By Staff

            LITTLE RIVER – On Friday the Little River baseball team continued their unbeaten streak for 2023 with a pair of wins at home over Ellsworth.

            Now 14-0 for the season, the Redskins will play host to Remington on Tuesday.

            In game one, Little River took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and then went up 6-0 in the fifth before Ellsworth poured across six runs in the sixth forcing the game into extra innings tied at 6-6. In the bottom of the eighth, the Redskins pushed across one run to get the final 7-6 win.

            Braden Young led the Little River offense as he went 4-for-5 at the plate with a triple and three stolen bases. Both Dalton Mantz and Logan Renken had a pair of hits with Mantz hammering out a double. Spencer Strecker and Carter Stansbury also stole three base each as the Redskins swiped 15 total in the game.

            Braden Young went 2.1 innings on the mound and Logan Renken pitched 5.2 as they combined to give up seven hits, five earned runs, walking eight and striking out seven on 158 pitches.

            The nightcap started much the way the earlier game did as Little River scored once in the first and waited until the fifth to push across five more runs. After Ellsworth managed to get a run on the board in the top of the sixth, the Redskins added two more in the bottom of the inning to hang on for the final seven-run, 8-1 victory.

            Kayston Cox and Spencer Strecker had a pair of hits with Cox knocking across three runs. Braden Young slapped out a double and Logan Renken accounted for four of the Redskins 10 stolen bases.

            Dalton Mantz got the start on the mound and went 5.2 innings, throwing 72 pitches while giving up just a pair of hits, one earned run, walking only two and striking out 10. Spencer Strecker closed out the final 1.1 innings in relief and gave up but one hit, one walk and struck out two.

LITTLE RIVER REDSKIN BASEBALL hosting Ellsworth

GAME 1

Scoring: Ellsworth > 0-0-0-0-0-6-0-0 = 6-7-1;  LITTLE RIVER > 1-0-0-0-5-0-0-1 = 7-11-2.

LITTLE RIVER HITTING (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): Braden Young > 5-2-4-1-0; Dalton Mantz > 4-2-2-1-1;  Logan Renken > 3-1-2-1-2; Grant Stephens > 4-0-0-2-0; Kayston Cox > 4-0-1-0-0; Spencer Strecker > 3-1-1-1-1; Carter Stansbury > 2-1-1-1-1; Corbin Herbst > 3-0-0-0-0; C J Herzog > 3-0-0-0-0.  Team Totals > 31-7-11-7-5.  2B (1) > D. Mantz – 1.  3B (1) > B. Young – 1.  SB (15) > S. Strecker, C. Stansbury – 3; B. Young, D. Mantz, L. Renken – 2; K. Cox, C. Herbst – 1. 
LITTLE RIVER PITCHING (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): Braden Young > 2.1-53-3-3-2-4-2; Logan Renken > 5.2-125-4-3-3-4-5.  Team Totals > 8.0-158-7-6-5-8-7.

Ellsworth Hitting > 30-6-7-4-8; 1 – SB.  Ellsworth Pitching > 7.1-156-11-7-7-5-9.

GAME 2

Scoring: Ellsworth > 0-0-0-0-0-1-0 = 1-3-1;  LITTLE RIVER > 1-0-0-0-5-2-x = 8-6-0.

LITTLE RIVER HITTING (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): Braden Young – 3-2-1-0-1;  Dalton Mantz > 3-1-0-0-0; Logan Renken > 2-2-1-1-2; Grant Stephens > 1-2-0-1-1; Kayston Cox > 4-1-2-3-0; Spencer Strecker > 3-0-2-0-1; Carter Stansbury > 1-0-0-1-1; Corbin Herbst > 2-0-0-0-0; C J Herzog > 3-0-0-0-0.  Team Totals > 22-8-6-7-6.  2B (1) > B. Young – 1.  SB (10) > L. Renken – 4; B. Young – 2; D. Mantz, G. Stephens, K. Cox, C. Stansbury – 1.

LITTLE RIVER PITCHING (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): Dalton Mantz (w) > 5.2-72-2-1-1-2-10; Spencer Strecker > 1.1-18-1-0-0-1-2.  Team Totals > 7.0-90-3-1-1-3-12.

Ellsworth Hitting > 24-1-3-1-3; 2-SB.  Ellsworth Pitching > 6.0-109-6-7-7-6-4.

(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)