Green Team Wins a Back and Forth Game One
White Team strands 11 base runners in 4-2 loss
University Center, MI -
Coach Drew Schultz's Green Team put just enough offense together at the right time on Monday to squeak out a 4-2 victory over Coach Lucas Sella's White Team in game one of the 9th Annual Green and White World Series. Despite outhitting their opponent 6-5, White just couldn't come up with the big hit when they needed it, stranding 11 baserunners in all.
Nick Johnson got the Green on the board in the first inning with a leadoff double before being moved to third on a Drew Long sacrifice bunt. He would scamper home on a two-out wild pitch from White starting pitcher, Conner Moe, to make it 1-0. The score would stay right there until the fifth inning as Green pitcher Jack Rossbach and Moe matched each other, inning for inning.
Green upped their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fifth as Jonas Kanouse and Anthony Bernard were both hit by pitches to lead off the inning. One out later, Nick Johnson singled up the middle to score Bernard but relief pitch Alex Snider closed the door to limit the runs to just one.
White finally struck in the bottom of the frame to tie it up Carsen Allessie and Collin Lienau both reached with no outs before moving up a bag on a wild pitch. Caron Longstreth drove Allessie home on a ground out to make it 2-1. Alex Dingee relieve Rossbach with runners at the corners and Jackson Lund greeted him with a deep double to centerfield to score Lienau and tie the game at 2-2.
Nolan Raymond led off the sixth for the Green with a single and moved to second on a Devin Sempert bunt. A two-strike single off the bat of Jimmy Grigg scored Raymond and gave Green a 3-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish. An unearned run in the seventh made it 4-2 and Grant Dittmer closed the door in the bottom of the frame for the save.
Nick Johnson led the offense for the Green with a single, double, an RBI and a run while Alex Dingee picked up the win on the hill. Alex Piotrowski doubled twice for the White while Jarred Cooper also collected two singles. Alex Snider was tagged with the loss.
The two teams will play game two on Tuesday with game three scheduled for Wednesday in the best-of-three series. All start times are 5pm.