Prep Baseball: Monroe wins with squeeze; Airport tightens up race
Monroe baseball coach Bubba Bezeau was thinking about a suicide squeeze bunt.
Then Ann Arbor Pioneer made his decision easier.
Logan Loveland got the bunt down to provide the only run of the game and give Monroe a 1-0 win Wednesday.
The Southeastern Conference Red game was scoreless headed into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Monroe’s Ryan Sieler singled with one out, then Pioneer committed an error on a ball hit by Braden Pearce, putting runners on first and third.
That’s when the idea of a suicide squeeze came into Bezeau’s mind.
“I was thinking about a squeeze, but I put in a pinch hitter (Brady Welch) and they intentionally walked him,” Bezeau said.
That brought up Loveland with the bases loaded.
“He’s my best bunter,” Bezeau said.
The suicide squeeze sign was given and Loveland delivered.
“He got the bunt down,” Bezeau said. “They were not expecting it.”
Loveland is Monroe’s leading hitter with a .385 average, but Bezeau slots him at No. 8 in the batting order.
“I put him at lead-off one game and he did well, but he feels more comfortable at eighth,” the coach explained. “He’s a hard-working kid. He would run through a wall for you.”
Bezeau doesn’t ordinarily use the bunt game much, but the situation seemed right.
“You’ve got to win a game whenever you can,” he said. “When you are down to 7-8-9 in the batting order, you do whatever it takes. I didn’t want to hit into a doubleplay in that situation.
One run was enough because of senior Owen Yount, who tossed a 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
“He threw the best game I’ve seen him throw since he’s been in high school,” Bezeau said.
Sieler, Loveland and Breylon Richards had the only hits for Monroe, which won its fourth in a row after dropping five straight.
The Trojans are 14-6-1 overall and 10-5 in the SEC Red.
Airport 7, Huron 4
NEW BOSTON – Airport tightened up the Huron League race, coming up with a key win on the road.
Milan and Huron now are tied for first place at 7-2 and Airport is a half-game back at 7-3.
Huron outhit the Jets 11-4, but Sean Langton was tough when he needed to be for Airport.
Seth Jones got the last five outs to earn a save.
Key hits for Airport (18-3 overall) were a two-run single by Langton in the fourth inning and RBI hits by Shade Daniels and Nolan Zajac in a four-run fifth.
Austin O’Dell went 3-for-4 and Gavin Moczydlowsky and Ashton Warren added two hits each for Huron.
Milan 25, Grosse Ile 10
GROSSE ILE – Milan’s offense made it easy for KJ DeMars to pick up his first varsity win.
He got relief help from Jaxon Morawski, who struck out five in the final two innings.
Morawski led the offense with 3 hits and 4 RBI. Lucas Linzell also drove in four runs and he had two hits along with Matt Bowman and Gavin Kruise.
Milan improved to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the Huron League.
SMCC 12, Jefferson 4
St. Mary Catholic Central scored six runs in the sixth inning to pull away.
Brady Runyon was the winning pitcher while Braden Puckett earned a save. Jaden Paquette and Tommy Rogoff each had two hits for the Falcons.
Shane Johnson went 3-for-4 and Cody Byrd added two hits for Jefferson.
Bedford 8, Skyline 2
TEMPERANCE – Bedford’s Brendan Korsnack went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to support 3-hit pitching by Gabe Bock.
Nolan Laskey and Josh Shepherd added two hits each.
The Mules are 13-11 overall and 10-5 in the Southeastern Conference Red.
Whiteford 14-13, Morenci 1-3
MORENCI – Nate Stevens threw a no-hitter in the first game and Ryan Ruddy collected four doubles and a triple as Whiteford ran its record to 12-6 overall and 7-1 in the Tri-County Conference.
Caden Schroyer was the winning pitcher in Game 2.
Summerfield 8-6, Britton Deerfield 1-5
PETERSBURG – Summerfield fell behind 2-0 in the opening inning of the second game before fighting back to complete a sweep.
An RBI triple by Jake Wadsworth started the comeback and Hayden Noland stroked a two-run double.
Noland and Bryce Kalb both went 3-for-4 and winning pitcher Logan Keane had two hits, including a triple.
The Bulldogs led from start to finish in the first game thanks to RBI doubles in the first inning by Wadsworth and Noland. Winning pitcher Wadsworth wound up 4-for-4 with three doubles and Kalb went 3-for-4.
Riverview 6, Flat Rock 0
FLAT ROCK – A double by Joey Godfrey and a single by Brendan Smouthers were the only hits Flat Rock could muster in a 6-0 loss to Riverview Wednesday.
Allen Park 3, Carlson 0
ALLEN PARK – Gibraltar Carlson loaded the bases with one out in both the sixth and seventh innings, but could not come up with a big hit.
John Hojnowski threw well, but the Marauders (9-10 overall 5-5 in Downriver League) managed just two hits.
Madison 14-15, Erie Mason 2-0
ERIE – Erie Mason struggled in a pair of Tri-County Conference games against Adrian Madison.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Prep Baseball: Monroe wins with squeeze; Airport tightens up race
