ARLINGTON After Stanwood sent a message earlier in the week, beating the Arlington boys baseball team 11-1, they showed they werent a fluke in the second game of the two-game series April 12.
Pitching proved to be the difference yet again as Stanwoods staff continued to get pop-flies from the Arlington hitters, winning easily 6-3.
Already trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Arlington began to unravel. A single followed by a double produced the first Spartan run of the inning. Then another single and a throwing error gave up two more. By the time pitcher Joey Dettrich worked his way out of the inning, Stanwood had a commanding 5-0 lead.
Despite getting into an early hole, Arlington found themselves with a chance to battle back in the fifth. Andrew DeFreese walked and stole second base. Greg Holsworth singled to move DeFreese over to third with one out. Andrew Disotell followed with a frozen rope to right field, sadly hit directly at Stanwoods right fielder. DeFreese remained on third base, unable to tag up and score. A ground ball to the Stanwood shortstop ended the Arlington threat.
Arlingtons three runs all came in the bottom half of the seventh inning, with the game well in hand for the visitors.
Now trailing 6-0, the Eagles went down swinging. A leadoff single followed by a walk put two men on with nobody out. Holsworth blooped a single over the second basemans head, loading the bases. Andrew Disotell came to the plate and swatted a deep fly to right field, deep enough to score Cameron Hansen from third base. Trevor Milless followed with what could have been a game ending double play ball, but instead turned into a fielders choice when the Stanwood shortstop made a poor throw to first base. Arlington plated another run on the play and trailed 6-2. After Milless stole second base a single by Jerrod Baker brought him home to make the score 6-3. Baker would advance no further as Jonathan VanEyk grounded to shortstop to end the game.
It was a disappointing series for the Eagles who got decent pitching in the second game but overwhelmingly failed to produce at the plate.

Stanwood bats too much for Arlington to overcome

STANWOOD Arlington baseball fell 11-1 to Stanwood in the April 11 meeting between the clubs.
Early on in the game, the prognosis looked good for Arlington. They scored the games first run in the top half of the first inning as Trevor Milless singled home Andrew Disotell. Starting pitcher Jeff Huge did a nice job mowing down the home side in the bottom half of the first, but encountered his first trouble in the second inning. After Huge hit the leadoff batter with a pitch, two Stanwood singles knotted the score.
It would be a short lived tie as Stanwood came back in the bottom of the third inning and scored two runs on a double to centerfield. The 3-1 Stanwood lead stayed put as Trevor Milless made a diving stop behind second base and flipped to second baseman Jake Allen to record the third out of the inning.
In the fourth, Andrew DeFreese came on in relief after Huge walked the first batter he faced. The Stanwood runner stole second base and a single brought him home, 4-1. Another stolen base followed by a single made the score 5-1 and things were beginning to spiral out of control for Arlington. DeFreese did buckle down and escape the inning with no further damage, but Arlington needed a response fast to stem the momentum.
The top of the fifth inning brought renewed optimism for the Eagles. Greg opened the Arlington half with a single and Disotell doubled to put two men in scoring position. However, three straight disappointing pop-ups followed and the Arlington boys could not bring any runners home. With the threat ended, a subdued bunch of Eagles took to the field for the bottom half of the inning. Stanwood smelled the kill and their bats started finding holes all over the field. By the end of the fifth, they led 8-1, comfortably in control and threatening to win by mercy rule.
The Eagles went in order with three more pop flies in the sixth inning. Clearly their spirits were down as they watched Stanwood score the three runs necessary in the bottom half of the inning to seal the deal. An 11-1 final in six innings could have easily been much closer, but Arlington missed their big opportunity to score in the the fifth and put pressure on the Spartans.
The team plays again April 20 at Monroe.