Lutheran South Looking To Make Run At Conference Title

With just two weeks left in the high school baseball season, one local team that seems primed to make a long run in the state playoffs, is the red-hot club from .

The Lancers have been on a dynamite roll lately, with a 9-4 record in the month of April, including a perfect 3-0 mark last week, with wins over Duchesne, Lutheran North, and Bishop DuBourg.

But the coming week is one that could define the season for Lutheran South, with three crucial conference games. South lost the first on Monday to Westminster 2-0.

"(These are) some big games coming up, no doubt about it," Lutheran South head baseball coach Steve Pfund said. "We've got Westminster, (John) Burroughs, and Lutheran North again. So we're going to have to ratchet it up even more."

That might be hard to do, just because the Lancers are playing at such a high level already.

Just last week, they bombed Duchesne and DuBourg by a combined 15-5 score, and then completely dismantled archrival Lutheran North 9-0, in their annual "Lutheran Day" game at Busch Stadium.

"We kind of hit a bump in the road a couple weeks ago, and lost a few games," Pfund said. "And I didn't really feel like we we're playing the way I know we can. But I think we figure some things out, and we're fielding the ball better, and not throwing it all over the ballpark anymore. So I think we're back on that right track."

Starting pitching has been particularly key in South's recent return form, with all three of last week's starters tossing complete games in the three Lancer victories.

Sophomore Brandon Downey went all seven innings, and allowed just four hits in the 6-3 win over Duchesne last Wednesday.

Senior Ryan Strohm did the same and struck out four, in a game-of-his life performance in the shutout over Lutheran North.

And sophomore Dirk Otterstein struck out five and gave up just five hits in a 9-2 win over DuBourg Saturday, setting up Monday's huge matchup with Westminster.

"We've been counting on (those guys) for a lot this year," Pfund said. "And now that we're catching the ball a little better, it's really allowing them to show what kind of pitchers they really are."

Downey's been doing double duty for the Lancers, as he's also one of the club's top hitters, with a .417 batting average, and a team-high four home runs and 21 RBIs.

Strohm also has a high average at .435 for the season, along with teammates Nicholas Bohlmann, who's hitting .431, and Trey Martin, who's at .429.

But it's senior Sam Gieg, that's been South's hottest hitter over the course of the season, with a team-leading .481 batting average, 27 RBIs, and an .808 slugging percentage.

"We've got several guys that can really swing the bat," Pfund said. "We work hard at it, and guys take pride in it. So we hope we can continue to take good at-bats and be good hitters in big situations."

After this week, South will close out the regular season with league games against Principia and MICDS next week, before hosting the Class 3 District 3 tournament at the Lutheran South Athletic Complex, May 14-19.

REMAINING LUTHERAN SOUTH BASEBALL SCHEDULE

May 3      vs. John Burroughs                             4:15 pm

May 5      vs. Lutheran North                               Noon

May 8      at Principia                                         4:30 pm

May 10    vs. MICDS                                          4:15 pm

May 14-19 MSHSAA District Tournament at Lutheran South  TBA