STANWOOD — The Spartans needed to stop the bleeding. After overcoming a 2-0 first-inning deficit against Arlington on Wednesday, Stanwood baseball led 3-2 thanks to an RBI single from shortstop Gavin Gehrman and a couple of bases-loaded walks.
However, after starting pitcher Tanner Requa hit a batter with a pitch and walked two more to load the bases, Stanwood coach Matt Brennan sent Gehrman to the mound. After striking out the first batter he faced, Gehrman allowed a grounder up the middle that was narrowly turned into a double play, but Arlington’s Cy Bradley beat the throw to first to allow the tying run to score on a fielder’s choice.
But Gehrman settled back in, and after the defense got out of the inning by tagging the runner at third during the next at bat, the senior kept Arlington at bay for two more innings while batting in one of Stanwood’s five unanswered runs to propel the Spartans (3-0) to an 8-3 win against the Eagles (2-1).
“I just went in there, and I just thought about throwing strikes,” Gehrman said. “Making them hit it, get the double play. I got a defense behind me that’s good, and trust the defense really. And I’m going to make them (Arlington) work out there, I’m not going to walk them in.”
Historically a 3A rivalry, Arlington’s move to 4A means Wednesday’s matchup is the only one between the schools this season. Stanwood won two out of three games last year, including a 5-2 decision in the postseason on May 11.
But just because the matchup has been reduced to a precursor to league play does not mean it has lost meaning between the two sides.
“It always means something,” Stanwood coach Matt Brennan said. “We’re only gonna get to play them once a year, but we get up for this game and so do they. They put a lot of pride on the line in this game, and tonight it showed. Our motto this year is to ‘win at home,’ and we’ve had trouble with Arlington at home, and so we got it done today.”
Gehrman finished 2-for-3 on the day with 2 RBI to go with three hitless innings and three strikeouts on the mound. Senior catcher TJ McQuery (1-for-2, two walks) ripped the game open by turning a two-run lead into four by capping off a five-hit rally in the bottom of the fourth inning, while infielder Corbin Forslund (1-for-3, one walk) and outfielder Luke Brennan (0-for-2, two walks) each drove in a run as well.
For Arlington, starting pitcher Reece Boekenoogen retired the first eight batters he faced before allowing six consecutive to reach base, ending his day after 2 2/3 innings with two hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Second baseman Dylan Durfee (1-for-2, one walk) led the offense with a two-run double in the first inning.
“Give them credit, they put balls in play, but the other thing is we walked some guys,” Arlington coach Scott Striegel said. “That was our big conversation with our pitchers, is we got to get ahead in the count and we got to throw more strikes, because if we walk guys, it makes it a whole lot easier (for them) to score runs.”
After Durfee gave the Eagles an early 2-0 lead with a two-run double to deep right, the Spartans did not crack Boekenoogen until sophomore outfielder Brayden Wammack smacked a single to left in the bottom of the third. Batting in the ninth spot of the order, Wammack (2-for-2, one walk) sparked the rally that allowed Stanwood to pull ahead 3-2.
“I’m a young guy on the team, so doing whatever to win feels great,” Wammack said.
The Spartans broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, racking up five straight base hits to take a 7-3 lead. The first four hits all went to left field, with Forslund and Gehrman driving in outfielder Connor Clifton (1-for-3) and Wammack, respectively, to make it 5-3.
Then, after an Arlington pitching change, McQuery switched things up. The senior launched a pitch deep – this time to the right-center wall – and cleared the bases with a double.
“It was a new pitcher, so I was thinking I was just sitting fastball, getting my pitch, and just ripping it,” McQuery said. “I try not to do too much, because sometimes I tend to do too much. So just trying to stay within myself, and just rip it.”
Arlington walked the bases loaded again in the bottom of the sixth, and Luke Brennan hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice on a full count to drive one more run across the plate for the 8-3 final. Skyler McClain (0-for-2), who started the game at designated hitter, pitched a one-hit seventh inning to close things out.
Requa, who moved to second base after leaving the mound, ended the game with an athletic snag in shallow right field to execute a tricky 4-3 groundout.
“I’m just loving that team production,” Wammack said. “Everybody’s doing something and (we’re) ready to go play some real games here.”
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