PAXTON – The Paxton Swedes’ doubleheader against the Danville Dirtbags on Sunday was a homecoming in more ways than one.
The Eastern Illinois Baseball League twinbill, which the Swedes swept via a 7-4 win in Game 1 and an 11-0 victory in Game 2, was originally scheduled to be played at the Carl Gruber Baseball Complex in Tilton, but it was relocated to Memorial Field in Paxton due to a scheduling conflict.
The relocation was a blessing for the Swedes, and not just because it allowed them to play on their home field despite technically being the visitors.
Paxton entered Game 1 with a nine-player starting lineup, but in the first inning, Kendall Cox – who was playing his first game in more than a decade – pulled a quad muscle.
“Hopefully, he’s going to be OK,” Swedes player/manager Mark Prina said. “That happens sometimes when you use muscles you’re not used to using. I don’t know if it was stretched out or what, but he must have just turned the wrong way and he went down.”
The doubleheader’s close proximity to Paxton’s fans gave the Swedes an opportunity to give two local kids a chance to play. As a result, Carson Langley – who will enter eighth grade this fall – and Tyler Swan – who will enter his freshman year at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School – both saw playing time for Paxton.
“Thank God they were here. That’s what’s great about having local guys. They’re all right here,” Prina said. “We’ve just got to keep getting more of them involved. That’s the game plan for the future. It was great to give two young kids a chance to get their first taste of the EI League. It was neat to see. Both of them swung the bat at the plate and weren’t scared.”
The 14-year-old Swan led off the second inning of Game 2 with a base hit to right field. After Bryar Cosgrove – who will enter his senior season at PBL High School this fall – hit into a fielder’s choice, the 45-year-old Prina hit a one-out single.
“That’s what’s kind of neat about this league. It was a joy for me to get the chance to play with him,” Prina said. “I always said I wanted to play with him at least one game and I got that opportunity today. It’s a unique experience. That’s what’s great about baseball. It’s a young kids’ game, but you can play it as long as you want if you can stay in decent health.”
Swan also caught a fly ball for the second out of the bottom of the third inning.
“I think Tyler will be a kid who will play for us for a very long time in the future,” Prina said. “He’s just a couple of years away from being a regular.”
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Paxton had a 4-0 lead going into the second inning of Game 2.
In the first inning, Cosgrove was hit by a pitch before scoring on a wild pitch. Prina reached base on an error and Dalton Busboom singled to load the bases.
Following Cosgrove’s run, Alex Barney hit fly ball that was dropped by Danville’s centerfielder, allowing Prina to cross home plate. Busboom scored on a groundout by Thomas Schwartz before Caleb Reid sent Barney home with an RBI triple to left field.
Following Prina’s second-inning single, Cosgrove scored as Busboom hit ground ball that went through the glove of Danville’s second-baseman. Barney singled to load the bases and Caleb Atwood drew a walk to send Prina home.
Schwartz then hit a two-RBI single, but Atwood and Schwartz would each get caught in a rundown to end the top half of the second inning via a double play.
In the third inning, Reid and Brett Giese each walked before a ground ball hit by Cosgrove resulted in a throwing error that led to Reid and Giese crossing home plate. Cosgrove would then score on a wild pitch.
“We did what we had to do,” Prina said. “We took care of business.”
Meanwhile, Barney pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out 11 batters and walking one through five innings while the Swedes committed no errors.
“Barney threw strikes, we made the plays, and we came out with two wins,” Prina said.
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Paxton’s Game 1 starter, Giese, also pitched a complete game, striking out nine batters and walking four while allowing four runs on eight hits as Paxton’s defense committed one error.
“Brett did a great job in the first game. He controlled what he could control,” Prina said. “We made the plays behind him for the most part, which was nice, and he got out of some jams.”
In the first inning of Game 1, Paxton took a 2-0 lead as Cosgrove hit a leadoff single before Busboom and Barney each reached base on an error. Cosgrove and Busboom each scored runs during the inning.
In the third inning, Paxton broke a 2-2 tie with a run as Busboom tripled before scoring on a Barney base hit.
In the fourth inning, Giese hit a leadoff single before Cosgrove reached base on a fielder’s choice ground ball. Cosgrove then scored on a Busboom double to extend the Swedes’ lead to 4-2.
“We swung the bats and took advantage of their miscues early in the game,” Prina said.
Following a Prina walk, Busboom hit a two-out single before Barney belted a two-RBI double to extend Paxton’s advantage to 6-2. In the ninth inning, Barney drew a leadoff walk before Atwood hit an RBI double to make it 7-4.
It was Paxton’s second doubleheader against Danville. On May 19, the Swedes defeated the Dirtbags 15-0 in each game of their season-opening doubleheader as Paxton scored 12 runs in the first inning of the second game.
“That team is 10 times better than they were the first time we saw them, especially in that first game,” Prina said. “They had two decent arms and their position players have gotten better, so that’s a good sign for the league. At least they were competitive today.”
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The wins improved the Swedes’ record to 6-4. If the EI League postseason started today, Paxton would be the third seed behind the Royal Giants (7-0) and Buckley Dutchmasters (8-1) and ahead of the Arcola Riders (1-8) and the Dirtbags (0-9).
“That hopefully solidifies us being that No. 3 seed at the end of the year,” Prina said.
Prina said he is hoping for reinforcements from high school players currently unavailable to the Swedes due to travel ball commitments, as well as Zach Carr, who was Paxton’s ace pitcher last summer.
“When he’s throwing as well as he’s throwing right now, and if we get two of those (high school kids), we’ll have a chance against anybody in this league. We’ve just got to keep it together until then,” Prina said.
In the meantime, the Swedes will have bye this upcoming Sunday before facing the Arcola Riders at Moore Park in Arcola on July 7.
Game 1
Paxton Swedes 7, Danville Dirtbags 4
PAX 201 102 001 — 7 10 1
DAN 020 000 200 — 4 8 2
W – Brett Giese, 9 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 9 K, 4 BB.
Danville – Ryan Cheatham 2-5, 3B, 2B, R. Isaiah Immke 1-6. Gavin Vogel 1-3, 3B, RBI, R. Caleb Johnson RBI. Nick Coffin 1-4, 2B, R. Garret Drake 2-4, R. Codie Baker 1-3. Austin McConaha 1-2, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 BB.
Paxton – Bryar Cosgrove 2-4, 2 R. Mark Prina R. Dalton Busboom 3-4, 2B, 2B, RBI. 3 R. Alex Barney 2-2, 2B, 3 RBIs, R. Caleb Atwood 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB. Thomas Schwartz 1-5. Brett Giese 1-4.
Game 2
Paxton Swedes 11, Danville Dirtbags 0
PAX 443 00 — 11 6 0
DAN 000 00 — 0 4 4
W – Alex Barney, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 11 K, BB.
Danville (0-9) – Codie Baker 1-1. Carson Howard 1-2. Jack Humphrey 1-2. Austin Cotter 1-2.
Paxton (6-4) – Bryar Cosgrove 3 R. Mark Prina 1-2, 2 R. Dalton Busboom 2-2, 2 R. Alex Barney 1-2, RBI, 2 R. Caleb Atwood RBI. Thomas Schwartz 1-3, 3 RBIs. Caleb Reid 1-2, 3B, RBI, R. Brett Giese R. Tyler Swan 1-3.
