It was a great day for the varsity baseball team on Friday, as junior Joe Seurynck pitched an amazing game while seniors Nathan Sigg and Brady Price got it going at the plate. They drove in three of the team’s eight runs in an 8-3 win over Byron Center; the win was crucial for the team after losing three in a row.

With their backs to the wall, the Rangers looked to get a must-win game to secure a good spot in the upcoming postseason.

In the first inning, Brady led off his two-hit game with a double, and shortly after, fellow senior Joey Wise drove him in with a single into left field to get off to a quick 1-0 lead on the board. Byron Center got a run back in the bottom half, with a double into right field that tied up the game at one. In the bottom of the second, the Bulldogs finally got their first lead of the game with a single into right field that scored one to make the game 2-1 in favor of Byron Center.

FHC was able to tie up the game in the top of the third after a series that included a single by junior Matthew Mittlestadt, a hit-by-pitch from Brady, and a walk from Joey to load the bases. Nathan drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field, driving in Matthew and tying the game at two. Both teams went scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when the Rangers blew the game wide open. Nathan was hit by a pitch, and right after him, junior Joe Seurynck got on base with a one-out single. With runners on first and second, senior Logan VanLente singled on a ground ball into left field that scored Nathan to give FHC a 3-2 advantage. Following Logan, junior Josh Smith reached on an error by the Byron Center shortstop to get one more run home and give the Rangers a two-run lead. Junior Beau Coughlin also drove in a run for FHC with a ground ball into left field to make the score 5-2 in favor of FHC.

The Bulldogs quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth to shorten the lead to 5-3 with two innings left. The Rangers were able to score two more runs in the sixth inning off of a single by Nathan and an error by Byron Center. The Bulldogs wouldn’t pose a threat to FHC for the rest of the game, and after driving in another run in the top of the seventh, senior Sean MacLeod got his second save of the year as he closed out Byron Center in the seventh inning to give FHC an 8-3 win.

The Rangers possess a 12-14 record heading into their next series against Forest Hills Northern. The team will play the Huskies on Monday, May 24 at 4:15 PM in a doubleheader at FHN. Two days later, the team will play the Huskies at home in a single game on Wednesday, May 26.