Solon seniors making own legacy

SOLON - Ever since making the Solon varsity baseball squad three years ago, pitcher Mitch Silberstein received steady reminders of the squad that came before him.

Four straight state tournament appearances. Back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

For Silberstein and the six other Spartan seniors, it's their turn to leave a mark on the growing Solon baseball tradition.

Silberstein (7-2) held Clear Creek Amana to a run on four hits, and his teammates took advantage of six Clipper errors as Solon advanced to the state tournament with a 8-1 win last night in a Class 3A substate baseball final.

'It means a lot right now,” said Silberstein, who clinched the berth with his third strikeout. 'It's a whole team effort right now, it's not just me. I did my best on the mound tonight, and I guess the guys just backed it up at the plate.”

Solon (23-15) opens state tournament play as the No. 8 seed and will face top-seeded Waverly-Shell Rock (35-2) at Principal Park in Des Moines next Tuesday at noon.

After surrendering a leadoff single to begin the contest, Silberstein retired nine straight as Solon built a 4-0 lead after three innings thanks, in part, to three of the six Clear Creek Amana errors. Solon sparkplug Elijah Kane, fellow senior Lucas Kane and Patrick Maston each had RBI singles for the Spartans. Eighth-grader Luke Ira added an RBI triple in the sixth inning.

Solon Coach Keith McSweeney credited the commitment of his seniors as key to a return to state after a two-year hiatus.

'They stuck in our program, they worked hard,” McSweeney said. 'They did everything we asked them to do. They worked the process and here they are. They're seniors and they're going to Des Moines.”

Junior Tanner Bandy drove in the lone run for Clear Creek Amana (20-18), which ends its season a game shy of the school's first trip to state.

'We might have surprised some people outside of the program,” Clear Creek Amana Coach Brent Henry said. 'But by no means did we surprise ourselves. This was absolutely where we expected to be.”

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