EGELSTON TWP. – Baseball is all about capitalizing on chances, and the Fruitport baseball team had quite a few of those on Saturday against rival and state-ranked Spring Lake.
But the Trojans were unable to get the big hits in the big moments, and fell 2-0 to the Lakers in the championship game of the Division 2 district tournament at Oakridge High School.
Fruitport finished the season with a great 28-7 record.
The Trojans made the district final on Saturday after defeating Orchard View 10-0 in five innings in the semifinals.
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The Trojans’ lineup went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the loss to Spring Lake.
“We had some opportunities,” said Fruitport head coach Nick Reed. “But it just wasn’t in the cards today. He’s a good pitcher. But we battled and fought. We gave ourselves opportunities but just didn’t come through in those moments.”
Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity came in the top of the second inning.
The Trojans loaded the bases with no outs and appeared to have Spring Lake ace pitcher Maddux Kipling on the ropes.
However, Kipling found a bit extra on the mound and proceeded to strike out the next three hitters, keeping the game scoreless.
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In the top of the third, the Trojans once again looked to be on the edge of scoring.
Back-to-back singles by Wyatt Fielstra and Avery Lambers started the inning, before a sacrifice bunt by Satchel Norwood moved them to second and third.
Kipling once again squirmed out of the jam, getting Fruitport to pop out and foul out to end the inning and keep the game 0-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Spring Lake’s Parker Hill ripped a two-out single to left field to score Noah Sanders.
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The game remained 1-0 until the home half of the fifth inning when Spring Lake’s Owen Smies crushed a leadoff solo home run.
In the top of the seventh, facing their final three outs, the Trojans again made some noise.
Kolten Kennedy started the inning by reaching on an error. After a strikeout, Fielstra walked and Lambers ripped a single to left to load the bases with one out.
Norwood and Trevor Rusnak each battled hard in their final high school at-bats before eventually striking out to end the game and the Trojans’ season.
Kipling threw a complete game for the Lakers, allowing no runs on six hits while striking out 10 Trojan hitters.
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Fruitport pitcher Hudson Hazekamp was strong in his outing, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four in four and 1/3 innings.
Fruitport’s seniors ended their careers with a lot to be proud of after helping their team win 57 games over the past two seasons.
The departing seniors are Rusnak, Lambers, Norwood, Fielstra, Brady Meister and Julian Stowers.
“They’ve helped build the program to where we’re at,” Reed said. “They’ve done a lot of winning. They’ve definitely left the program in a better spot than when they found it. That’s all you can ask for, and they really gave us their all.”
Reed believes his team will have plenty of talent going forward.
“We still have bullets in the chamber,” the coach said. “We had a good mix of young talent along with older talent this year. We’ll be back and we’ll win a lot of game next year. So the future is bright.”
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