St. Clair baseball's emphasis on the 'small things' yields big results

ST. CLAIR — When the season started two months ago, the St. Clair baseball team wasn't ranked by any poll or pundit in the state.

It didn't bother the Saints then. And while they've since been added to mix, they aren't giving the new-found recognition much thought now.

"I've tried to get us taken off every single ranking list possible," St. Clair coach Nick Black said with a chuckle. "Because ignorance is bliss. From March 14 — the first day of tryouts — we've been telling them (focus on the) small things. And they're starting to get it, which is good."

Improving on the small things have yielded big results so far. The Saints are 15-5 overall and 8-4 in the MAC White with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.

"We're a really confident team with everything we do," outfielder Brenden Cole said. "We came out of the year really hot and we're still swinging well. We're putting runs on the board and our pitching has been really dominant."

St. Clair is allowing just 2.6 runs per game. And while the Saints' ace is still Jacob Turner — their senior pitcher who is committed to play in college at Bowling Green — it's the progress made by a fellow senior that has strengthened the rotation as a whole. 

"Our dark horse of the year has been Carter Hurlburt," Black said. "He's a guy that not a lot of people knew about — I don't even think he knew about himself (in this capacity). He's been our most efficient pitcher. His strike percentage is in the 70-to-80 percent range."

Hurlburt didn't have a single college recruiting him before this spring. Now he's had multiple offers to play at the next level.

St. Clair has also gotten a glimpse of what its future on the mound might look like.

Freshman Joey Turner (Jacob's younger brother) tossed a gem in the Saints' 6-1 win over Grosse Pointe North on Thursday. He struck out nine batters while allowing just one run on four hits in five innings of work.

"Our plan was to get him about one time through the lineup and that was it," Black said. "And in that third inning he's still rolling so we said, 'Alright, you know what? The ball is yours kid.' He did everything he needed to do. That was phenomenal."

"For the first couple of (batters), I was just going out there and getting comfortable," Joey Turner said. "But after that first inning, I felt good and just kept doing what I was doing."

St. Clair's offense gave him an early 3-0 lead to work with. Luke Ellis drove in two runs on a double in the first inning. Then the other Ellis brother, Logan, added an RBI double in the second. That was ample support for the young right-hander. 

"We all just believe in each other," Joey Turner said. "It doesn't matter who is playing where. We believe that we'll get the job done. That's been our mindset."

Thursday's victory brought the Saints to within a 1/2-game of first place in the MAC White. A conference title is still within reach. Yet they're striving for much more.

"We're trying to make a run," Black said. "But we know what we're up against in the playoffs. So if we do the small things right and keep building, hopefully, once that times comes we'll be off to the races."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.