ONEKAMA — A right field gap had been
glaring at Onekama’s Alex Block for the entire doubleheader Thursday
night.
In fact, assistant coach David Baldner told the first baseman that
it was still waiting for him before his last at bat.
After going 3-for-3 with a trio of RBIs in the Portagers’ 8-1 win
over Mason County Eastern in the opener, Block still had his eye on
the generous space the Cardinals’ right fielder had seemed to
vacate.
“I was waiting for it all night,” Block said. “I just kept my eye on
that huge gap out there, and wanted it bad.” in his first at bat of
the nightcap, he told Baldner he was going for it. And almost did.
The foul line was just six inches too far to the left.
But in the fifth inning, with two outs,
the bases loaded and a seemingly slim three-run lead at 9-6, Block
obliged the tempting landing strip.
He knocked in all three base runners with the double and gave his
team the edge they needed for the sweep in their first pair of West
Michigan D League games. Onekama finished off the Cardinals with a
13-6 victory.
“It was a great team win,” Portagers coach John Neph said. “It was
awesome. Both games, we had a lot of hits with two outs that drove
in some runs. And that was huge.”
In the opener, the Portagers (5-3, 2-0 WMD) were paced by their
starter Thomas Koon who pitched a complete game with eight
strikeouts, allowing just three hits and an unearned run.
“Thomas Koon pitched a gem,” Neph said. “He was pitching well the
whole game. (He) kept them off balance, was able to convert on some
big pitches and had some good defensive plays to back him up. When
you pitch well with good defense behind you, that always helps.”
The Portagers’ bats helped too.
Onekama put up three runs in the bottom of the first and blew up in
the fourth with five. The Cardinals’ lone run was plated in the
fourth as well.
Block led the way at the plate while Joe Eno went 2-for-4, scoring
two runs and Kevin O’Connor went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.
