The Fruitport baseball team was a little slow to recover from Saturday’s disappointing loss in the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tournament finals.
The Trojans lost that heartbreaker 3-1 to Mona Shores in extra innings, then came out on Wednesday and lost 7-4 to Calvin Christian in the first game of an O-K Silver conference doubleheader.
They snapped out of it in Game 2, however, beating the Squires 7-1 and improving their season record to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference standings.
The Trojans fell behind early in Game 1 and could not recover.
[1]
[2]
Calvin Christian scored five runs the first innning, aided by three Fruitport errors, then pulled ahead 7-0 through four innings.
Fruitport’s Liam Campbell hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, and the Trojans added three more runs in the sixth, but could get no closer.
Avery Lambers had two hits for the Trojans while Dexter Lillmars struck out seven while pitching four innings of relief.
The Trojans played much better in Game 2.
They grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run single by Garrett Olson, then added two more in the third on an RBI double by Trevor Rusnak and an RBI single from Lillmars.
[3]
[4]
Fruitport broke things open in the fifth inning, scoring three more runs with an RBI sacrifice fly from Lillmars and a two-run single from Lambers.
Lambers, Rusnak and Olson each finished with two hits. Olson was dominant on the mound, going the distance while striking out 11, walking three, and allowing just three hits and one run.
Defensively, Brady Meister came up with a huge play in the top of the sixth inning, throwing out a runner at the plate from left field to stop a potential big inning by Calvin Christian.
“We didn’t start the day off great, mentally or physically, and gave them extra outs,” said Fruitport head coach Nick Reed. “But we regrouped and played a much cleaner brand of baseball from the third inning on.
“We have to find a way to be ready from pitch one, and that’s on me. We’ll get it figured out and hopefully be rolling by tournament time.”
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]