Cardinal keeps rolling past Seymour

MORAVIA ? Cardinal had to throw out its 17-2 record and 15-game win streak Tuesday night as they faced Seymour, a team with just two 2009 victories to their credit, in the do-or-die Class 1A District 5 opener.

The Comets improved those numbers to 18-2 and an unprecedented 16-game winning streak after the 12-2 victory that advances them to the district semifinal. Colton Millard knocked his ninth home run of the year, a three-run shot, to get Cardinal started in the bottom of the first and the Comets cruised from there. Connor Schlegel belted his first round-tripper of the season and finished the game 3-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored while Millard was 2-3 with two driven in and crossed twice himself. Jake Scherer also had a multi-hit game going 2-3 with a double and two RBIs.

?We were so used to playing a lot of games in just a few days that we might have had a little rust coming off the four-day break, but we came out and continued to swing the bats well. Colton?s three-run shot really got us going there in the first,? said head coach Rick Rachford. ?You never know what can happen in post season play, but we came out and just took care of business.?

Ryan Giltner, one of three Cardinal pitchers to see action in the five-inning game, held onto his perfect record from the mound earning the win after just two innings pitched, but the Comet ace didn?t return in the third after his team had already built a 5-0 lead. AJ McElderry worked two innings and struck out five and Coty Ridgway struck out one in a fifth-inning relief appearance.

?The pitchers did well and threw strikes. We were able to mix it up and we just tried to get everybody a little work,? Rachford said. ?Now I have four starters that are all going to be ready to go Thursday. I can go any way I want to ? it?s a nice thing to have.?

Cardinal will return to Moravia Thursday night with its season on the line once again against Moulton-Udell, which advanced with a 11-8 win over the host team Moravia Tuesday. Thursday?s district semifinal is slated for 7 p.m.