Yet again, it was the juniors that led the varsity baseball team to its 1-1 record in the Eagle/Sadler invite this past weekend. Juniors Joe Robertson and Ivan Wheland paved the way for the Rangers by being dominant on both sides of the ball. FHC fell 7-2 to Unity Christian in its first game but bounced back with an 8-7 win over East Grand Rapids.

After sweeping Greenville the day prior, the FHC varsity baseball team looked to keep its undefeated season alive. Going against a great team in Unity Christian, the Rangers were faced with their toughest test of the season.

On the mound, junior Jake Munger started for FHC. However, the team quickly found out how dominating the Unity Christian offense was. The Crusaders scored six runs in the first inning, and Jake was taken out pretty quickly after giving up those runs. Senior Alec Gast came in for him, only giving up one run in four innings of work. After Alec, junior Kaeden Palmitier came in to give two innings of relief in the sixth inning. On the offensive side of the ball, the bats were not rolling for the Rangers. In the end, they only scored two runs for a final score of 7-2.

The Rangers were looking to bounce back after a tough loss, playing EGR next. Both teams were evenly matched going into this game.

To start on the mound this game, junior Josh Smith pitched a solid two innings while giving up a couple of runs. Fellow junior Joe Seurynck came in for relief for two innings, while giving up a couple of runs as well. In the batter’s box, it was all Joe and Ivan. Joe had a hit in every at-bat and drove in 3 runs while Ivan went 3-4 with 3 RBI’s himself. It was a 7-7 game going into the seventh inning. With runners on second and third base, Ivan stepped up. Joe Robertson was on the mound and as Ivan saw a ball going into the dirt, he stepped up big for FHC and blocked the ball from going to the backstop. This proved to be a big play, as the Rangers would walk it off in the bottom half of the inning with a passed ball going to the backstop. Just like that, the Rangers would win 8-7.

The Rangers are now 4-1 on the season and will face the Lowell Red Arrows in a doubleheader on Monday, April 19th at 4:15 PM at Lowell High School.