Hounds shut out Keokuk on the road

KEOKUK – Fort Madison head boys' baseball coach Albert Schinstock said the Hounds are 3-0 this season.
Those are three wins over Southeast Conference foe Keokuk that make up three of the Bloodhounds' four wins this year, including Thursday's 4-0 shutout at Joyce Park.
The other is a win over Washington.
But Fort Madison is playing better of late with four of the last five games being decided by three runs or less and two of them are wins.
Aiden Mitchell and Tateum Schelich both went three of four at the plate. Mitchell scored two runs and Schelich scored one. Schelich and Brody Cashman each had RBIs, the other two runs were on wild pitches.
Fort Madison started the third with five straight singles. Schelich’s single to third scored Reece Huey on a bang-bang play at the plate. Mitchell would score on a wild pitch before Keokuk got out of the inning.
The Hounds would get two more runs in the top of the fifth when Mitchell led off with a single. Senior Luke Hellige would fan for the first out. Mitchell would score on a wild pitch before Schelich singled again. Cashman would then drive in the final run with a ground out to third scoring Schelich.
Owen Huffman earned the win going five innings and striking out 10 Chief hitters. He walked three and allowed three hits. He gave way to Reece Huey in the sixth. Huey allowed just one hit and struck out one, while walking two.

Huey, Hellige, and Michael Fuller all had hits in the win for Fort Madison.
Schinstock said the Hounds are starting to see better pitching that has been keeping them in ball games lately. On Thursday, he said he saw a few other things they are doing better.
“Obviously, pitching and throwing strikes are keeping us in the ballgame. And we finally did some of the little things like having a runner on third and one out – getting a ground ball and getting the runner. I think they understand it, but I think now they’re seeing it,” he said.
Schinstock said baserunning kept them in the game, but defense is what will get them farther down the road.
“If we play good defense, which we're capable of, we’re fine. But once we get down on ourselves, it turns in a hurry,” he said. “Our baserunning was good tonight. We were reading down angle and took some extra bases. That’s probably what won us the game, actually. That and some good pitching.”
The Hounds travel to Fairfield for a doubleheader Monday evening, as the season begins to wind down. Schinstock said he likes the Bloodhounds' chances as they move through the second round of Southeast Conference play.
“In the post-season, I like our chances, honestly. If we can get a 5 or 6 seed, and Keokuk and Washington get a 7 and 8, I like our chances against Mt. Pleasant or Fairfield, honestly,” he said.
“We’ll see them a second time in the loop again, but we’ve picked up on some things we can do and we’ll show them in the post-season."