CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – They battled to the bitter end! Macomb Baseball wrapped up its spring trip Monday (March 14) with many more positives to pull from despite falling by a 7-3 final to NJCAA Division I No. 15 Georgia Highlands College. The host Chargers won their seventh straight to improve to 23-2 with the victory. The Monarchs dropped to 1-9 at the end of a 10-game spring trip that featured games against some of the NJCAA's best programs, including a pair of top-15 teams from the NJCAA Division I ranks.
Cameron Ison (Huntington Woods, Mich./Berkley) got the start on the mound for the Monarchs and held the Chargers at bay by not allowing an earned run over three innings of work. The Monarchs brought on
Joey Tedesco (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) in the fourth and later turned to
Gary Glaser III (Chesterfield, Mich./Lutheran North) as the pair battled against potent Chargers bats. Tedesco tossed four innings and struck out five, while Glaser came on for one inning and fanned two Chargers.
Offensively, the Monarchs were led by a pair of true freshmen,
Reese Rinna (Richmond, Mich./Richmond) and
Ty Mychek (Ray Twp., Mich./Romeo). Down 3-1 in the sixth, Rinna drove a ball over the center field wall to cut the deficit in half at 3-2. The solo shot was the first career collegiate home run for the freshman out of Richmond. Rinna later drove in the Monarchs' third and final run of the game in the eighth inning, brining Mycheck in to score from third. Mychek got on base earlier in the inning with a leadoff double down the third base line. Earlier in the game, Mychek recorded his first extra-base hit of at the college level with a double in the fifth inning.
Jeremy Pudlik (Waterford, Mich./Waterford Mott) also recorded a hit for the Monarchs, a bunt single in the eighth inning.
In what was a tight game throughout, the host Chargers posted two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to pull away late from a determined Monarchs squad.
The Monarchs return to action this weekend with a three-game set in Celina, Ohio at Wright State-Lake beginning Friday (March 18). Friday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 5:00 p.m., while Saturday will be a single contest with a scheduled first pitch at 11:00 a.m.
