Riding some remarkable pitching, Montague earned the championship at Saturday's Fruitport Invitational, defeating Western Michigan Christian and the host Trojans.
Ryver Jarka pitched a complete game for the Wildcats in a 7-2 win over the Warriors, and Cole Herremans also went the distance against Fruitport, as Montague won 7-3.
"We played team defense and had some timely hits to keep the edge all day," Montague coach Jeff Moss said in a public Facebook post.
Against WMC, Montague (19-8) briefly trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning before responding with a three-run bottom half of the frame. Cole Moss drove in two runs with a go-ahead single after Jack Degen's RBI single. In the sixth, the 'Cats added four key insurance runs, highlighted by consecutive RBI doubles from Kellan Francis and Jarka.
Herremans had two hits for Montague, and Moss drove in three runs. On the mound, Jarka only allowed six hits and the two runs, striking out five.
Big innings again carried the 'Cats against Fruitport, as Montague took the lead with a two-run third inning and regained the advantage by answering a two-run fourth from Fruitport with a five-run inning. Montague took advantage of some Trojan mistakes in the pivotal fourth inning, including getting two runs across after an Eli Petersen single and an error.
Montague got only four hits, but Jarka walked three times and Moss walked twice; Moss scored each time. Herremans permitted just four hits himself, with one earned run, and struck out seven.
