When one thinks of the Washington Warriors pitching staff, Chicago White Sox draft pick Dakota Freese usually comes to mind.

Washington senior Mike Troendle wants people to start thinking more freely.

Troendle took the mound in the first game of a doubleheader against Dubuque Senior on Friday evening and dominated the Rams’ lineup, helping the Warriors win 10-0 in six innings at the Washington Field.

“That is the kind of outing we expect from him,” said Washington Coach Brent Henry.

The Warriors carried that momentum into the second game and took the nightcap, 7-5, for their sixth win a row.

Troendle made quick work of Dubuque Senior, facing only 18 batters in six innings, which is the bare minimum. The Rams managed two singles, but Troendle forced the next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play both times.

“I got on my game and luckily I was able to control my pitches,” he said.

Friday night also marked senior recognition night for Washington (15-20, 9-17), and Troendle mentioned he used that as motivation for his pitching, much to the chagrin of Dubuque batters.

“I put a lot of heart in it and wanted it really bad for all of us seniors,” he said.

The upperclassmen continued to own the night in Washington’s exciting 7-5 win in the second game.

Dubuque Senior (14-23, 10-16) started strong, scoring three runs in the first inning against Dan White. The Warriors answered with three runs in the second inning, getting consecutive singles by Sam Kacena, Cole Rhatigan and Zach Zingula. Freese hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knot the score, 3-3.

The Rams scored in the third inning when White got a Dubuque runner in a pickle between second and third, but he made a throwing error and the run scored to give Senior a 4-3 lead.

Then came Washington’s upperclassmen heroics. Rhatigan cracked a two-run home run in the fourth, putting the Warriors up 5-4.

The Rams tied the game in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. In the bottom half of the inning, White made up for his mistake in the field. With the go-ahead runner on first base, he crushed an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a 7-5 lead, putting the Warriors in front for good.

“We had a couple of big home runs. Cole Rhatigan had a big one and then Dan White had that clutch two-run home run,” said Henry. “All of these guys do a great job. The hard work that they put in during practice is paying off during games.”

With the likes of Freese, lefty A.J Puk and Troendle in the pitching rotation, Henry feels confident going down the line.

“I feel like we have four or five guys who we can put out there at any time who are going to throw strikes and are going to get ahead and keep us in competitive ballgames,” he said.

The Warrior bats are also looking good. They collected 15 hits in the opener and clubbed two homers in the nightcap. Puk and Kacena each went 5-for-7 in the twinbill.

“Obviously if we keep swinging the bats like we were today it will continue to be fun,” said Henry.

The substate tournament begins next Friday. The Warriors like the way things are going, but are not satisfied yet.

“We are going to keep getting out there and working hard on the field every day,” said Troendle.

Game 1

DUBUQUE SENIOR (0)
Grant, rf, 2 0 0 0, Janes, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Jantsch, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Merritt, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Jones, ss, 2 0 1 0, Hansen, dh, 2 0 0 0, Kremer, lf, 2 0 1 0, Clemens, cf, 2 0 0 0, Capesius, c, 2 0 0 0. Totals 18 0 2 0.

WASHINGTON (10)
Brown, cf, 4 1 3 0, Dostal, c, 4 2 2 2, White, ss, 4 2 1 0, Puk, 1b, 4 3 4 3, Kacena, dh, 4 1 3 3, Rhatigan, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Zingula, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Hardin, rf, 3 0 0 0, Troendle, p, 3 1 2 0. Totals 32 10 15 8.

Dubuque Senior  000 000 -  0  2 3
Washington       202 402 - 10 15 0

Sabers, Merrit (4) and Capesius. Troendle and Dostal. W - Troendle. L - Sabers. 2B- Dostal 2, Puk 2, Kacena 2. 3B - Brown, Puk. SB - Brown 2, Dostal, Troendle.

Game 2

DUBUQUE SENIOR (5)
Grant, p, 5 1 0 0, Janes, c, 4 1 3 1, Jantsch, ss, 4 0 0 0, Merritt, 3b, 4 1 1 0, Jones, 2b, 4 1 1 0, Hansen, dh, 4 1 1 0, Kremer, lf, 4 0 0 1, Clemens, cf, 4 0 1 0, Sabers, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Powers, 1 0 0 0, Blake, 1 0 0 0. Totals 37 5 7 2.

WASHINGTON (7)
Brown, lf, 3 1 1 0, Dostal, ss, 3 0 0 0, White, p, 3 1 1 2, Puk, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Kacena, c, 3 2 2 0, Rhatigan, rf, 3 2 2 2, Zingula, 2b, 3 1 2 1, Freese, 3b, 2 0 0 1, Troendle, cf, 3 0 0 0, Hogg, p, 1 0 0 0. Totals 27 7 9 6.

Dubuque Senior  301 010 0 - 5 7 1
Washington        030 220 x - 7 9 2

Grant and Janes. White, Burdt (5), Hogg (5) and Kacena. W - Hogg. L - Grant. 2B - Kacena. 3B - Zingula. HR - Rhatigan, White. SB - Grant, Janes.