HART — Hart scored two late runs to beat Pine River, 8-7, in a
back-and-forth game one of Friday's doubleheader before the Bucks
bounced back for a 4-1 win to salvage a split of the games.
After
the visitors grabbed the lead in the top of the sixth inning, Hart
responded by scoring twice in the bottom half before Hollis Rockwell
finished the game off on the mound.
Rockwell also drove in the
winning run, connecting on a sacrifice fly to score Caden VanGelderen.
Halen Boos came across on a wild pitch to tie it up earlier in the
at-bat, part of a big inning that also included base hits by VanGelderen
and Sawyer Boos.
Joseph Osorio launched a home run to dead
center field in the first inning, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
VanGelderen had a sacrifice fly in the previous at-bat to score Halen
Boos after Boos singled, reached second base on a wild pitch and stole
third.
Hart's Joseph Osorio (right) leaps onto home plate to celebrate his first-inning home run with his teammates during Friday's doubleheader against Pine River. Osorio helped the Pirates win game one, 8-7.
Hart's offense got back at it in the third inning right
after the Bucks took a 3-2 lead, scoring three runs in response.
VanGelderen ripped a double to help fuel the outburst, and Hart also
took advantage of some wildness from Bucks pitching, drawing three walks
and two hit batsmen in the inning.
VanGelderen's two hits and
three runs were big in the win, and Halen Boos also scored three times.
Mason Guikema pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs,
striking out six with only one walk. Rockwell picked up the win in
relief, throwing 1 2/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts.
"Mason is turning into the guy we can count on to throw strikes and
get outs," Hart coach Kyle Weiler said. "We are starting to play better baseball, but are having a
hard time getting ahead and staying ahead because of the errors. We just
need more time on the diamond."
Hart took the lead in the
third inning of game two when Osorio again showed off his power by
ripping a RBI double to score Halen Boos, but that was all the scoring
Hart could do in five innings before darkness halted the action. The
Pirates committed four errors, allowing the Bucks to score four unearned
runs.
"Hollis did what we needed from him (on the mound),"
Weiler said of his pitcher, who struck out three and allowed four hits.
"He threw strikes and got us
ground balls. We just couldn't convert those into outs."
