By Jared Schmeltzer
The Merrill baseball team traveled to Waunakee on Saturday morning for a non-conference double header.
Nine runs in the first three innings for Onalaska was too much for the Jays to overcome as Merrill lost by a score of 9-5.
Three Onalaska runs in the first inning, followed by two in the second and four more in the third gave them a commanding 9-0 lead headed into the fourth inning.
Following a scoreless fourth inning from Onalaska, the Jays would get on the board with four runs of their own. Kordell Renken led off the inning with a double and later scored on a Holden Smith single. Later, Jayden Sus singled to right field, driving in a Merrill run. Aaron Kufahl followed with a single to center field, scoring another Bluejay runner. The Jays would score their final run of the inning on a passed ball, allowing the runner from third base to advance and score.
With runners on first and second Chase Bonnell singled the center field to plate another Merrill run in the bottom of the sixth inning. No one else would score as Onalaska took the win.
Bluejays fall to Eau Claire Memorial
A combined 22 runs between the two resulted in a 14-8 loss for the Bluejays to Eau Claire Memorial.
The Jays struck first, scoring one run in the second inning. A lead-off single for Casey Hoffman got Merrill on the right track. Hoffman would later find his way to third base, where he would score on a Ethan Schelbert sacrifice fly out.
Memorial responded quickly scoring four runs in the top of the third inning. The to of the fourth inning saw another four run inning from Eau Claire, giving them the 8-1 lead. Two more runs in the top of the fifth inning extending the Eau Claire lead to 10-1.
The Bluejay bats finally woke up in the fifth inning, where they would score two runs. With the bases loaded Hoffman hit a single t right field, driving in two Merrill runners. A run for Memorial in the top of the sixth was matched with a two run bottom half of the inning for Merrill. A Piersen Pyan fly out to deep right field was enough to score a runner from third base. Later Kordell Renken singled to center field, allowing another Merrill run to score and cutting the lead to 11-5.
Three runs for each team in the seventh inning would bring the end of the game, with Merrill falling to Eau Claire.