Picture credit to Magdelyn English

 

MICHIGAN MONARCHS  6  FLAG CITY SLUGGERS  4 

MARATHON DIAMONDS - The Michigan Monarchs spoiled the debut of the Flag City Sluggers with a 6-4 victory in Findlay, Ohio.

 

Christina Muryn, Mayor of Findlay, declared it “Flag City Sluggers Day” in the city of Findlay during a pregame ceremony.

 

The Sluggers, who are the newest franchise in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate, drew a huge crowd that was held in check by a combined effort of Monarchs pitchers.

 

Michigan lefty knuckleballer Johnny Stavola (Michigan-Dearborn) was especially dominate for the Monarchs. Stavola came into the game out of the bullpen hurling four shoutout innings. He held the Sluggers to just one run and one hit while striking out three batters.

 

CLICK HERE to watch postgame interview with Johnny Stavola.

 

The Monarchs took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning.  Derek Ruiz (Macomb CC) led off the inning with a single coming around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cannon Paul (Western Michigan).

 

Michigan scored twice more in the third inning. Bren Wilkinson (Cal State Northridge) started the rally with an RBI-double and Wyatt Epple (Davenport University) finished it with a run-producing single.

 

Epple scored from third base in the sixth inning on a passed ball. Kenny McKinley (Middle Tennessee State) slapped a single driving in Manny Gutierrez (Henry Ford CC) making it a 4-0 advantage.

 

The Sluggers bats were silent until Stavola was pulled from the game in the beginning of the eighth inning.

 

Flag City loaded the bases against Stavola’s college teammate at Michigan-Dearborn Joshua DeChane. Will Lafferty (Marshall University) smashed a double allowing both Ryan Ruch (Cal State Bakersfield) and Jaxon Brown (Bowling Green State) to cross the pay station. The Sluggers made it a one-run game thanks to Andrew Stechschulte’s (Ohio Northern) RBI-groundout.

 

Matthew Hubbard (Toledo) came in for the Monarchs putting out the fire out by striking out Brayden Curliss (Bowling Green State) ending the inning.

 

The Monarchs scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. McKinley led off with a double, his second hit of the game. He scored on an RBI-single by Christian Holmes (UIC) which was also his second hit of the contest.

 

Hubbard came back out in the ninth inning allowing just one base runner on a two-out error committed by the Monarchs. Hubbard notched a strikeout finishing off the Sluggers earning the save.

 

Despite the loss the Sluggers attendance was one to be very proud of in its GLSCL debut. The announced crowd was 566 filled almost all of the available seating.

 

The two teams return to Marathon Diamonds at The Cube for the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday night.

 

 

HAMILTON JOES  15  GRAND LAKE MARINERS  6 

MONTGOMERY FIELD - The Hamilton Joes began defense of its fifth GLSCL championship with a convincing 15-6 road win over the Grand Lake Mariners.

 

The game was far from cleanly played with the two teams combining for a whopping 10 errors. The Joes only needed six hits to score its 15 runs thanks to six Mariners miscued in miscues in the field.

 

Hamilton benefited from two big innings putting the game out of reach. The Joes broke a 2-2 tie scoring five runs in the fifth inning. The game was put completely out of reach when the Joes scored seven runs in the ninth inning.

 

The Mariners pitching staff didn’t help its cause by surrendering 12 walks and hitting four batters.

 

The two teams did combined to hit five home runs. Hamilton’s Brett Denby (Georgia Tech) drove in five RBI’s and Miguel Correa (Thomas More) scored four runs.

 

The two teams travel to Hamilton on Saturday where they’ll play the middle game of the three-game set at Foundation Field.

 

 

LIMA LOCOS  9  MUSKEGON CLIPPERS  4  

SIMMONS FIELD - The Lima Locos fell behind early coming back to send the fans home happy after a 9-4 victory over the Muskegon Clippers.

 

The Clippers got off to an hot start needing just one hit to score two runs in the first inning. The Locos cut its deficit to 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the first inning. 

 

The Clippers plated two more in the third inning. Holden Baker’s (Presbyterian College) two-run double gave Muskegon a 4-1 advantage in the third inning.

 

Lima cut the deficit to 4-2 after a solo blast by Braydon Kersey (Mercer University) in the third inning. 

 

The Locos tied the game 4-4 in the fourth inning. Jackson Bradfield (Kennesaw State) hit a solo home run leading off the sixth inning given the Locos a 5-4 advantage.

 

It was a lead the Lima would never relinquish. The Locos scored three runs in the seventh capped off by a two-run single off the bat of Charlie Vercruysse (Notre Dame).

 

Lima’s bullpen held the Muskegon batters in check. Nick Kolze (Purdue University) was the first Locos reliever out of the pen. Kolze set the tone going two and 2/3 innings striking out six batters in route to earning the victory.

 

Marion Creech (North Greenville) finished off the Clippers with three shutout innings closing things out for the save. Creech recorded four strikeouts while not allowing a hit in his three innings of work.

 

Vercruysse and David Falloon (Mercer University), who homered in the eighth inning, each provided three hits for the Locos offense.

 

The two teams return to Simmons on Saturday night for the middle game of the three-game series with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm.

 

 

XENIA SCOUTS  11  SOUTHERN OHIO COPPERHEADS  1 - FINAL/7 Innings 

BOB WREN STADIUM - The Xenia Scouts made a strong statement beginning the season with a convincing 11-1 mercy rule victory on the road against the Southern Ohio Copperheads.

 

Southern Ohio scored the game’s first run in the first inning. However, that was all of the run production the Copperheads could muster the rest of the night.

 

Once the Scouts got its bearings in the middle innings they proceeded to pour it on. Xenia scored seven runs in the fourth followed by four more in the fifth.

 

Xenia second basemen Caleb Webster (Tusculum College) led the way offensively for the Scouts driving in a game-high four RBIs.

 

The same two teams continue the three-game series Saturday in Athens with a 7:05pm first pitch at Bob Wren Stadium.

 

 

ABOUT THE GREAT LAKES SUMMER COLLEGIATE LEAGUE 

The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate, founded in 1987, is a wood-bat league that is certified by the NCAA and is partially funded by Major League Baseball. The GLSCL is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity that is one of 12 members of the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball (NACSB). The league currently consists of 8 active franchises in Ohio and Michigan boasting several players that have earned service time in major league baseball.