TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Varsity Bluejays got off to a slow start in the Thursday, Apr. 29, Valley opener for both Merrill and SPASH, and SPASH took away two wins. Merrill lost the first game 7 – 0 and the second game 7 -4. “We had good pitching in both games and had opportunities, but couldn’t come up with the big hit in game one,” said Shawn Schultz, Merrill Varsity Baseball Coach. “Their pitcher did a good job of pounding the strike zone and limited good contact.”
“Henry Reimann did a great job for us on the mound,” he said. “He limited SPASH through the first three, but we had a couple of miscues that led to runs in the fourth and fifth.”
“Zach Kriegel came in and did a nice job on the mound, as well,” Coach Schultz said. “He started the second game and ran into a little trouble in the second inning. Peyton Becker came in and did a nice job to limit SPASH for the rest of the game.”
“We had the bases loaded in the first but didn’t push across a run. We finally got on the board in the sixth and put together a string of good at bats in the seventh, but we ran out of outs,” Coach Schultz said. “We have to score early and let our pitchers pitch with a lead.”
In the first game, the Bluejays got off four hits but didn’t score any runs. The second game the Jays did a bit better with six hits leading to four runs batted in and a final score of four. Top hitters [second game stats] for the Bluejays included Peyton Becker (3H, 1R, 2RBI), Alex Mann (1H, 1R, 1RBI), Isaac Sutton (1H, 1R), and Connor Cortright (1H). Pitchers Henry Reimann (.655) and Zach Kriegel (.727) pulled off a combined .670 strike percentage in game one. Pitchers Zach Kriegel (.562) and Peyton Becker (.684) delievered a .649 strike percentage in game two.
“Looking forward to a tough Medford team on Tuesday and then down to Wausau East on Thursday,” the Coach said.