MUSKEGON — The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League doesn’t see many pitchers’ duels like it saw at Marsh Field Friday night, with the Muskegon Clippers and Michigan Monarchs going through 6 1/2 innings without either team getting a hit.
Perhaps it made sense, then, that the Clippers ended up winning the game without benefit of a hit, as two batters reached on walks in the eighth inning and both scored to make the difference in a 2-0 victory. With the win, the Clippers secured a playoff spot in former Shelby coach Brian Wright’s first season leading the team.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Wright said. “Baseball is crazy. That first pitcher (Casey Robertson) was pretty good. (Thursday) night they threw a couple kids, and they were having trouble getting players, but they played us tough (tonight).”
The Clippers earned the No. 2 seed in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s North Division with a 22-19 overall record and faced the top seed Lima Locos, who won the division at 31-11, in a best-of-3 series. Game one was at Marsh Field Tuesday, with the Clippers romping 17-5. Lima responded with a 9-1 win Wednesday, setting up a decisive game three Thursday after the Echo went to press.
Neither team got any hits until the Clippers’ Taylor Head ripped a two-out double off Robertson in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was only the second time in the game Muskegon had even managed to get a runner to second base.
The eighth, though, proved to be the pivotal inning. Nick Moss of Montague led off the eighth as a pinch hitter and worked a walk. He then advanced to second on a ball in the dirt, and Drake Roa followed with another walk. Kaden Howard’s squibber of a groundout to the right side of the infield allowed both to move up a base, bringing Ben Meyers, another West Michigan Conference alum (North Muskegon) up with two out. Meyers is a .319 hitter this summer, one of the better marks in the GLSCL.
Meyers didn’t get a hit, but he did enough, hitting a hard ground ball to shortstop. The Monarchs’ Ryan Metz made a nice stop of the ball, but the first baseman was unable to field the throw, and both hustling runners scored.
“This game, weird stuff happens,” a smiling Wright said. “(Their first baseman) was straddled (at first base), but Ben didn’t touch the bag. He came back to touch it, but they couldn’t call New York to get a review.”
That was all the run support relief pitcher Sam Briggs would need. Briggs entered the game mid at-bat in the seventh inning when Brady Young, who had a no-hitter going at the time, felt numbness in his hand. Young’s pitch count was already pretty high, at 90, so Wright made the move to Briggs, who was always the plan to be the first reliever in the game.
Wright said he hated to pull Young with a no-hitter, but with the high pitch count, it was the right move to make.
Briggs came in with a 2-0 count on the batter and came back to earn an inning-ending strikeout. He did give up a leadoff double to pinch hitter Trent Nelson in the top of the eighth, but worked out of trouble with his impressive stuff; he showed off a fastball in excess of 90 miles per hour.
Briggs had no trouble in the ninth, mowing down the Monarchs in order to secure the win.
“Sam came in and threw well,” Wright said. “When we scored those two, you could just sense it. Even Sam, he was more relaxed.”
The game was the final scheduled home game for the Clippers, which meant Fan Appreciation Night. At one point many of the Clippers went into the jam-packed stands to greet the fans who attended the game, there were giveaways throughout the game, and after the victory, Wright presented season awards to a few of the top Clipper performers.
However, with the win, there were set to be at least two more games played. Wright said he didn’t say much to the team after the win, but his appreciation for a postseason berth was evident. As is Clipper tradition, the team allowed its pitchers to take batting practice prior to the final game of the season Saturday.
“I congratulated the pitchers,” Wright said of the one-hit performance by his hurlers. “I told them, ‘You guys haven’t quit on me. You just keep battling day in and day out.’”
