FRUITPORT – The Fruitport baseball team did not run out of outs on Tuesday.
The Trojans ran out of opportunities to complete a great comeback, due to an umpire’s decision.
The Trojans fought all the way back from a six-run deficit against rival Spring Lake in Game 2 of a doubleheader on their home field. They trailed 7-6 entering the seventh and final inning and still had a chance to get the win.
But the umpire suddenly declared the game over at the end of six due to darkness, 45 minutes before sunset. It was still light out, but apparently not light enough for the umpire.
Nobody will ever know what might have happened, but Fruitport definitely had the momentum.
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The 7-6 loss in Game 2 followed a 2-1 loss in Game 1 and left the Trojans with one heck of a hard-knock night.
“It’s tough,” said Fruitport coach Nick Reed about his team having its comeback effort cut short. “You just never know in baseball. (Spring Lake) could have come out and put up 10 more runs, or we could’ve put up two to win the game. In baseball, you want to be able to take advantage of all the outs. The light is still here, but it is what it is. I wish we’d have had a full 21 outs to see what could happen.”
With the losses, Fruitport drops to 13-11 overall and 8-9 in O-K Blue conference play, The Trojans entered the day tied for fourth place in the conference with Spring Lake and Holland Christian.
The entire evening was total frustration for the Trojans.
In Game 1, the Trojans entered the seventh inning trailing 2-0.
[2]Ryan Bosch hit an RBI single to make it 2-1, and Fruitport had the bases loaded with a potential victory a hit away, but the baserunners were left stranded on a popout.
In Game 2, the Trojans fell behind 4-0 after Spring Lake scored one run in the third inning and three in the fourth.
Fruitport responded with an RBI double by Trevor Rusnak in the home half of the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Spring Lake scored three more runs in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Trojans fought back in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs to cut the deficit to just 7-6.
[3]Jax Flynn had an RBI single, Bosch had an RBI walk, Hudson Hazekamp had a two-run single and Tommy Anderson forced home a run when he was hit by a pitch.
In the sixth inning, Flynn got a walk to reach base but was stranded on first, leaving the Trojans behind by one.
The Trojans took the field expecting to start the seventh inning, then the umpire said the game was over, leaving Spring Lake with a sudden victory.
“We battled,” Coach Reed said. “The guys played hard and didn’t give up. We were battling till the last at bat, but credit to Spring Lake. They made a couple more hits than we did and that’s just how it falls in baseball sometimes. I really liked the effort and attitude of the kids. We could’ve packed it in but we stayed mentally tough and gave ourselves a shot.”
Fruitport will travel to Spring Lake on Thursday for the final game of the conference series.
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