Three Rivers opened the 2014 season Tuesday with a win over White Pigeon.
(Photo by Wes Morgan)
A six-run outburst in the bottom of the second propelled the Three Rivers baseball team to an 8-4 season-opening victory Tuesday over visiting White Pigeon.
The Wildcats broke open a 1-1 game when junior Andrew Bowers knocked in two runs and Josh Hill drew a walk with the bases loaded to make it a 4-1 contest with one out. Alex Minger was hit by a pitch to plate another run. Three Rivers tacked on two more after a sacrifice fly, then a single to left field by Shawn Brew.
Brew, just a few weeks removed from minor knee surgery to repair ligaments damaged during wrestling season, was behind the plate for Three Rivers for five innings before his knee started to tighten up in the chilly conditions. He went 2-for-2 with a walk, and Minger and Tate Ellifritz went 2-for-3.
Shawn Brew reached base three times.
Austin Pond started and pitched two innings. Ben Vanscoik worked two innings, Minger pitched the fifth and Andrew Bowers got the last six outs Three Rivers needed in a platoon effort.
“Good pitching outings from Alex Minger and Ben Vanscoik,” Wildcats coach Ryan Kane said of the duo, which gave up three hits and no walks.
“Second day outside this year; [it was] good for the guys to get swings and start coming together as a team.”
Three Rivers practiced outside Monday but didn’t really know what to expect Tuesday after being stuck indoors for the last three weeks.
“Everybody came out and played a lot better than we did yesterday at practice,” Brew said. “But there’s still a lot of improvement [to be made]. We finally started working together and started to get some runs on the board.”
“Today’s game is what we’re going to dwell on for the next two weeks. I hope we carry our at-bats into the next game. It’s hard to stay in a groove and keep momentum going when you have those two weeks in between. And who knows what the weather is going to be like when we get back.”
White Pigeon’s Matt Eger produced a pair of singles, while Shaun Harmon, David Miller and Cole Sellers each had a base knock.
“It was great to get outside again and to actually play a game before spring break,” Eger said. “I thought we were swinging the bats pretty well for not going against live pitching yet. And we need to improve on our communication and just having fun while we’re playing.”