WHITEHALL — A remarkable pitchers' duel in game one was the highlight of Tuesday's West Michigan Conference Lakes-opening doubleheader, which Montague swept from Whitehall by scores of 1-0 and 10-2.
The Wildcats' Eli Petersen outdueled Brock Morningstar of Whitehall in a strongly pitched game by both in the opener. Petersen allowed just one hit, a sixth-inning single by Noah Morse, and racked up 13 strikeouts against only one walk. Morningstar permitted five hits - Fletcher Thommen led with two - and struck out eight with one walk.
Jack Degen scored the only run of the game in the third inning. After Thommen's leadoff bunt single, Degen reached on a fielder's choice, then stole second base and came around to score on a RBI single by Cole Moss.
The Vikings' best scoring chance came in the sixth, when Morse singled and Nate Betz was hit by a pitch. Morningstar's groundout advanced both into scoring position with two outs, but Petersen buckled down and got another strikeout to escape the jam.
"The pitching performances on both ends were masterful in game one," Whitehall assistant coach Zach Zweigle said. "A few key moments determined the outcome of a tough rivalry game."
Montague's Eli Pendell (left) tries to tag out Whitehall's Hunter Peterson on a pickoff play at first base during Tuesday's WMC Lakes doubleheader at Whitehall. The Wildcats won both games.
Game two looked like it would be another close one until the Wildcats (2-4, 2-0 WMC Lakes) broke open a 1-1 game with two runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the sixth. Most of those runs were unearned thanks to eight Viking miscues in the field.
"We put the ball in play and they made some mistakes, and we capitalized from those mistakes," Montague coach Jeff Moss said.
Cooper Bradley delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single in the fourth to break the tie, and Bryton Belinger added on with a RBI double in the sixth. Belinger, Bradley and Cole Herremans each had two hits in the win; Bradley had three RBI, and Petersen and Belinger had two apiece.
Belinger pitched another great game on the mound, striking out 11 and allowing only one hit and two unearned runs. He hit his pitch-count maximum after six innings, so Herremans threw a shutout inning of relief to close it out.
"Overall I am very happy for my squad and looking forward to learning (from) these games and getting better," Moss said.
For Whitehall (1-3, 0-2 WMC Lakes), Evan Thomas allowed one earned run in four innings, striking out five and allowing five hits.
"We didn't swing it well tonight, made some defensive errors, and missed opportunities to capitalize with runners in scoring position," Zweigle said. "If you do those things, it's always tough to win baseball games."
