Blues sweep series at Daggett

Courtesy of the Marquette Blues

The Marquette American Legion Blues traveled to Daggett on Saturday for two games, one against Coleman and one against the host Daggett/Mid County squad and came away with two wins on this road trip.

In the first game, the Blues squared off against Coleman, who had just beaten Daggett by scoring 9 runs in the top of the last inning.  The Blues jumped out to an early lead on Coleman and captured a 15-0 victory.  Twelve runs in the first three innings allowed Blues 2013 to put the game away early.

A two-run double by Payton Lebombard in the first inning and an RBI double by Riley Lynch  and a three-run home run by McKinley Larson during the second inning supplied the early offense for Blues 2013. Hunter Larson racked up two RBIs on three hits. He doubled in the first inning and singled in the third and fourth innings.

The Blues Luke Swajanen kept Coleman off the scoreboard for all five innings he was on the hill. He pitched a shutout, allowing no opposing players to cross the plate on two hits while ringing up eight.

“I thought we did a real nice job of putting the ball in play this game and forcing them to make errors.  We knew that they were a real young team coming into it, but that they had a lot of talent.  We did a lot of things right in this game and I was proud of the way our team responded,” said Blues manager Derek Swajanen.

In the night cap, the Blues faced off against the host Daggett team. Pitchers had a tough day during the game as the two teams put up 23 runs combined in a 14-9 Blues win.  The teams totaled 14 hits in the game.  Hunter Larson  reached base five times.

He scored three runs and had one RBI. He homered in the third inning. Ryan Walther got the win for the Blues despite allowing nine runs over five innings. He struck out two, walked eight and surrendered six hits. Marquette didn’t relinquish the lead after scoring eight runs in the second inning when it scored on a two-run double by Sam Leow two passed balls, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Walther, and two wild pitches.

The Blues added four more runs in the top of the fourth. A bases loaded walk scored Colton Wiggins the inning’s first run. Seven Daggett/Mid County runs crossed the plate in the bottom half of the fifth, making the score 13-9. Trevor Bratonia came in to close the game for the visiting Blues.

“We were a little loose in this game and it showed.  We had them mercied and were ready to end the game when we lost our focus and made some mental mistakes that turned in to physical errors.  These are the things we can’t do against more experienced teams and expect to win.  We had a little pep talk and the boys settled back in and finished the game strong,” said Swajanen.