The Express win 4 out of 5 games against Alpena Community College at Sports Force Park. During a very windy and chilly weekend, the Express found a way to win the series by winning the final 4 games.
Game 1 - Loss 3-2 - If you like pitching duels, you got one. Jackson Grine threw 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, giving up 2 runs, while striking out 6. The game was played very well but a few missed opportunities ended in a loss for the Express.
Game 2 - Win 8-7 - Down to their final out, the Express trailed the entire game. Going into the 7th inning, the Express found themselves down 3. RBI's in the last inning by Kirk Gibson, Kale Wilkins, and Isaiah Smith helped lead the Express comeback. With bases loaded down by 1, Isaiah Smith came to the plate. He crushes a ball deep off the right-center field fence scoring Gibson and Wilkins. "We have been waiting for someone to be "THE GUY" and Isaiah came through for us" stated Coach P. This changed the complexion of the entire series.
Game 3 - Win 7-4 - A very tightly played game all the way through. Mitch Harder with the CG scattering 11 hits and striking out 7. Coach P called it, "A very gritty start" and a much-needed start for the Express. This helped the bullpen and put us in a perfect position for games 4 and 5. Kirk Gibson had 3 hits and 4 RBI's which led the way for the Express.
Game 4 - Win 14-4 - The Express set the tone early, scoring 8 runs in the first inning. Tristan Schuerman had 3 triples, Kale Wilkins went 4-4, Gray Hoeppner went 2-2 with 6 RBI's, and Allen Sterling hit a 3-run HR for his first career base hit. Tyler Baker threw 4 innings of 5 hit baseball and Caleb Winkelman finished the job for the 10-run mercy rule.
Game 5 - Win 19-4 - The game didn't start as planned but ended with the result we wanted. Scoring 17 unanswered runs after Alpena jumped out to a 3-0 lead. In the first 2 innings, all the players could do was hope and pray the ball didn't come their way. The snow was coming down at a rapid pace forcing some miscues which allowed Alpena to score. Then there was a 30-minute delay to allow the storm to pass. Once that happened, everything went our way. Kale Wilkins went 3-5 scoring 4 runs, Isaiah Smith and Cullen Mcfarland both hit 2-run HR's and had 4 RBI's to help lead the Express to their most lopsided win of the year.
"Very successful weekend for the team. It shows the kind of team we can be when we put it all together"
Next Up: Ashland University 3/19