Hall graduate Jack Savitch, Louisiana State-Shreveport run the table as undefeated NAIA champions

59-0!

Think about that for a moment.

The LSU-Shreveport baseball team played 59 games this season.

And it won them all.

The Pilots ran the table, finishing the season at 59-0, capped by a 13-7 win over Southeastern (Florida) to capture the NAIA championship game May 31 in Lewiston, Idaho.

Enjoying it all was 2021 Hall graduate Jack Savitch. He transferred from Black Hawk College this spring just in time for all the fun. He said he had no idea the season would turn out like this.

“It was just crazy. Going out and having fun,” he said. “I had no clue this would happen. Knew they were good, but not like that.”

Savitch said the team really never talked about the streak, nor cared about it.

“It was just go out there and play and have fun,” he said. “Everyone knew [the streak] was happening, but no one really cared if we lost or not. It was just go out and have fun.”

Savitch said the Pilots were just a good, solid all-around team.

“Fielding was probably best thing, then our hitting picked up midseason. Pitching is always good down here,” he said.

The Pilots were greeted with a grand celebration of more than 1,000 fans Monday in Shreveport, which was declared “LSUS Pilots Baseball Day” in the City of Shreveport.

LSUS was ranked No. 1 in every NAIA Top 25 poll from start to finish. The Pilots went 47-0 in the regular season, including a 30-0 slate in Red River Athletic Conference play.

Savitch said he had some help to make the trip from Moline to Shreveport.

“I had a good connection from my JUCO coach, Josh Kleim. He hooked me up with Coach Neff [Brad Neffendorf]. I just thought it was a good fit,” he said.

Savitch was unscored upon in five of six relief outings for the Pilots, posting a 1-0 record with a 6.00 ERA.

“We had a lot of people returning from last year, so I was just fighting for a spot pretty much. It was just go out there and keep throwing,” he said.

Going into next season, Savitch said he will “keep working for a position still and just looking to keep going and have fun.”

Savitch has a history with champions. He was a freshman in the program when Hall won a state championship in 2018.

This summer, Savitch will get to pitch in his backyard for the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

“It will be fun to go out there and get some innings close to home,” he said.

And he will have the benefits of “getting some food, and I won’t have to make it.”

Hall pitching coach Matt McDonald, who has worked with Savitch since he was about 8 years old, called him a great student of the game and said he will be a good fit with the Shrimp.

“I think he has the potential to have a great summer,” McDonald said. “He has got so much stronger and throws 90 [mph] with a tight slider. He just needs to log some innings and work on his command.”

• Kevin Hieronymus has been the Bureau County Republican sports editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@shawmedia.com.