Eureka’s baseball team is off to a 2-1 start going into their Spring Break trip down to Memphis. Their season started with a 12-0 win against Knox College, with returning senior Nathan Garard on the mound for the Red Devils. Garard was impressive on the first of March, going a strong 3 innings and allowing only 2 hits while striking out 7 and putting up a goose egg in the process. Garard got the support he needed in the bottom of the first with Chase Ulrich racking up his first RBI of the season, scoring Nick Rulevish for the first run of the game, then tagging on another run from Braden Cox coming from an RBI by Garrett Flaggen. The Devils didn’t let up there either. With a runner on base, Davis smashed his first career home run off the scoreboard to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the 3rd. The 4th inning and on was lights out for Knox, as Mike Dunne, a sophomore transfer from Lincoln Land came in relief of Garard and went a strong 3 innings striking out 7 and allowing 0 hits. Over those 3 innings, the boys scored another 8 runs, making it a 12-0 run rule in the 7th, after Ryan Bredeson came in and closed out the game, recording 2 strikeouts himself. That gave the Red Devils their first win of the season, and the first time recording a win on opening day since 2019.

Games 2 and 3 for the boys took place on March 5th in Jacksonville Illinois, with the first game up against Central Ohio. This game was head-to-head for the first half of the game with starting pitcher Mike Dunne going a strong 4 four innings in his second appearance and first start for the Devils this season. Over those 4 innings, Dunne surrendered a season-high 11 batters while only giving up 2 hits, but walking 3. Chase Ulrich (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Illinois Central College) homered for the first time in his Red Devil career, and Garrett Flanagan (Eagle, Ill./Eagle Valley/Williston State) tallied an unearned run in the ninth, but that was all the Red Devils could generate after falling. Central Ohio’s bats decided to catch fire in the fifth while grabbing 5 runs, through some hits and Devils defensive errors. Central went on to win the game 10-4. Mike Dunne is 1-0 heading to Memphis for the Devils. Dunne in his 2 appearances has surrendered an impressive 18 batters over 7.0 innings while allowing 2 hits and 1 run.

Game 2 of the day which started at 1:45 featured a returning senior, Nate Garard, for his second start of the year for the Devils. Garrard went up against Olivet, gave up 2 hits and 1 run in the first inning, and was lights out after that for the next 5. Over those 5 innings of action and trailing 1-0 since the first, in the top of the 6th, Braden Cox came up huge for the Devs with Nick Rulevish on second and blasted a 2-run shot to give them a 2-1 lead. “I saw the pitched I wanted and hunting for, put my swing on it, and thankfully it went out to put us ahead.” After Garard’s scoreless bottom of the 6th, he handed it off to Parker Brodine, who would then go a scoreless 3 innings for the Devils and put up 5 strikeouts to record his first save of the season. The Devils Cole Tanner also had a huge insurance run in the top of the 9th to edge the boys ahead 3-1 on a double scoring Chase Ulrich from second. Mike Dunne also went 2-4 at the plate with a stolen base to help add to the offense. “Felt good out there with all my pitches, and knowing I’ve got a team always firing me up keeps me a little more focused.”

Nate Garard is 1-0 as well going into the spring trip through 9 innings of work, with a 1.0 era and 12 strikeouts to add along. Garard and Dunne are Eureka’s 1-2 starters for the Devils and will accommodate for a majority of innings thrown with relief in the bullpen coming from a little bit of the whole team.

With the boys 2-1 rolling into their Spring break, they’re expecting to get a few things out of this trip besides wins. Being in a hotel room all week with 2-3 roommates each brings on a different situation for the boys but none are strangers to each other. “With many games in a short period of time, guys will learn to develop trust in one another, know who you can trust in certain situations, and find out the guys who need a little jumpstart to their day to bring out the best in each other. When you go on a spring trip like this, it’s preparation time for the rest of the season. Competing well on this trip will bode well for the Red Devils. That’s what makes this trip so important for us. It won’t dictate what will happen for the spring but is a barometer for what could be and what needs to be done to be competitive and successful for the rest of the season”

Coach Rashid is in his 6th year of coaching the boys and seems as confident as ever in this year’s team. Red Devils baseball just seems different this year. You can feel it in the air, especially at Henry Sand field.