CAMBRIAN KOCH flings the ball to first base in the Four Rivers Conference championship against Union. Photo by Wyatt Hardy
Eagles Land 2nd In FRC Tourney Behind Union
Sullivan (2-1) finished 2nd in the Four Rivers Conference tournament after falling 14-4 to Union (3-0) in the championship. The Eagles landed one spot higher than the previous year, and the Wildcats secured another title.
Union scored 25-0 against their opponents in the first two conference rounds, while the Eagles beat St. James 10-4 and Pacific 4-2 to advance to the championship.
The Wildcats drew first blood with five runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Union ran through their entire batting lineup before second baseman Alex Toews threw to first baseman Drake Gawer for the final out.
Pitcher Cambrian Koch gave up four walks and two hits in his brief stint on the mound. Nate McReynolds came in for relief for the last swings of the 1st inning and pitched until the bottom of the 4th when Lucas Parsons took over the mound. McReynolds surrendered two hits.
With the Eagles still trailing by five runs in the top of the 4th, Koch became the first Eagle to reach first base after launching a ground ball. Chase Blue shifted the momentum by ripping the ball deep into center field, and Koch sprinted like lightning to home plate as his teammates were shaking the dugout’s roof. Mitchell Garner blasted a line drive that allowed Blue to seize Sullivan’s second run. Afterward, Raiden Redd managed to walk home for the Eagles’ third score. Garner then capped off a dominant inning by delivering Sullivan’s final run of the night on Seth Valley’s grounder, cutting their deficit to just one score.
The Eagles’ rally inspired the Wildcats to claw through the bases for six runs when returning to bat. Then, with three more Union scores at the bottom of the fifth, they won 14-4 by mercy rule.
Parsons pitched to start the bottom of the fourth, yielding five earned runs and two hits while making a strikeout. Blue finished the inning, giving up two hits and an earned run.
Grant Halmick was the final Eagle on the mound and surrendered three hits and an earned run.
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