Bellmont and Northrop spent much of Saturday morning and afternoon locked in a pair of tight ballgames in their doubleheader, but a sixth-inning rally of six runs in game two was enough to give the home Braves a clean sweep.
Kaigan Lee gave the Braves seven outstanding innings in the opening game, striking out ten and allowing just one unearned run. Coach Garrison Brege then got five innings of relief from two different pitchers, Keaton Wilder and Matt Bleeke, to see out the sweep. Wilder and Bleeke combined for nine strikeouts in those five innings.
Lee provided the key hit in the big inning after spending the game on the bench resting from his gamee-one performance. He came up to pinch hit and knocked in two, turning a 3-3 tie into a Bellmont victory.
Game One
Lee went head to head with Jason Sheppard, who allowed just three hits to the Braves in six innings of work, striking out four.
Ben Mills drew a one-out walk, then took second on a groundout before stealing third base. He opened the scoring in the game, scoring on a wild pitch.
Dylan Todd tied the game up for Northrop in the fifth, driving in Owen McNally, who had taken second after a single on a passed ball.
In the bottom half of the inning, Mills was the key again, driving in Jayden Springer, who had reached on an error. That was ultimately the winning run in the opening game, with Lee somehow working his way out of a major jam in the top of the sixth after loading the bases with no outs.
Beau Baker had a single and Layne LeMaster had a double for the only other hits for the Braves in their victory in the opener.
Game Two
Blake Christner started the game for the Braves and ended his opening frame with a strikeout of the Northrop cleanup hitter, but he ran into trouble in the second when the Braves’ infield could not get their bunt defense right and allowed two runners on with none out. A triple by Todd made it 2-0 and an additional infield error made it 3-0 as Christner was replaced by Keaton Wilder.
Wilder settled in and Beau Baker delivered a big, two-out hit to cut the Bruin lead to one.
Jayden Springer scord another run in the fourth to tie it and Wilder used the strikeout and his pickoff move to get out of a jam in the fifth. Bleeke then struck out the side after a McNally leadoff double in the sixth.
That momentum, coupled with the hot-hitting Springer leading off the bottom of the inning, was the difference in the game. Lee drove in Springer and Isaac Baker with his pinch-hit single. Mills and LeMaster followed with base hits and by the time Springer came to bat again in the inning, it was a 9-3 lead for the Braves.
Bleeke struck out the side again in the seventh to cap the day.
About the Author
