Mammoths Rally, Beat Hoppers, 8-7
UTICA, Mich. – Despite being outhit 5-13, the Westside Woolly Mammoths (6-5) would put on a show in the final three innings to upset the Eastside Diamond Hoppers (9-4) and break Eastside’s 3-game win streak, with a final score of 8-7.
Pierce Banks would tally an impressive 11 strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched for the Hoppers.
Noah Marcoux, the USPBL leader in bases (24) and on-base % (.630) put the first Hoppers’s run on the board in the bottom of the first inning, earning his 12th RBI of the season, before the USPBL RBI leader Ben Ferguson would hit in his 14th RBI to extend Eastside’s lead to 2.
The Hoppers would soon find themselves in an excellent position for more runs after Zeb Roos was hit by pitch, loading the bases with one out before the Hoppers hit into a double play to end the first inning. Another run would be scored for Eastside in the second after a Marcoux RBI sac fly.
The first runs for the Mammoths would come in the top of the third. Zach Beadle and Jose Cedeno would come home from third on defensive errors. Beadle went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
The Hoppers continued to put runs on the board throughout the remainder of the game, entering the seventh inning with a 6-2 lead after a Todd Maddox RBI triple (bottom 3rd), a Roos RBI single (bottom 5th), and a Marcoux RBI double (bottom 6th).
A rally came late as the Mammoths would begin to muster some offense in the seventh inning, adding two runs to get closer to the Hoppers. They would tally another run in the eighth from Nick Pastore, bringing the game within one run.
Westside continued the valiant comeback effort into the ninth, tying the game off of a Fox Leum sac fly, before Cedeno would steal home on a wild pitch to give the Mammoths their first lead of the game and eventually the victory.
Written by: Ethan Desjardine