OAK CREEK, Wis.  — MATC baseball won its fourth straight game Friday after easily dismantling Kennedy-King College, 12-2 in seven innings via mercy-rule. As a result of their 10-run win, the Stormers improved their record to 33-20 and moved to 22-18 in Region 4 play.

"I'm very proud of  the guys," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "We did a great job there in getting the win. We are looking forward to tomorrow with our final day of the regular season."

MATC's offense was able to attack early and often as the Stormers went on the plate all 12 of their runs over the first four innings of action.

With Marco Falletti on first (walk) and Camdin Jansen on second (single) with one-out in the first, Leonardo Zerillo barreled a two-RBI single on a 7-pitch-at-bat to put MATC on the board, 2-0.

The Stormers extended their lead to 5-0 in the second thanks to an RBI bloop single from Ryan Quello and a two-RBI double from Lucas Hernandez. Bryant Armijo-Martin drove in another run in the third on a single to pull his squad ahead 6-0.

MATC scored six runs while down to their last out in the bottom of the fourth to help take a commanding 12-0 lead. Cole Wissen drew a two-out bases-loaded RBI walk, scoring one run, Carlito Collins singled, scoring two runs, an error scored two runs, and Jake Hall singled, scoring one run.

"I thought our guys did a really good job at the plate," Bounds said. "One thing we really harp on is approach, and I thought our hitters did a really good job making sure we didn't fly out too much…I was pleased with what our hitters did today."

Kennedy-King scored the final two runs of the game. The Statesmen had their first run come off a defensive throwing error on a steal attempt of second base in the fifth before plating their final run in the seventh off an RBI sac-fly.

MATC starter Luke Klekamp had another stellar outing on the rubber. The sophomore righty earned his second straight win after allowing two hits and one run (zero earned) over five innings, striking out seven and walking none. He also stayed consistent in the strike zone, tossing 47 of 62 total pitches for strikes (75%).

"My stuff was working today and I really relied on my heater," Klekamp said. "It was good to come out and get another win before the playoffs start, especially being that it's my last regular season start at home. It felt good."

Outside of Klekamp, the Stormers got solid outings from relievers Evan Phillips and Vinny Cameranesi. Phillips fired one scoreless inning in the sixth, allowing zero runs on one hit with a pair of strikeouts and no walks. Cameranesi went on to strike out two and allow just one earned run on zero hits and one walk.

"Phillips has been throwing really well here as of late," Bounds said. "And Vinny has had two really nice outings now back-to-back."

STAT BOOK
Hernandez went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run to lead the Stormers with the sticks. Jansen added three steals, two singles, and two runs scored. Collins drove in a pair of runs on a single. Zerillo collected two walks, one single, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Armijo-Martin, Hall, and Quello each had hits for RBIs. Klekamp improved to 3-4 on the rubber after earning the win in his 10th start of the year.

UP NEXT
MATC (33-20) will close out its 2024-25 regular season with a home doubleheader against Prairie State College at noon Saturday.