The Macomb High baseball squad scored multiple runs in all four innings it batted in recording a 17-2 victory over visiting Bushnell- Prairie City Saturday morning at Phil Bradley Field.
Macomb improved to 13-9 overall, 2-4 in Prairieland Conference play. B-PC dropped to 1-20 overall, 0-5 in league play.
The Spartans got on the board first as Dylan King homered to left with one out in the top of the first against MHS starter Kollin Knupp.
But the Bombers scored twice in the bottom of the inning.
Drew Watson singled to center to open the inning before scoring on a triple to center by Nick Elbe.
Elbe scored when Jake Ogle reached on an error by B-PC third baseman Alex Kohler.
MHS tallied six runs in the bottom of the second in building an 8-1 lead. The frame included six hits and two B-PC errors.
Elbe, Ogle, Aiden Reynolds and Blaine Eddington all had run-scoring singles in the inning, with the other two runs scoring on errors.
B-PC scored its second run in the top of the third as Connor Palm doubled with one out and scored when Thomas Anderson tripled to right with two outs.
The Bombers answered by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the inning.
Ogle and Kaden Knupp had RBI hits in the inning that included two walks, a hit batsman, two errors, a balk and two wild pitches.
Macomb closed out the contest in the bottom of the fourth, scoring twice.
Elbe doubled to center to open the inning. Ogle was hit by a pitch.
Courtesy runner Tyler Schulz and Ogle advanced one base on a wild pitch before scoring when Drew Taylor singled to right.
Macomb out-hit B-PC 14-4 with the Spartans committing five errors.
Elbe had three hits, including a double and a triple, scoring three runs, while knocking in two.
Ogle added two hits, knocking in three runs and scoring three times.
Isaac Leinbach had two hits and scored twice, while Watson scored three times for the Bombers. Reymolds had two hits, while Taylor recorded two runs batted in.
Kollin Knupp pitched three innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. He struck out five.
Leinbach pitched one inning, striking out the side in the fourth.
“I was really happy with what we were able to do at the plate,” said MHS coach John Ogle. “Coming off a couple of games where we struggled to score runs, it was nice to see so many guys put together good at-bats throughout our lineup.”
“We were able to put a lot of good swings on balls and hit a lot of balls hard,” he added. “We had nine different guys pick up hits, and four of them (Nick, Jake, Aiden, and Isaac) were able to pick up multiple hits.”
“On the defensive side, Kollin made his first varsity start on the mound and did a really nice job,” said Ogle. “He attacked hitters and threw strikes, which was exactly what we needed out of him. Isaac came in after and looked really good on the mound as well.”
King homered, while Anderson tripled, Palm doubled and Miles Strode singled for B-PC’s four hits. Palm scored a run, while Anderson had a run batted in.
Ethan Hyde pitched two-plus innings, allowing 11 runs, six earned, on nine hits. He walked one and hit a batter.
King pitched one inning, allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Strode pitched in the fourth, allowing two earned runs on two hits. He hit one batter.
Both teams were scheduled to return to Prairieland play Monday.
The Bombers were slated to host Farmington (13-41, 4-0 Prairieland) at Phil Bradley Field.
B-PC was scheduled to host South Fulton (1-15, 0-7 Prairieland) in Bushnell.
Miles Strode pitched in the fourth inning.
