Cards drop two to Hillman in first time outside

by Angie Asam-Staff Writer

The Onaway Cardinals boys’ baseball team traveled to Hillman Tuesday for a doubleheader. The Tigers and Cardinals are the only area teams that have seen action thus far as most fields are not yet playable. The teams played two five-inning games.

 

Coach Mike Crull saw his team commit eight errors in the first game and four in the second. “It was our first time outside and it is hard to simulate a ground ball, a fly ball and game situations in the gym. All things considered we weren’t terrible, we weren’t  great, but I definitely expected more. We are only going to get better from here,” said Crull.

Matt Tollini pitched game one allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two. The Cardinals fell 9-2 in the contest. Offensively Tommy Auger had a hit, a walk, scored twice and had two stolen bases. Chris Cleaver had two hits and two RBI in the game.

Game two was a much better contest as the Cards fell 9-4 but saw their bats come alive and got better in the field. Cody Whitsitt took the loss on the mound, going all four innings allowing four hits, four earned runs and walking seven. He struck out three in the game.

Auger continued to do damage from atop the order as he had two hits, scored twice and again swiped two bases. Cleaver added two more hits including a double as well as a run scored and two RBI. Andrew Prow also had two hits, a stolen base and two RBI in the game.

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�To be honest I kind of treated the game like a scrimmage. I mean no disrespect to Hillman in saying that but with it being our first time outside that is how I felt. Hillman is probably the best team we will face all year. We actually played well in the second game. We didn’t want to tilt our hand and throw our ace as Hillman is a team we will see in districts, but it is a different ball game with Andrew Prow on the mound,” said coach Crull.

The boys will travel to Kingsley this Saturday for a tournament. There is nothing on the schedule for next week, although Crull said he would like to find a game.