Varsity baseball falls to Northview in series finale 6-3

Varsity baseball falls to Northview in series finale 6-3

The Ranger bats came on too late in a 6-3 loss to Northview Thursday night. After a five run fifth for the Wildcats, the deficit became insurmountable for the Rangers, despite a double in the seventh from senior Reed Aleck.

After their first loss of the season Wednesday night, the Rangers came back undefeated in conference play and looked for the sweep of Northview. Their bats came out early with four hits in the first two innings, giving Northview a quick 1-0 lead.

The Ranger lineup was nullified in the early going with strong winds blowing the ball in from left giving the offense no help to a strong pull side team.

After back and forth one, two, three innings from both sides, Northview returned to the bat racks in the bottom of the fifth and didn’t look back.

After two bunts got the better of the Ranger defense, Northview found themselves with the bases loaded and only one out. A hit by pitch gave the Wildcats a 2-0, with a triple down the line quickly following putting the Rangers down 5-0. Another single for Northview gave them their sixth and final run of the night and left the Rangers with plenty of work on the offensive side in the last two opportunities.

After a fielder’s choice put junior Miko Rodriguez on first, Reed came through again, plating a big first run for the Ranger offense in the top of the sixth. With two outs, senior Nick Ettinger came to the plate with the bases loaded and sent a fly ball to center ending the Rangers threat in the sixth.

After a much more efficient inning from sophomore Adam Tellier, taking over for senior Mark Scannel, the Rangers had one final opportunity to make their case and score at least five to send it to the bottom half of the inning.

After a rocky start and two quick outs, senior Sean Wing came up with a single to keep the Rangers alive. A Miko walk set the stage for Reed, who hit a missile deep to the right center gap, plating Sean and Miko and pulling the Rangers within three.

A tough pitch from the Wildcat starter put the Rangers away with a swinging strikeout and gave the Rangers their first conference loss of the season. FHC now sits in second place tied with Greenville and behind the Lowell Red Arrows.