VIRGINIA—Struggling for different reasons across their two games, the Rock Ridge VFW baseball team suffered two losses on Tuesday to visiting Grand Rapids, falling 14-7 in the opening game and 3-0 in the second game.
The early game was defined by Post 1172’s struggles in the first inning where Grand Rapids reached continuously on errors, walks and some hits to put up seven runs on the home squad before they even came to bat.
Oliver Spahn got things started for Post 1720 with a single to left-center field off the first pitch from Rock Ridge starter Aiden Bird. Kaden Sweeney replaced him on a fielder’s choice, stole his way to second and then came around to score when Joe Dick singled up the middle, 1-0.
Alex Wegwerth took a walk and another run came in when Jaden Lehmberg doubled down the third base line, 2-0.
Tyler Christensen then brought another run in after putting a ball in play and made it to second on an error from the 1172 third baseman. An infield single from Ethan Morgan scored the lone runner and another run came in when Riley Matteson singled to right field, 5-0.
Bird was able to get the second out of the inning when he struck out No. 9 hitter Grady Hyduke, but he then issued a walk to Spahn back at the top of the order to load up the bases. Two more runners crossed home plate when Sweeney singled to center, making it 7-0 with Bird’s time on the mound coming to an end before getting out of the first inning.
Jake Coombe came on in relief and got a flyout on his first batter to end the frame.
Post 1172 didn’t get anything going in the first off the Grand Rapids starter Lemberg and Post 1720 added to their lead in the second with another run. Brevik Brown took a walk to start the inning, stole second and then moved to third when Lehmberg singled up the middle. He made it home safely on a sacrifice fly from Christensen, 8-0.
Rock Ridge managed to light up the scoreboard in their favor in the bottom of the second. With one out, Blake Bailey singled to left center and then made it to third on a single down the right field line from Jaxon Lamppa.
With Rory Scuffy at the plate, Bailey was able to score when Scuffy singled to center, cutting into the 1720 lead.
But Grand Rapids continued to extend it in the third, plating two more runs. Three walks in four batters from Coombe loaded up the bases and one came in on a sacrifice fly and another made its way home with an RBI single from Brown, 10-1.
Rock Ridge managed to plate three in the bottom of the fourth to cut into the lead again. Scuffy started things off with a single to center and Colter Marolt followed that up with a single to shallow left field. Owen Hallin then took a pitch to the body to load up the bases. Cal Scott scored a runner on a fielder’s choice and two more runs came in when Caz Carlson hit a triple to left-center field that managed to get behind both the center and left fielders, 10-4.
But every time Post 1172 managed to cut into the lead, Grand Rapids was there to extend it again. Post 1720 was able to chase Coombe out of the game in the fifth, scoring four more runs in the process.
With one out, Coombe hit Spahn and then Walked Sweeney. Dick knocked a single to center to load up the bags and a run was walked home when Brown saw ball four. Scott came in to pitch for Coombe and then gave up a single up the middle to Lehmberg, which plated two more runs.
The bases were loaded up once more when Noah Kinkel took a walk. Scott then walked Cael Motherway to make it a 14-4 game.
Needing a run to extend the game past the fifth inning, Rock Ridge grabbed two in the bottom half of the frame.
Lamppa singled to right with one out and Scuffy took a walk. The pair advanced a base each on a wild pitch and one came in to score on an RBI single from Marolt. An RBI sacrifice from Hallin brought the next one in and it was 14-6 heading into the sixth inning.
Scott shut Grand Rapids down in order in the frame but Rock Ridge couldn’t get anything going in the sixth either.
In the seventh, Scott again made short work of Post 1720, retiring his three batters 1-2-3.
Rock Ridge was able to plate two more runs in the seventh with an RBI triple from Lamppa scoring Bailey and an RBI single to left field from Carlson scoring Marolt, but that’s all they could muster as they fell 14-8 in the opener.
After the game, Post 1172 head coach Paul Coombe pointed to the beginning of the game as the source of his team’s problems in the loss.
“We made a few costly errors in that inning that came back to haunt us in the end,” Coombe siad. “We didn’t bring the energy that we usually bring to the games and it hurt us. We were able to get a little bit better as the game went on and we ended up looking OK but it’s tough when you get into that hole.”
Coombe gave credit to Grand Rapids for the moments they took advantage of and commended his team for getting runs on the board to try and make it a contest.
“You just have to keep playing. You can’t give up and we ended up battling hard. We stranded some hitters, sure, but if we have a couple more hits here or there then it’s a different ball game. Don’t take anything away from Grand Rapids, they did a good job today and they made it tough for us.”
Grand Rapids 3,
Rock Ridge 0
VIRGINIA—In the second, five-inning game between the teams, Post 1720 came away with the 3-0 win.
Bryson Borich went the distance on the mound for Rock Ridge, giving up the three runs (two earned) on two hits and seven walks. He struck out two.
Post 1172 couldn’t get much going offensively. They outhit Grand Rapids 4-2 but couldn’t push any runs across the plate. After the game, Coombe had praise for Borich for his effort on the mound.
“Bryson pitched very well. He had some walks but he kept things in check for the most part. A lot of the kids in the second game are the ones that don’t play in the first game so it’s nice to get them a full game, give them some time on the mound or some quality at bats. These are kids that are going to be challenging for spots in the next few years so they need a chance to show their stuff too.”
The Rock Ridge VFW baseball team is back in action two weeks from now at Duluth Lakeview.
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