By Robert Whitmire

The SPASH baseball team opened its 2017 season dropping a 11 – 9 tilt to De Pere Saturday afternoon at Bukolt Park. The non-conference game marked the season opener for the Panthers.

SPASH found itself down 6 – 1 at the end of three innings of play. The Redbirds added a run in the top of the sixth inning to lead 7 – 1 before the Panthers bounced back in the bottom of the inning. Redbird pitchers walked eight batters and SPASH plated six runs to close the margin to 7 – 6 heading into inning seven.

De Pere rebounded with four runs of its own in the top of the seventh, including a three-run double to the right field corner, and SPASH scored twice to close out end the game.

SPASH used four pitchers on the day. Panther starter Cameron Lee took the loss on the mound pitching 1.1 innings. Lee scattered six hits and walked one as the Redbirds pushed five runs across.

Dylan Trigg stepped on the mound and pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing one run, one hit and two walks. Tyler Frajford and Legend Kieleszewski also saw action for the Panthers who stand 0 – 1.

SPASH stranded 10 runners on the game which lasted two hours, 47 minutes.

SPASH returns to action on Tuesday when they open Wisconsin Valley Conference play at Wausau West. The Warriors will be at Bukolt Park on Thursday for a 4:30 PM start.

Scoring:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R  H  E
De Pere 2 3 1 0 0 1 4 11 12 2
SPASH  1 0 0 0 0 6 2  9  6  2