CANTON, Ill. – No. 6 Parkland baseball swept the opening two games of its series against Spoon River, beating the Snappers 9-1 and 16-0. Game one starter Ty Rybarczyk (5-0, 0.71 ERA) pitched seven shutout-innings, while Keegan McHood (4-1) earned the second win with five shutout innings. 21-8 on the season, the Cobras sit atop Region 24 with a 15-3 record.
 
Finishing seven innings for the third time this season, Rybarczyk recorded his first scoreless start of the season since March 16 at Lewis & Clark. Needing just 87 pitches to record 21 outs, the freshman allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out five Snappers. The scoreless seven innings dropped his miniscule ERA down another 16 points to 0.71 and moved his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 38:9.
 
Winning his fourth game of the season, McHood pitched five scoreless innings in game two while allowing five hits and striking out six. Sulton Solebo closed out the victory with two strikeouts in a scoreless sixth inning.
 
At the plate, the Cobras scored 25 runs on25 hits over 15 innings. Scoring multiple runs in seven different innings on Saturday, the Cobras scored four or more runs in three different innings in game two. Tynan Shahidi led the Cobras in game one with three hits and three RBI, while Jeremiah Lebron and Corey Price drove in three runs each in game two.
 
Game 1: No. 6 Parkland 9, Spoon River 1 (9 inn.)
 
Ty Rybarczyk (5-0) pitched seven shutout innings and left fielder Tynan Shahidi went 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Cobras to a 9-1 victory in the nine-inning opener. Robert Barnard and Corey Price also recorded multi-hit days, while Alex Steinbach hit his fourth home run.
 
Following two perfect innings from Rybarczyk, the Cobras pitted him to a lead in the third inning with a pair of runs. After Trevor Burkhart reached on an error to lead off the inning, the Corba lead-off man scored from second base on a passed ball for the game's first run. Shahidi then singled and moved to second base on a Trevor Minder bunt single before stealing third and home to make it 2-0 Parkland.
 
With the Snappers unable to figure out Rybarczyk, Parkland added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Shahidi drove in the first run with a single to left in the fifth, and Damian Pierce singled home a Corey Price double and scored on a Burkhart sacrifice fly in the sixth for a 5-0 lead.
 
Shahidi's third run-scoring single came in the top of the eighth, as the freshman came through with the bases loaded and two outs to drive in Alex Steinbach and Robert Barnard.
 
The Snappers would score an unearned run in the eighth, but an Alex Steinbach two-run homer in the top of the ninth would push the advantage out to the final margin of 9-1.
 
Freshman Rick Castro relieved Rybarczyk, pitching the final two innings and allowing just the unearned run on one hit, while striking out four batters. The two innings without an earned run lowered Castro's ERA to 2.55 this season.
 
Game 2: No. 6 Parkland 16, Spoon River 0 (6 inn.)
 
Aided by seven Snapper errors and five innings from starter Keegan McHood, the Cobras cruised to victory again in game two. Alex Steinbach and Corey Price led the team with three hits, while Price and Jeremiah Lebron drove in team-leading three RBI.
 
Winning his fourth game of the season, McHood pitched five scoreless innings while allowing five hits and striking out six.
 
Backing McHood before he stepped foot on the mound, the Cobras sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in the bottom of the first. After Burkhart and Minder singles put two on with one out, Jeremiah Lebron hit the third single of the inning to score Burkhart. Steinbach followed suit with a hit to center, driving in Minder and scoring Lebron on an error by the centerfielder. Leading 3-0, Corey Price kept the line moving with the Cobras' third RBI single of the evening, while the fifth run came home on error by the shortstop that scored Dan Warkentin who reached on an error.  
 
After an uneventful first inning, McHood escaped a pair of jams in the second and third. Facing two baserunners in both innings, the Cobra starter escaped with a groundout and strikeout in the second and then three straight strikeouts to end the third.
 
The Parkland bats came alive again in the fourth inning, as the Cobras again put up a crooked number with four runs to push the lead to 9-0. Walks to Barnard, Burkhart and Minder to start the inning set the table with one out, and then Lebron punched a ball into left field to drive in Barnard and Burkhart. After a second out, Price doubled home Minder and Lebron.
 
McHood again held the Snappers scoreless in the fourth and fifth, the Cobras blew the game open again with a seven-run sixth inning to earn the run-rule shortened victory. Five straight batters reached base to start the inning with two singles, a walk and pair of hit-by-pitches. A bases-loaded single by Pierce scored the first two runs, and then Shahidi doubled in two more three batters later. After a walk, Lebron hit a sacrifice fly to plate the 14^th run and an error off the bat of Steinbach brought in two more.