The Macomb High baseball team returned to action this week, playing a pair of Prairieland Conference contests.
Monday afternoon at Phil Bradley Field, visiting Farmington built a 7-0 lead before hanging on late to claim an 8-6 victory.
The Farmers scored twice in the opening inning before adding three runs in the third and two more in the fifth.
Macomb finally broke its scoring ice with two in the bottom of the sixth.
Isaac Leinbach started the inning with a single to left. Drew Watson hit into a fielder’s choice at short, forcing Leinbach out at second for the first out.
Watson advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on an errant pickoff attempt. Nick Elbe walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Watson and Elbe scored when Jake Ogle singled to center, making the score 7-2.
Farmington used a walk and a run-scoring double by Landon Crawford that made it 8-2.
But the Bombers battled in their final at-bat, putting together a four-run rally with two outs.
Hayden Katz singled before Leinbach walked. Watson doubled to left, scoring Katz and advancing Leinbach to third.
Elbe followed with a triple to center, scoring Leinbach and Watson, cutting Farmington’s lead to 8-5. Ogle followed with a pop fly single that scored Elbe.
But the Farmers hung on as Brinson Atchley was able to strike out Kaden Knupp to end the game.
Farmington out-hit Macomb 15-6 with both teams committing one error.
Ogle had two hits with three RBIs, while Elbe knocked in two runs and scored twice.
Watson also scored twice and had one RBI, while Katz and Leinbach each had a hit and a run scored.
Blaine Eddington pitched 2.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked five.
Tyler Schulz pitched 3.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out three.
Leinbach pitched one inning, allowing one earned run on two hits with one walk.
Atchley had two hits, including a home run with three runs batted in for Farmington (14-4-1, 5-0 Prairieland).
Brody Wilcoxen added three hits, including a home run with two runs batted, while Boston Smith added two hits, including a double, with two RBIs.
Tristan Hendy had two hits and scored twice for the Farmers.
Crawdord pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits. He struck out 12, walked three and hit a batter.
Atchley recorded the final out, but not before allowing three runs on three hits and a walk.
On Wednesday, the Bombers headed to Pete Egleton Field in Astoria to face South Fulton in Prairieland play.
MHS grabbed an early lead before piling on nine runs in the final two innings to record a 14-3 victory.
Macomb improved to 14-10 overall, 3-5 in Prairieland Conference play.
South Fulton dropped to 1-18 overall, 0-9 in conference play.
The Bombers scored four runs in the first.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases before Aiden Reynolds lofted a sacrifice fly to left, bringing home Leinbach with the game’s first run.
Jaxon Barclay followed with a two-run triple to right before scoring a Kaden Knupp single to left.
The score was 5-1 entering the sixth inning before the Bombers put together a two-out rally, scoring four runs.
A single and two batters hit by pitches loaded the bases.
Elbe was hit by a pitch to foce home a run before Ogle drew a bases loaded walk to bring the second run home.
Watson singled to left to plate one run with the second scoring an error that gave MHS a 9-1 lead.
South Fulton scored twice in the bottom of the inning, the first coming on an RBI single by Cooper Davis that scored Colby Martin.
An error by Ogle at second allowed the second run to score.
Macomb tallied five runs in the top of the seventh that included an RBI single from Elbe, a two-run double by Ogle and a run-scoring single by Reynolds.
MHS out-hit SOuth Fulton 12-4 with both teams committing three errors.
Barclay had a triple and knocked in three runs for Macomb.
Watson had three hits, while Elbe, Ogle and Reynolds all chipped in two hits apiece. All four players recorded two RBIs each.
Knupp added two hits with a run scored and one batted in, while Leinbach also scored twice. Elbe also scored three runs, while Ogle and Barclay scored twice.
Leinbach pitched four innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit. He struck out seven and walked four.
Katz pitched two innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with four strikeouts.
Reynolds pitched one inning, recording two strikeouts.
Davis had the one RBI for South Fulton. Jonah Miller also doubled for the Rebels.
Jackson Miller pitched 5.2 innings for South Fulton. He allowed nine earned runs on seven hits. Miller struck out one, walked three and hit three batters.
Jonah Miller pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing five runs, zero earned, on five hits. He struck out one and walked two.
The Bombers are scheduled to return to action Friday, hosting West Hancock (7-15). On Saturday, the team heads to Petersburg to face PORTA/A-C Central/ Greenview (22-5).
Photos by Andrea Ratermann
