Hot night. Hot bats.

In scorching Dubuque Hempstead 7-2 and 10-0 at home Friday, Lion-Mar ran its win streak to 10 games and is within one of tying the school record for victories in a season.

At 26-8 and 21-3 in the Mississippi Valley Conference, the Class 4A eighth-ranked Lions also moved closer to clinching a division title.  They play a non-conference doubleheader at home Saturday with North Scott, then close the regular season with two conference games at ninth-ranked Iowa City High Monday.

Linn-Mar leads the Mississippi Division by .029 percentage points over second-ranked Kennedy, which closed its MVC season at 22-4 Friday with three victories. The Lions win the conference outright by sweeping City High. A split leaves them in a tie with Kennedy. The Cougars win the crown if City High sweeps Linn-Mar.

Friday’s 100-degree temperature seemed to put a sizzle in the Lions' metal sticks.  They rapped out 14 hits in the opener and followed up with 11 more in the abbreviated five-inning nightcap.

And on Senior Night, all five of the honorees had big nights.

Most productive of all was Keaton Blackford, who was 3-for-4 in the two games, with a double and four runs batted in.

Even on a blistering evening, said fellow senior Kevin Bogert, “he’s cold-blooded at the plate, he’s got ice in his veins.”

Bogert himself was 2-for-4 in the opener with a run and an RBI. Senior Michael Redmond was also 2-for-4 in the first game with a double and two runs scored.

“We hit the ball really well tonight,” said Redmond. “We came out aggressive and put runs on the board early. That gave our pitchers some confidence.”

In the opener, the Lions pounced on the visiting Mustangs for five runs in the first three innings on a flurry of hits. They added two more in the sixth, giving senior starting pitcher Jake Stolley plenty of cushion.  The strong-armed lefty was cruising along with a four-hit shutout until walking a batter in the seventh and then giving up a two-run homer to Hempstead’s Nick Stevenson.

Reliever Justin Wyant came in to get the final and preserve Stolley’s victory.

While the temperature dipped into the 90s for game two, the Linn-Mar hitters remained torrid.

Speed demon Nate Greve got things started with a lead-off triple in the bottom of the first and scored on a sacrifice by Bogert. Greve, who had three hits in the game while fellow junior Austin Stroschein had four, also led off the third with a single.

In the fourth inning, Blackford cleared the loaded bases with a two-out double.

Linn-Mar finished the game off with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Senior Travis Kvach trotted home the final run on another single by Greve.  Meanwhile, sophomore side-arm pitcher Ben Hilsenbeck, in only his second appearance with the varsity this season, held Hempstead to just two hits over five innings.

“Ben really gave us a lift tonight,” Lions Coach Chad Lechner said. “With the games we’ve got coming up, we were able to save some of our big guys.”

Lechner said he thinks his team is peaking at just the right time.

“You hope your team is playing its best ball at the end of the season, and these guys are finishing strong. They’re really focused coming down the stretch.

“Tonight was just a great team performance. And it was nice to see all of our seniors perform well.”

GAME ONE

HEMPSTEAD (2)
Stevenson 4 1 3 2, Johnson 3 0 0 0, Tomkins 4 0 2 0, Vanderlee 4 0 0 0, Bortscheller 2 0 0 0, George 3 0 1 0, Boleyn 3 0 1 0, Keleher 3 0 0 0, Seymour 2 1 0 0. Totals 28 2 7 2.

LINN-MAR (7)
Stickney 4 0 1 0, Bogert 4 1 2 1, Redmond 4 2 2 0, Roth 3 1 1 2, Stroschein 3 1 3 1, Banks 3 0 1 1, Stolley 3 0 1 1, Blackford 2 1 2 0, Kvach 3 1 1 1, Mortensen 0 0 0 0, Kane 1 0 0 0. Totals 30 7 14 7.

Hempstead     000 000 2 - 2  7 1
Linn-Mar         221 002 x - 7 14 2

W - Stolley. L - Boleyn. 2B - Stickney, Redmond, Banks. HR - Stevenson. SB - Mortensen.

GAME TWO

HEMPSTEAD (0)
Stevenson 3 0 1 0, Coohey 2 0 0 0, Wilgenbusch 2 0 0 0, Oberbroeckling 2 0 0 0, Fitzgerald 2 0 0 0, George 2 0 1 0, Fitzgerald 0 0 0 0, Ploessl 2 0 0 0, Houselog 2 0 0 0. Totals 17 0 2 0.

LINN-MAR (10)
Greve 4 2 3 1, Bogert 1 0 0 1, Redmond 3 0 0 0, Stickney 2 2 1 1, Stroschein 3 2 3 0, Roth 1 2 0 0, Blackford 2 1 1 4, Banks 3 1 2 2, Strellner 3 0 1 1, Kvach 0 0 0 0. Totals 22 10 11 10.

Hempstead    000 00 -  0  2  1
Linn-Mar        104 05 - 10 11 0

W - Hilsenbeck. L - Fitzgerald. 2B - Stroschein, Blackford. 3B - Greve.