Trojan baseball teams split a twinbill

The Sturgis baseball team salvaged a split with visiting Plainwell on Wednesday.

It took some gumption as the visiting Trojans won 13-2. SHS rallied to win the nightcap, posting a 3-2 victory as darkness quickly took over the field of play. The second game did play a full seven innings.

“We were in a drought at the plate that started with our tournament on Saturday,” Sturgis coach Drew Rutenbar said about the lack of offensive production. “We put ourselves in a tough spot in the first inning, botting the ball around and getting some bad reads on fly balls.”

Plainwell wound up scoring four times in the opening inning of the first game. They would build leads of 5-1, 6-1 and ultimately 13-1.

Despite the lack of run-scoring opportunities for Sturgis, Taner Patrick connected on four base hits in the first game. Gibson Cary reached base with two singles as well.

Zach Green, Ian Smith, George Bucklin and Gavin PeDue all reached base with a single as well. PeDue drove in one run for the Trojans.

Cary allowed just two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. He struck out eight.

In the second game, Sturgis and Plainwell each collected six hits.

The Trojans were all tied up at 2-2 entering the home half of the fifth inning. There, Sturgis scored what would be the winning run.

Gavyn Moore started the inning off with a base hit. He then moved up to second base on a sac bunt before moving up to third on a wild pitch.

In the next at bat, with two outs, Green hit a double to the deepest part of the park to score Moore. This run would prove to be the difference in the contest.

Green’s double was the only extra base hit for SHS in the game. Hunter Kosmerick hit two singles in the contest. Smith also hit a single in the game.

Kosmerick tossed the opening five innings of the game. He struck out six. Patrick tossed the final two innings, allowing just one hit.

“It was nice to see what our guys had in the tank for Game 2,” Rutenbar said. “It’s not always easy to battle back after a rough first game. Hunter and Taner did a great job on the mound for us.”

Sturgis also got a solid defensive game from Wyatt Dudek at first base, a new position for him.

“Wyatt Dudek stepped up and played first base for us on very little practice and was a key part of that win,” Rutenbar said.

Sturgis is now 3-5 on the season. The Trojans will host Constantine on Saturday morning for a double header.

TR, Eddies split 

Three Rivers and Edwardsburg split a baseball double header on Tuesday.

The Eddies won the first game, 12-6. Despite the loss, Luis Warmack belted a couple of home runs and drove in four total runs for the Wildcats. Kaleb Williams collected two hits as well for TR.

On the mound, Williams struck out seven hitters.

In the second game, Three Rivers rebounded to win 13-6. The Cats had 11 hits.

Warmack totaled three hits in the game, Mark Wittenberg hit a home run and drove in six total runs. Brady Penny had a pair of hits in the contest as well.

Drake Garver and Louis Smith tossed five innings for the Cats.

Schoolcraft tops Constantine 

The Schoolcraft baseball team won a 13-7 decision over Constantine on Tuesday. The second game was halted with the Falcons winning 7-6 because of darkness.

In the opener, the Falcons led 3-2 after one inning and 5-3 after three. Then, Schoolcraft posted five in the fourth and three more in the fifth to build an 11-7 edge. The Eagles added two more in the seventh.

Caleb Bontrager and Brayden Clark each had two hits for Constantine, Clark registered two doubles. Collectively they drove in three runs.

Nolan Rodewald finished with two hits and one RBI. Gaven Lewis drove in one with a base hit.

Alex Brossman and Logan Kee each had a hit in the game. Austin Forrester was credited with two RBI.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Trojan baseball teams split a twinbill