East Prairie stifles Redbirds in baseball opener

Wednesday, Aug. 14 marked the start of the new junior high baseball season for the Mayo Middle School Redbirds. In front of a home crowd, the Redbirds displayed a valiant effort against East Prairie Middle School (Tuscola), but their first taste of action did not go according to plan and ultimately ended in a 14-4 loss.

Despite giving up an early out, East Prairie scored fast and often in the opening inning. A line drive to right field and a hard grounder hit toward the mound resulted in two runs for the visitors. With bases loaded, a pair of back-to-back walks doubled East Prairie’s advantage, sending Mayo into the dugout trailing 4-0.

A double play and a strikeout promptly placed the Redbirds back in the field.

East Prairie tacked another run onto its total to extend its lead to five, but this time, the Redbirds responded. Following a walk, a passed ball and a ground out, Jaxson Creech made his way to third base for Mayo. With two outs, Johnny Ball caught a lucky break at the plate, advancing to first on a dropped third strike. Creech wriggled his way home to put his team on the board.

The Redbirds remained relatively silent for some time, but East Prairie ramped up the production at the plate. In the top of the third, the visiting team poured in six runs to take an 11-1 lead.

Another trio of East Prairie runs in the top of the fifth put the game further out of reach, but the Redbirds did not go gently into the loss.

With two runners on base, G Helwig took the second pitch to shortstop, advancing to first and pulling Baine Blair across home plate. Charlie Sabens showed off his wheels during the next at-bat, stealing third before sliding home when the opportunity presented itself. A sacrifice fly from Ball allowed Helwig to cross home plate for Mayo’s final run.

Helwig and Ball notched the Redbirds’ only RBIs of the day. On the mound, three Mayo pitchers (Blair, Keaton Cary and Sabens) combined for five strikeouts. The Redbird pitching corps allowed 12 earned runs and walked 11 batters in the loss.

Mayo will have a chance to bounce back and claim its first win of the season on Monday, Aug. 19 against St. Joseph. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the John P. Allen Sports Complex.