What a busy and entertaining week it has been for the Morton College Panthers on the baseball diamond. There have been several games canceled, moved, and rescheduled due to the weather.

It has not mattered much to the scorching hot Panthers, who have reeled off six in a row and 12 of 13. While the pitching, defense, and baserunning have been vital, the offense has been on fire.

There have been improvements made across the board one through nine and manager Chris Wido believes this team will continue its success.

"1-9 our hitters are continuing to do a great job of battling and putting good barrels on pitches. I need to give credit to our hitting coach, Manny Becerra. He's done a tremendous job with our hitters this year and it's paying off," Wido stated.

Entering the early stages of the week (through 19 games), the Panthers ranked in the Top 20 in on-base percentage (.461), batting average (.351), and slugging percentage (.516). 

An impressive victory and tremendous moment for the team came on Wednesday night over Kankakee Community College. Thomas Schroeder, David Burch, Logan Romasanta, Alex Brodie, Julio Trevino, Diego Da Rin, Nick Tampa, Kyle Washington, and Luke Ulbert put together quite the performance during their 12-8 victory.

The Panthers were once again led by one of the most productive offenses in the country. They registered 12 hits and for the 12th time in their past 13 games, the Panthers posted seven or more runs.

Catcher David Brodie seems to have had a craving for ribbies these days, posting several multi-hit games with crucial runners being driven in. We saw Brodie enter the week slightly trailing Julio Trevino for the team lead, but their willingness to focus on winning has been at the forefront.

Plus, something that has continued to happen in their favor is the ability to grab an early lead and continue to keep the good times rolling. Avoiding costly errors and being able to hit with runners in scoring position has been impressive. At catcher, Brodie continues to feast on opposing starters.

"Brodie has done an outstanding job anchoring the offense. Our hitters have a lot of confidence right now and that leads to quality at-bats," Wido stated.

The issue limiting Morton College these days is its ability to expose the opposition's pitching staff in a bevy of ways. While they have several players hitting in the middle of the order that can put the ball in play from foul pole to foul pole, the top of their order deserves credit thus far.

"Tommy Schroeder and David Burch are both threats on the bases and it is huge anytime you can get plus runners on base. It makes the pitcher and opposing defense have to work that much harder," Wido stated.

On the season, the dynamic duo up the middle was hitting a combined .375 while getting on base over a .460 clip. Having swiped over 20 combined bags, their ability to set the table for their talented teammates has given them an offensive identity in every ball game.

Get on base and let the run producers do their jobs to their best ability. While the offense has been absurd in stretches, they have seen their pitching step up their games as Skyway competition will continue to rise.

Logan Romasanta twirled a 7-inning gem, allowing one walk and a hit, and no runs in their 9-0 victory over Waubonsee Community College on Tuesday. It was the type of virtuoso performance that the Panthers would love to see continue against the top competition.

"Romasanta did a great job establishing the fastball and getting ahead early in counts. He had all the confidence in the world," Wido said.

The pollsters and voters have taken notice as the Panthers were fifth among receiving votes in the latest PBR JUCO poll. Kankakee was ranked No. 14 in the country in their latest poll on April 4, but the Panthers proved why they could be worthy of such a ranking.

They were led by Romasanta earlier in the week on the mound, but Alex Swack brought his full arsenal for a premier program victory on Wednesday night. 

While Kankakee provided quite the challenge in his outing, Swack finished with six strikeouts on 100 pitches and walked only one batter while scattering 12 hits across 6 runs. The bottom line for this team has been the ability to battle and keep themselves in the game and earn that much-craved victory.

"Swack had a gutsy performance today. The wind was howling out and Kankakee is a good hitting team. But he made his pitches and competed his tail off to give us a chance to win the ballgame," Wido stated.

Having won six in a row and 12 of 13 has been contagious for the program. The offense continues to jump out to an early lead, which certainly has been the perfect recipe for success. 

"Our confidence is through the roof. We know it's a long season and have to remain even-keeled, but like I tell our guys, when we are firing on all cylinders there is not a team around that can beat us," Wido stated. 

Next up for the Panthers (weather permitting) is a Thursday trip to Wheeling to take on Harper College before a Skyway conference scheduled doubleheader at College of Lake County on Saturday. They are then loaded up with eight scheduled games next week, six of which will be conference matchups.