to 4-0 after four.

The top of the fifth was started off with a Bremen omen as Blaine Maxson drilled a double for the Lions. After Tyler Dendy reached on a dropped third strike, the Lions had back-to-back RBI hits, one by Pat O'Keefe and the other by leadoff man Rob Zeltwanger. At the end of five, Bremen had tied the game racking up four runs on five hits.

Bremen wasn't done yet as they tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI hit by Tony Tatich and a fielder's choice ground out by Derek Nick. The Lions came back to take the lead 6-4.

The Eagles did one better in their half of the inning scoring three runs off of three hits, which would eventually lead to the 7-6 win.

The final comeback was started by a Weddington double and was capped off with RBI by Steve Swindal and David Gerths.

On this day the Eagles were led by Buddy Hornbeck and Swindal. Hornbeck went 2-for-4 with an RBI as Swindal also had a brilliant 3-for-4 RBI performance.

CMA won this game not only by manufacturing runs off of timely hits but also by their solid pitching. Kyler Scott and Gerths combined for a masterful effort to beat the Lions.

“I thought Kyler Scott pitched very well,” said CMA head coach Gary Hinton. “He already has two shutouts for us and really pitched well. Gerths also pitched well. He's only a freshman and he's tough, really tough and only going to get better. Nothing bothers him.”

The Lions were led by Pat O'Keefe and Jay Dendy. O'Keefe went 3-for-3 with an RBI rip and walk, as Dendy went 2-for-2 with a double and two walks. Back-up first baseman Marty Andrews also had a good game going 2-for-2 as he took two Eagle fastballs to right field.

“It was good that we came back but we just couldn't keep it,” commented Bremen head coach Norm Sellers. “It's not like we played bad, we made a couple errors in the last inning. I thought Ryan (Dernay) did a good job throwing ground balls. They had a couple clutch hits and that's just how it goes.”

“I was really proud of our guys,” concluded Hinton. “A year ago we wouldn't have came back after giving up a lead. I was proud of battling back, hitting the ball and withstanding this wind. We are a young and resilient team with solid athletes.”

The Eagles followed up their morning win with another victory as Kean Bartelman pitched a fantastic no-hit shutout in game two. The Academy needed only five innings to dispose of the Lions as Bartelman faced the minimum 15 batters.

The two victories raise the Eagles' record to 6-2 as the losses drop Bremen to 3-6.

CULVER ACADEMY 7, BREMEN 6
At Culver
Bremen: 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 - 6 13 4
CMA: 2 0 1 1 0 3 X - 7 11 1
Ryan Dernay, Derek Nick (L, 0-1) and Tony Tatich; Kyler Scott, David Gerths (W, 1-0) and Tyler Weddington.
2B: Nic Cecere (C), Steve Swindal (C), Al Morris (C), Weddington (C), Jay Dendy (B), Blaine Maxson (B).
3B: Pat O'Keefe (B).
Records: CMA 5-2, Bremen 3-5

CULVER ACADEMY 11, BREMEN 0 (5 INNINGS)
At Culver
Bremen: 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 5
CMA: 0 4 2 5 X - 11 12 1
Maxson (L) and Sebastian Stewart; Kean Bartelman (W) and Weddington.
2B: Scott (C), Weddington (C), Adam Kowalski (C), Swindal (C).
HR: Tim Higgins (C).
Records: CMA 6-2, Bremen 3-6.