The Grant Union/Prairie City/Monument Prospector baseball team never let the Pilot Rock Rockets take off during a doubleheader on Saturday, April 20, at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day, sending the visitors home the victims of two straight losses by a combined 19-1 score.

The first game was a 12-0 shutout that ended after five innings. The Pros got on the board early, drawing first blood following a Weston Suchorski double that brought Zeke Rookstool across home plate for a 1-0 lead.

The Pros would add three more runs in the first to take a 4-0 lead into the second inning, where Suchorski would again drive another runner across the plate for a 5-0 Prospector lead after a mere two innings.

The Pros kept the pressure on, scoring an additional seven runs through the third and fourth innings to win game one 12-0.

Leading the Pros on offense in game one were Suchorski and Baryn Huerta, who both finished 2-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs. Talon Van Cleave picked up the win on the mound, giving up five hits and no runs while pitching a complete game.

The second game saw the Pros jump out to a 4-0 led after the first inning and cruise to a 7-1 win.

Up 4-0 in the second, the Pros got their fifth run in the second inning following a Talon Van Cleave pop-fly single that brought Charley Knowles across home plate. The Pros would get their sixth and seventh runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and hold the Rockets to one run throughout the remainder of the game for the 7-1 win.

Pacing the Pros on offense in game two was Van Cleave, who finished a perfect 3-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs. Suchorski and Kingdon Kirby each finished with an RBI in the second game.

Sheldon Lenz got the win on the mound, surrendering a single run on seven hits while striking out 10 Rocket batters.

The Pros are streaking. Winners of nine in a row, the team hasn’t lost a game since returning from the Coach Bob Invitational in Arizona in late March.

Head coach RC Huerta said the run of success is largely due to the team’s mantra and way they approach games.

“We’ve just been preaching that mentality of every game is a championship game,” he said.

There was a point early in the season where the Prospectors hit a bit of a losing streak and they were down on themselves, Huerta said. He said he simply reminded them that the majority of their losses have been one or two runs.

“Once they realized that, they were locked in,” Huerta said. “I just want them to keep working hard.

The Pros are steadily moving up the OSAA 2A baseball rankings and now sit at No. 18 while sporting a 12-5 record with a 9-0 league mark.

The Pros will be in action next on Friday, April 26, when they travel to Nyssa to take on the Nyssa/Adrian co-op. Start time is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

A previous version of this story had the wrong first names for Wyatt Suchorski and Zeke Rookstool.