DETROIT, Mich. – Oh so close! Macomb Baseball held a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning of Thursday's (April 13) nightcap against Schoolcraft and saw the two-run edge slip away before falling in extra-innings, 8-7. The heartbreaking setback followed a 14-8 defeat in game one. Thursday's games were played at The Corner Ballpark in Detroit.
GAME ONE: Schoolcraft 14, Macomb 8
After going down 8-0 in game one, the Monarchs showcased their resolve and battled back to cut the deficit in half in the third inning thanks to a
Logan Rybarczyk (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) RBI single and a towering three-run home run off the bat of
Tom Burt (Village of Clinton, Mich./Clinton). The Monarchs would plate two more in the fifth inning on RBI singles by Burt and
Reese Rinna (Richmond, Mich./Richmond) and later would tally two runs in the seventh as Burt continued a strong day with an RBI double before
Tyler Hall (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) closed out the scoring with an RBI single.
Burt led the Monarchs in the opener with a 3-for-4 performance and finished a triple shy of the cycle after posting a single, double and three-run home run for a game-high five RBIs. Rinna and Rybarczyk followed with two hits each while
Jack Blomme (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) and
Adam Amodei (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Chippewa Valley) added a double and triple, respectively.
GAME TWO: Schoolcraft 8, Macomb 7 (8 inn.)
As he has done all season long,
Ryan Polega (Macomb, Mich./Henry Ford II) battled tough on the hill for the Monarchs in game two. Polega had the Monarchs in position to win and
Joey Tedesco (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North/Hillsdale) put the Monarchs ahead 7-5 in the seventh inning with a timely two-RBI double. The heroics were short-lived, however, as the Ocelots answered with two runs in the home half of the seventh and one in the bottom of the eighth to stun the Monarchs and earn the walk-off win.
Tom Burt continued his career day with another home run, this one a massive opposite field shot of the two-run variety in the sixth inning.
Josh Medrano (Surprise, Az./Shadow Ridge) stepped to the plate one batter later and made it back-to-back home runs with a solo blast over the left field wall. The home run was Medrano's second of the season with both coming at The Corner Ballpark.
The back-to-back home runs cut a 5-1 Ocelot lead to 5-4 and a Medrano double in the top of the seventh tied the game, 5-5, to help setup Tedesco's go-ahead two-RBI double later in the inning.
Dallas Gordon (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) paced the Monarchs with three hits (3-for-4), including his second hard-hit double in as many games. Medrano was the lone Monarch with two extra-base hits in the nightcap (double, home run) as part of a 2-for-4 effort with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Burt went 2-for-4 with a team-best three RBIs to bring his Thursday total up to eight RBIs.
Reese Rinna went 2-for-3 with a double and added three runs scored in the tight contest.
UP NEXT: The series finale…
The Monarchs will close out their five-game series with the Ocelots with a doubleheader Saturday (April 15) on Macomb's South Campus. First pitch will be 1 p.m. with live stream and live stats coverage available (links on the baseball schedule page).
