Monday’s steady wind was a major player on St. Thomas’ baseball diamond as the Eagles hosted Lutheran North in a non-district game.

St. Thomas (7-7) were able to overcome the wind and put up one run each inning to top Lutheran North 5-3.

“The wind was horrendous,” St. Thomas coach Ken Schulte said. “The pitchers and the hitters were the ones affected by it. My lefty (Patrick Hicks) who started couldn’t throw his curve ball for a strike because he had a 25 mph wind at his back.”

That’s when Lutheran North racked up its runs.

In the second, pitcher Steven Galation started with a hit. Tanner Galation sacrifice bunted Steven Galation to second. Mike Harris got a hit to move Galation to third. Tanner Debettencourt got an RBI to score the Cougars' first run.

Leadoff batter Doug Cooper followed with another RBI for run No. 2 and Carson Johnston had an RBI for the third run.

At the end of two full innings, Lutheran North led 3-1. St.

St. Thomas’ first run came from Dylan Stout who scored on an RBI from Aaron Garza.

Almost two weeks ago, these two teams met and Lutheran North was the victor 5-3.

“They kind of snuck up on us,” Schulte said. “So we knew tonight was going to be war. We had all we could handle and we found a way to win it. I think the key was that we have kids competing well on the mound and we found a way to score a run an inning.”

In the second, St. Thomas' two-out rally started with a walk from Tim Redden followed by a hit from Harris and then a delayed steal brought Redden home.

A pass-ball by the Lions catcher in the third brought in Stout for St. Thomas’ third run and to tie the game. Redden scored in the fourth and designated hitter Colin Bear scored in the fifth.

“If we win five innings and they win one, we have a chance,” Schulte said.

Monday’s win gives the Eagles a winning streak of four. Beginning the season at 1-5, the Eagles have found the way to get the win.

“The games we were losing were one-run games,” said Schulte. “They were real close, but we were unable to come up with the key hit, or pitch, or play to win. The difference in the last four games is we’ve been able to make that pitch or get that hit.”

St. Thomas will play Bellaire (20-1) at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Schulte says, “It is a big rival game between the Eagles and Bellaire. So it’s a big deal to us.”

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