Milan Drops Both Ends of a Spring Break Doubleheader

The Milan Big Reds boys’ baseball team had a rough day on Tuesday. Six errors led to four unearned runs en route to a 10-0 mercy at the hands of the Plymouth Wildcats. The nightcap of the doubleheader was closer, with Milan losing 6-4 after having the tying runs on in the bottom of the seventh.

Milan (1-3) got off to a rocky start when the leadoff batter for the Wildcats took starting pitcher Zach Schrader deep in the first inning. Schrader ended up going just 2 2/3 of an inning, allowing eight runs (five earned) but walking none. Alex Berge came on in relief and gave up two runs (one earned), striking out one and walking two. 

“The first game, they just weren’t mentally prepared. Not having the normalcy of going to school, I think it does have an effect on the guys,” said Milan head coach Adam Gilles.

Game two for Milan started off better. Jeremy Maas drew a leadoff walk and worked his way around the bases to score on a Texas League single off the bat of Joe Dunn in the opening frame. Plymouth scored two in the bottom of the inning off starter Noah Bellers when Steven Price lost a ball in the sun, but Milan tied the game up in the third.

The game unraveled in the fifth when Plymouth got four runs after reliever John Spence hit two batters. Chaz Poindexter came in and pitched well in relief, but Milan was unable to recover. Milan scratched out two more runs in the remaining two innings and had the tying runs on before Plymouth recorded the final out. 

“The second game, I would be totally OK walking out with that. Either team could have won the game; they got the big hit and we didn’t. We had a couple brain-dead mental innings that took us out of innings, but overall, our pitching was pretty good today. We only walked a handful over two games,” said Gilles.

Milan plays at home on Saturday in the Avery Invite Tournament.