Renville County enjoys historic win streak

By CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer, chaupert@minotdailynews.com

When Renville County swept Crosby in an American Legion Baseball doubleheader on Wednesday, the Muskrats extended their winning streak to an impressive 26 games.

The last time the Muskrats lost was in the second game of a doubleheader at Surrey June 3. The following day, they won a pair of games at Velva marking the beginning of the streak.

Caleb Costello hopes they don't lose anytime soon.

"It's just fun all around and you can't ask for much else at this point," said Costello, who is 5-0 with a 2.85 earned run average. "We hope we can keep it going, but most of all we hope we can win our section, get to state and succeed there as well."

Costello is one piece of a talented rotation Muskrats head coach Matt Titus said is responsible for the streak.

Eight pitchers have recorded wins during the streak led by Ian Anderson (5-0), Frank Kopa (5-0) and Richard Cormier (5-0). Jarod Weathers (3-0), Micah Bender (2-0), Brady Hefter (1-0) and Adam Undlin (1-0) also have wins during the streak.

"There's an old saying in baseball that your momentum is the next game's starting pitcher," Titus said. "Over that amount of time there are going to be times when you hit the ball really well and there will be times that you don't. If you have pitching it will keep you in the game and give you a chance."

The Muskrats have also been solid at the plate as a number of players are hitting better than a .400 average. Anderson leads the way with a .547 average and two home runs, while Hefter is batting .485 with three home runs, Kopa .453 with three home runs and Jacob Costello .451 with three home runs.

As a team, the Muskrats are hitting .412 and have outscored their opponents 308-82 during the streak.

"We've hit the baseball incredibly well," Titus said. "Through the order we've got guys that can put the ball in play on a regular basis and hit for a decent amount of power."

The streak is the longest in the history of Renville County American Legion Baseball, which Titus said started in 1999. Titus was part of the 2002 Renville County team that won 19 straight games and finished the regular season 40-5. After sweeping their sectional tournament, that Muskrats team lost two close games to Wishek and Beulah at the state tournament. The Muskrats have not been back to state since 2004.

As fun as the streak has been, the Muskrats (8-0 Section 6, 27-1) say it will not mean much if they do not perform well in the postseason.

"We are winning games, so that is always a good thing, but as a team we try not to look at the streak because it could end at anytime," Caleb Costello said. "We can't be too cocky, we just have to keep playing baseball and hopefully at the end of the season we will win that section tournament."

"They want to see how far they can take it, but I think they know what the goal is at the end of the year," Titus said. "Even if we entered the section (tournament) 20 and 20 our goal would be the same - we want to make the state tournament. When we enter the section at Watford City it will be about putting a streak together there."

The Muskrats will be back in action Monday as they host Ray.