Cardinals start district play unbeaten after 3 no-hitters and 51-0 scoring margin

After three games in district play, the St. Paul Cardinals are now 3-0, a win streak in which the Cardinals have outscored their opponents by the whopping 51-0 margin.

No, that is no typo. The Cardinals have not allowed a single run in district play. They also haven’t allowed a single hit. In 11 innings of district play, the St. Paul Cardinals have been completely dominant.

Last week, the Cardinals opened district play with a 23-0 win against the hometown San Antonio Winston Eagles. The game ended in three innings, as pitchers Cole Hybner, Colby Schrade and Adam Hollenbach combined for an eight-strikeout no-hitter.

Tuesday afternoon was more of the same for St. Paul. Hybner was unhittable on the mound as the Cardinals hosted the Victoria Faith Academy Cougars. Hybner chalked up 14 strikeouts and walked two batters in five innings of play.

Hybner also had an excellent day of batting. As the lead-off batter in the lineup, Hybner blasted the ball outside the right field wall for a solo homerun. The next two batters got on base safely with walks. Then, Tyler Morgan took a shot deep to left field, clearing the wall and for a three-run dinger of his own. Tanner Davis followed with a single then stole second base, before Mitchell McElroy recorded an RBI with a single for a 5-0 cushion.

Adam Hollenbach started off the second inning with a base hit. A stolen base and a passed ball later, Hollenbach scored on a Colby Schrade RBI single. Davis then put down a sacrifice to get the RBI and plate Schrade, extending the Cardinal lead to 7-0.

In the third inning, with two outs already on the board, Dylan Barton laced a double and eventually scored on a Hybner RBI double for an 8-0 advantage.

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Cougars were in jeopardy of losing on the 10-run rule. McElroy got on base safely due to an error on the shortstop. McElroy stole second base, then scored on an RBI single by Laddie Patek, who relinquished the base paths to courtesy runner Austin Horne. Barton got aboard with a base on balls, then Hybner came to the plate with no outs and runners on first and second base. Hybner ended the game with a walk-off RBI single to the outfield for a 10-0 verdict.

The Cardinals played their second game of the doubleheader 30 minutes later and did not let up. In the first inning of play, St. Paul scored 18 runs on 16 hits to blow the game wide open. The Cardinal scoring included a solo home run by McElroy, and multiple players getting RBIs, including Morgan with three RBIs; Hybner, Schrade and Hollenbach with two RBIs each; and Patek with one RBI.

Schrade needed only three innings to pitch his no-hitter, giving up no walks with five strikeouts.

St. Paul’s dominance of both San Antonio Winston and Victoria Faith Academy bodes well for the Cardinals and their district schedule. If they can continue to get their bats going and pitch at this level, the Cardinals will be well on their way to at least a district championship.