Maroons shut down Stephenson in regular season finale

MENOMINEE — Pitching shined under the bright lights of Spies Field on Saturday night, as the Menominee High School baseball team closed out the regular season with an emphatic 9-0 smothering of Stephenson.

Lucas Beal tossed five innings of two-hit ball before turning the game over to Garrett Carlson, who covered the final two frames with aplomb, striking out four and walking one without permitting a single base hit.

Beal pitched his way out of trouble twice on Saturday, the first time coming in the top of the first after Lucas Havelka led off the game with a single before moving into scoring position with a stolen base.

Chase Monette worked a one-out walk to give the Eagles a pair of base runners, but a pop-out to second base followed by a strikeout by Bryce Kass got Beal and the Maroons out of the jam.

More trouble loomed in the top of the fourth after Stephenson was able to load the bases with no outs, but Beal regained his composure and forced Ethan Anderson and Sam Salo to fly out before notching a strikeout to once again get Menominee out of danger.

Menominee provided its pitching staff with plenty of run support, with a sacrifice fly by Aiden Sevon giving the Maroons a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.

Aden Short tacked on another sac-fly in the third to nudge Menominee ahead by two before the levee broke the following inning, with RBIs from Carlson, Landan Bardowski, Dylan Beal and Torin Davis coupled with a sac-fly from Gable Buck making it a 7-0 contest in favor of the Maroons.

Bardowski and Nathan Nelson chipped in a pair of ribbies in the bottom of the fifth as Menominee seized a nine-run cushion.

All told, the Maroons out-hit Stephenson by a 13-to-2 margin.

Nelson went 2-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Carlson was 2-4 with a stolen base, while Bardowski had two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored on a 1-4 outing at the dish.

Menominee 9 — Stephenson 0

Menominee 011 520 x — 9

Stephenson 000 000 0 — 0

WP: L. Beal 5IP, 2H, BB, 5K

Leading hitters (Menominee): Nelson 2x3, 2R, RBI; Carlson 2x4, R, SB, RBI; Davis 1x4, SB, RBI; Bardowski 1x4, R, SB, 2RBI