The Fruitport baseball team defeated Holland Christian 11-6 on Tuesday night to wrap up its regular season.
The story of the game was senior Satchel Norwood, who played all nine positions in the victory. Norwood is believed to be the first player in Fruitport baseball history to accomplish that feat.
Norwood started the game on the mound, throwing one inning while allowing two hits and no runs. From there he moved around the diamond, inning by inning, before finishing the game by playing all three outfield positions over the final innings.
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“We used today to work on some things, and we moved some pieces around,” said Fruitport head coach Nick Reed. “Satchel, who has been a great player for us and very versatile, was able to play all nine. He is one of those players that will do anything to help the team win, and does it at a high level.
“He’s a hard-working kid and we wanted him to have a night to remember.”
Fruitport fell behind 1-0 in the third inning before erupting for three runs in the fourth. Dexter Lillmars delivered a two-run single to give the Trojans the lead.
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Fruitport added four more runs in the fifth on an RBI single from Avery Lambers, a RBI groundout by Norwood and a sacrifice fly from Trevor Rusnak to take a 7-1 lead.
Holland Christian battled back with four runs in the top of the sixth, but Fruitport answered immediately with four more runs of its own.
Norwood added a sacrifice fly before Rusnak ripped a two-run double. Hudson Hazekamp followed with a one-run double to extend the lead to 11-5.
Holland Christian added one run in the seventh inning.
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Lambers earned the win on the mound for Fruitport, throwing five innings while striking out nine.
Leading hitters for the Trojans included Rusnak with three RBIs and Norwood and Lillmars with two apiece. Hazekamp finished with a double and two walks.
Fruitport, now 27-6, will compete in a Division 2 district tournament on Saturday at Oakridge. The Trojans will play Orchard View at 9:30 a.m., and a victory would put them in the 1:30 p.m. finals against Spring Lake or Whitehall.
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