Saugatuck’s Cass Stanberry shines on both sides in split v. Fennville
FENNVILLE - As the 2023 baseball regular season begins to reach its end, Saugatuck is looking to bring a successful end to a rough season for the Trailblazers. Sophomore Cass Stanberry certainly played up to task, doing everything during the team’s double header split against Fennville May 22.
Stanberry and the Trailblazers set the tone immediately in the first game of the double header. Stanberry recorded a leadoff single, eventually scoring as part of a four run first inning to give the team a major momentum boost before Stanberry even threw a pitch.
The sophomore’s spectacular outing began with a scoreless first inning, capping the inning off with a strikeout to strand two Fennville runners. In the second inning, the Trailblazers added two more runs, including a sacrifice fly by Stanberry, the first of his four RBIs in the game.
“I was confident,” Stanberry said. “I’ve gone against these guys a lot, so I knew what they threw. I was ready to hit and had a plan, and it ended up working out.”
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After holding the Blackhawks to a scoreless second frame, Stanberry ran into trouble in the third. A walk and two singles left the bases loaded with no outs and Stanberry in jeopardy of losing his shutout bid.
Despite the nearly insurmountable obstacle, the Trailblazer defense locked in.
“Everyone kept making plays,” Stanberry said. “That helped a lot when I was throwing less strikes and less pitches because my backfield was making great plays. They made it easy.”
Stanberry forced a shallow pop out, followed by a groundout to get a Fennville runner out at the plate. Finally, Stanberry struck out the final batter of the inning to get out of the bases loaded jam and keep the score 6-0 going into the fourth inning.
“I’ve been in that situation a couple of times, so I knew what I had to do,” Stanberry said. “I just had to throw strikes and we ended up getting out of it.”
Getting out of the jam gave the Trailblazers newfound momentum, as the offense exploded for ten runs in the next two innings. The fifth inning saw Stanberry record the final two of his four RBIs as his teammates record hit after hit, securing a 16-1 win.
The second game was a much different story, as the defense collapsed early, allowing seven runs through two innings. After the second inning, the Saugatuck offense stalled out, while the defense continued to allow hits and runs. At the end of the sixth inning, the Trailblazers dropped the game 14-7 to Fennville, splitting the double header.
Despite the loss, Stanberry's offensive outburst continued, recording two more RBIs in game two and finishing the day with five hits. The sophomore’s performance garnered praise from head coach Evan Czarnecki.
“Cass is a young leader,” Czarnecki said. “He needs to find his voice on the team, but he’s only a sophomore. We need to get him throwing a little harder and develop his curveball a little bit, but he’s doing a great job developing and we’ll see what he does in the offseason.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Saugatuck’s Cass Stanberry shines on both sides in split v. Fennville
