June 23, 2022 at 8:13 a.m.
Snowhawks beat Lakeland Times in snowshoe baseball opener
Snowhawks beat Lakeland Times in snowshoe baseball opener
By By Brett LaBore-
Similar to last year, the Snowhawks beat The Times 19-15. After a rough start, we did make a little bit of a comeback late in the game.
"Felt really good (to be back out there)," Snowhawk coach Jeff Smith said. "Seems like it was a long year off and everybody anticipates June coming around the corner. Waiting three weeks in June is kind of tough. Felt good once we kind of got there and the weather cooperated. A little hot, but cooled off a little bit."
The Snowhawks jumped all over us in the first two innings, scoring the maximum five runs in each inning. Smith and Derek Young reached base and scored in both innings. In fact, I was the only one to record an out in the first inning on a pop-up in foul territory near third base.
It felt like a carousel in the second inning. As I played from third base, the Snowhawks kept rounding the bases, one after another. Everyone came to bat in the inning aside from Paul Miller.
"We did have a couple practices beforehand, but we weren't hitting real good in the practices. All of a sudden balls were dropping in the right spots and runs were coming across," Smith said. "Yeah, I think it was a good overall game by our guys and yours."
Meanwhile, we weren't doing a good job getting guys on base. The first five batters all got out. We didn't get our first hit until Gregg Walker reached first with a base knock.
Down 10-0, we would outscore the Snowhawks 15-9 the rest of the game. It started with a home run by Walker Hartman. I waved him home from third as he easily scored for our first run.
The Snowhawks led 12-1 after four innings.
In the fifth inning, The Times really started to string some runs together. Walker reached with his second straight hit. Trevor Greene, playing in his first Snowshoe baseball game, also reached with a hit. Jeremy Mayo picked up a hit to load the bases.
The bases were loaded as I came to the plate. I really wanted to do some damage to get some runs home, but I hit it right back to pitcher Nick Mercks. He threw to first to record the out. I did get one run home though.
Next up, Jake Schexnaydre, also in his first Snowshoe game, got his first hit of the ballgame to score some runs.
It ended up being a positive inning for The Times. We scored three times and did not allow the Snowhawks to score. Still, the Snowhawks led 12-4 after five innings.
"It was a little slow start from the team, but man you guys came on," Smith said. "You put a lot of balls where we weren't and you were back in the ballgame. It was a fun game... to start the season off. I'm happy that Gregg got a good team together and it was fun."
We continued our comeback in the sixth inning. Chad Metzger, Dick Lee and Craig Holmquist all reached with hits. Ed Rynders drove in a run with a hit. It was another positive inning as The Times had a net of two-plus runs in the inning.
After Travis Strasburg got the ceremonial melon to begin the seventh, we looked to have life again after Mayo reached on a one-out base knock. Feeling more confident following my previous at-bat, I boldly called my shot to deep right field. What followed was a line out to third, which turned into an inning-ending double play when Mayo hit the sawdust trying to retreat back to first.
"That sawdust was cooler than I expected, and wetter, too," exclaimed Mayo, who resorted to doing a sawdust-angel where he lay between first and second. "Thought for sure that ball was getting through, but it turns out reverse is not a gear I have in snowshoes."
Brent Cella showed off his power in the seventh inning for the Snowhawks. He hit a shot to deep center that just kept rolling. He raced around the bases to score the 14th run for the Snowhawks.
Schexnaydre got The Times rolling in the eighth with his second straight hit. Hartman, Metzger, Lee and Holmquist kept the inning going with hits. Two runs came to score in the inning.
The Snowhawks held onto a 14-9 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. We all knew we had to hold them if we had any chance at winning.
We got the first two outs easily. Then, the Snowhawks came alive one last time. It was all capped off with a big homer by Gunner Dunbar over the fence in right field. That home run gave them the maximum five runs and a 19-9 lead.
"Everybody was waiting for him to do that. Right field is kind of a short fence so for a lefty. It's a short shot, but he hit that a ton," Smith said. "I hope we see more of that out of him this year cause we could use it."
Did we have one more rally in us? We sure did. Strasburg got a hit, followed by Mayo with a liner to left. I finally reached base with an infield single, the first hit of the game for me.
Schexnaydre had a fielder's choice for the second out. Going back to the top of the order, Hartman hit a bomb for a grand slam. It was a 19-13 game.
"Cole (Punches) turned around cause I was in left field. He said, 'keep your eye on the ball, it's time to get out of here.' As long as it's in the infield, they were able to get the out," Smith said.
Metzger and Lee kept the inning going with hits. Holmquist and Rynders also kept the inning alive. We had cut the lead to four runs now. It felt like we had a real chance to tie it.
It wasn't meant to be as the Snowhawks fielded a groundball by Walker to get the out at second to end the game. We did improve from last year when we lost by six runs.
This was my third time playing in a Snowshoe game for The Times and I had an absolute blast. Next year we're getting that win.
Up next, the Snowhawks play the local police/fire department Monday, June 27 at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.
"That'll be a good one too," Smith said. "They got a bunch of good guys, they hit the ball pretty well. Should be a good game."
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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