FLINT – They just kept battling. Macomb Baseball clawed their way to a 6-5 comeback win at Mott Community College on Tuesday (March 18) to open MCCAA Eastern Conference play. Despite a tough start and several missed opportunities in the early stages of the contest, the Monarchs continued to battle and eventually pulled ahead thanks to a four-run eighth inning.
The four-run eighth and overall resilient effort propelled the Monarchs to their eighth straight win. With the conference-opening victory, the Monarchs pushed their record out to 10-6 overall and 1-0 in MCCAA East play.
Trailing 4-2 entering the eighth inning of the scheduled nine inning tilt, the Monarchs were able to capitalize when they needed it the most as
Ryan McKay ignited the four-run frame with a leadoff single.
Dane Richards singled two batters later and
Buster Debol followed with a base hit of his own to load the bases with one out.
The fourth single of the inning came via pinch hit as
Peyton Rich stepped to the plate and delivered when called upon with an RBI single to center that scored McKay. With the deficit cut in half at 4-3, the Monarchs were able to tie the game up one batter later as the red-hot
Vincent Cowdrey drove home Richards to make it a 4-4 contest.
Luke Babcock took it from there, connecting on what would stand as the game-winning two-RBI single to break the tie and push the Monarchs in front, 6-4.
Mott got one back in the home half of the ninth and had the game-tying run on third base, but sophomore closer
Jack Saputo shut the door and picked up his fourth save of the season. Saputo worked the mound for the final six outs in his latest impressive appearance.
Starting pitcher
Dominic Miller battled back from a tough start to put the Monarchs in position to win and
Connor Hayden came in and was credited with the win after tossing a third of an inning during the Monarchs late offensive push.
Babcock, Cowdrey, McKay and
Matt Hanneman led the Monarchs with two hits each to account for eight of the team's 13 hits on the day.
The Monarchs visit Port Huron's Sanborn Park on Thursday (March 20) for a nine inning contest against St. Clair County Community College. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
