Huron baseball team sweeps Hillman
Warmer weather brought out some hot bats for coach Howard Madsen’s Hurons (3-2-1) Monday. Rogers City took a pair from the Hillman Tigers, 18-3 and 9-4. Winning pitcher Cody Wenzel had all kinds of support as the Hurons banged out 14 hits in the mercy-rule win. Wenzel himself had a double, a homer and drove in five runs. On the mound he went all three innings, surrendering seven hits and one walk while striking out four.
Junior centerfielder Justin Wilbert had three hits, including a double, while junior first baseman Jake Bellmore added two doubles and a single. Isaac Freel had two singles in the win. Rogers City batted around in a 10-run first inning, adding four in the second and four more in the third.
IN GAME TWO a four-run first inning set the tone for a 9-4 Huron win. Wenzel went all six innings in the contest, allowing eight hits and a walk while striking out 10 Tigers. All four Tiger runs were earned off the junior right-hander. Bellmore had two hits in the game, driving in two with a triple and a single. Austin Fairbanks, Chris Paschke, and Mark Grulke tallied RBI hits.
Madsen said the game marked a turn-around for his team defensively. “We managed to catch the ball well and we turned three double plays,” he said.
OVER THE weekend, the Hurons split a pair of games in a tournament at Sanford-Meridian High School. Fairbanks and Wilbert split the pitching chores in a 13-5 loss to Beal City. The Aggies got three in the first and two in the third to take a 5-3 lead. A five-run fourth inning and three more in the sixth proved too much for the Hurons to overcome.
Fairbanks went the first three innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs while notching eight strikeouts. Wilbert was hurt by critical errors, as just two of the eight runs scored off him were earned. He struck out one, walked two, and allowed six hits. The Hurons managed six hits with Wilbert getting a hit and scoring two runs. Fairbanks had one hit and drove in t
ROGERS CITY blasted Carrollton 20-8 in the second game, using two big innings to fuel the win. The Hurons scored three in the first inning, and then broke out for seven runs in the second and eight more in the third in support of pitcher Chris Santini. Santini went all five innings as he allowed six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts and a walk. With 20 runs and 13 hits, a host of Hurons rang up some great stats at the plate. Senior catcher Ben Basel led the hitters with three hits and five RBI. Freel had three hits, four RBI and scored two runs while Wilbert added two hits, two runs and two RBI.
THE HURONS host Boyne City today (Thursday) and travel to Petoskey Monday.