Indians rolling right along, win Blissfield invite

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Blissfield is known as a baseball town, there's no doubt about it, and when a team strolls in and beats the hosting Royals it’s big news, especially when the victory was awarded based on head-to-head competition.

Tecumseh's Indians returned home with Blissfield's Lena's Pizza Invitational trophy after going 2-1 during the day just like the Royals but were handed the tournament victory when the stats were reviewed.

Despite dropping their opening game 13-5 against Bay City Central, Tecumseh finished the day strong winning its final two contests, solidly defeating Warren Mott 11-4 and then downing Blissfield 5-2.

Nate Bell took the loss on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings before being relieved. Zach Noack pitched 1 2/3 innings before being relieved by Mitch Rowe, who pitched three scoreless innings. Cam Worker and Louie Davitt each had two hits to lead the Indians.
In their big win against Warren Mott, Will Kasper struck out seven and walked three in six innings of work. He helped his own cause at the plate with two RBI recorded on two doubles. Drew Simpson had three hits including a double with three RBI. Bell hit a triple with the bases loaded.

In the final game against Blissfield, Tecumseh scored one run in the top of the first and Blissfield answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. It wasn't until the top of the seventh when the Indians scored four runs to take the lead. John Hacker started the inning with a double and one batter later Sean Bagby tied the game with an RBI single. Will Kasper then reached base on an error and Cam Worker was walked to load the bases. Steven Harrison then hit an RBI single up the middle and Bell followed with a two RBI single.

Mike Nowak pitched the entire seven innings and gave up four hits and one walk.
“Mike did a great job in the third game,” said Tecumseh coach Tom Bullinger. “He didn't have any strikeouts and we committed only one error behind him. It was good to see that we can come from behind against a good team.”

The Tribe played their first home game on Thursday, April 10, against Ypsilanti Lincoln and won the first game 7-2. Game two finished in a 1-1 tie after eight innings with the game called off due to darkness.

Worker pitched the opener and was on the mound for all seven innings. He gave up three hits while walking two and striking out eight. Worker and Louie Davitt each hit solo home runs. Steven Harrison hit a grand slam home run.

Davitt robbed a Lincoln player of a home run in the fifth inning by making a leaping catch over the fence in centerfield. He then threw a runner out at second base who didn't tag up on the play.

“That was a momentum changer,” said Bullinger. “They had runners on second and third with no outs and we only had a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of that inning is when Harrison hit his home run."

In the second game Davitt pitched all eight innings, giving up eight hits, walking two and striking out eight. John Hacker had the only RBI to go along with his four hits.
“Both teams had their chances in the second game, but both pitchers did a good job of getting out of trouble,” said Bullinger. “We didn't execute on some of our chances, but we will learn and get better.”

In their previous contests at Jackson Northwest on Tuesday, April 15, the Indians won a pair of mercy ruled contests with finals of 14-0 (5 inn) and 17-1 (4 inn).
Nowak was the winning pitcher in game one, giving up one hit while striking out five. Worker had four hits including two doubles and a home run. Davitt added four hits including two doubles while Sean Bagby picked up three RBI on three hits.
In the second game, Kasper pitched four innings, giving up two hits on one walk and three strikeouts.

Worker had three hits including a pair of home runs. The second home run was a grand slam. He finished the game with six RBI and totaled 10 RBI on the day. Nowak had three RBI in game two.

Tecumseh played at Ann Arbor Huron on Monday evening and picked up a 6-1 win in game one. The Indians were up 15-6 in the fourth inning of game two before it was called due to darkness. It is unknown if the game will be rescheduled at a later date. Worker was the winning pitcher in game one. He pitched all seven innings, striking out 10. Bell hit two home runs to lead the Indians' offense.

In game two Mitch Rowe, Kasper, Worker, and Troy Hill each had two hits for Tecumseh. Tecumseh scored 12 runs in the top of the fourth. Louie Davitt started and was relieved by Mitch Rowe in the third.

Tecumseh is now 7-1-1 and 3-0-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tribe plays next at home on Saturday against Monroe.