It's amazing the difference a few weeks can make.

On April 12, Courtland High School's baseball team was walking off its home field after a disappointing 11-7 loss to fifth-place Caroline. The setback was the Cougars' fourth in a row, and their record stood at 3-6 overall and 1-2 in Battlefield District play.

Fast-forward exactly three weeks, and a much different scene played out at Rick Holcomb Field on Thursday afternoon.

Luke Harvey and Alex Kobersteen combined to limit Eastern View to just five hits, and Ryan Lee went 3-for-3 with three RBI’s as Courtland defeated the first-place Cyclones 6-4.

The victory was the Cougars' seventh in their last eight games—a streak that began after the loss to Caroline. During that hot stretch, they've won six district games in a row. At 10-7, 7-2, they sit just one game back of Eastern View (12-4, 7-1) in the loss column with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Coach Tim Acors says the Cougars' turnaround can be attributed to multiple factors.

"Attention to detail and better weather have really made a big difference for us," Acors said. "More importantly, we've embraced the team concept. Everybody has a role, and everybody does their job when they're asked to do it."

There were no better examples of the Cougars doing the jobs they were asked to do than the performances of Harvey and Kobersteen.

Harvey got his first start on the mound since tossing a masterful complete-game one-hitter in a 4-0 win at King George on April 17. Facing an Eastern View team that came in riding a nine-game winning streak, he shook off a two-run first inning and kept Courtland in the game by making the Cyclones' potent lineup hit the ball on the ground.

Harvey went four innings, yielding just four hits and three runs. The right-hander issued only one walk and notched just one strikeout, recording eight of his 12 outs via the ground ball.

"My goal was to throw strikes and let my defense back me up," Harvey said. "My goal is to do that every time [I pitch]."

Eastern View would find putting the ball in play much harder to come by against Kobersteen. The George Washington University commit struck out the side in order in both the fifth and seventh innings, working around a fielding error that led to the Cyclones scoring a run in the sixth. The three-inning stint earned him his first save of the season.

Since returning from a four-game suspension two weeks ago, all four of Kobersteen's appearances have come in a relief role. When asked if the role was permanent, Acors simply praised his ace's attitude and approach.

"[Alex] has embraced the role that we need him to play on any given day," Acors said. "We've used him as a starter, a long reliever and now a flat-out closer, and he's approaching everything from a standpoint of doing what the team needs him to do."

Harvey and Kobersteen's outings afforded Lee the opportunity to deliver the two biggest hits of the game.

In the fourth, with two outs and runners on second and third base, the Courtland left fielder lined Josh Woodard's 1-1 pitch into center field to give the Cougars the lead for good at 5-3. In the sixth, he would come to the plate in another two-out situation, this time facing reliever Daniel Jones. This time, he hit a ground ball deep in the hole that shortstop Zach Thomas couldn't glove, scoring Addie Burrow from third and padding the lead at 6-4.

"[Eastern View] is a good team," Lee said. "It was our time to shine though. This is a big win [for us]."

Woodard took the loss for Eastern View—his first of the year—to drop to 4-1. Courtland hit the Emory & Henry commit hard, tagging him for 10 hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings of work. Four of those hits went for extra bases, with doubles by Kobersteen, Lee and Garrett Howard. Howard also led off the home first with a triple to the gap in right-center field.

Till Butler led Eastern View at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI's. Thomas added a 1-for-3 performance, ripping an RBI triple in the first.

Courtland hits the road on Tuesday for a rematch with Caroline. Eastern View travels to James Monroe that same day.