ROCHELLE — After dropping a pair of conference games to the Ottawa Pirates early last week, the Hubs varsity baseball team bounced back with two sound victories over Rockford Guilford and Niles West in nonconference, doubleheader action this past Saturday at Rochelle Township High School.

Guilford

The Hubs began the two-game set with a 14-1 win over the Vikings, with senior Caleb Gould going a perfect 3-for-3 and nearly hitting for the cycle. Rochelle scored eight runs in the first inning, with Gould homering in his second at-bat and following up with a double in the third inning and a single in the fourth inning.

Senior Sam Christensen was also flawless at the plate in the No. 2 spot, notching three consecutive singles before exiting the game for junior Cody Thompson, who singled in the fourth inning. Senior Landon Griffith and junior Riley Lodico each scored two runs and totaled two singles.

Sophomore Johnny Beck took the mound for the Hubs, who went on to record 19 hits in the game. Beck threw a complete game en route to earning a victory, firing five innings on 83 pitches and striking out 12 batters with zero walks.

Niles West

The Wolves got the jump on Rochelle in the second game of the doubleheader, scoring three runs in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. But the Hubs cut the Niles West lead to 3-2 after senior Kyle Seebach singled to start the bottom of the second inning and senior Matt Albers drew a walk before Griffith’s two-run double.

Rochelle added four runs in the third to go up 6-3. Gould began the offensive outburst with a double, and six consecutive Hubs reached base afterward including junior Noah Mershon, who doubled to center in his second at-bat of the game.

Niles West got two more runs in the fifth, but the Hubs countered with two runs in the sixth to keep the game out of the Wolves’ reach.