MONTAGUE — Montague's bats exploded for 10 runs in the sixth inning of game one of a West Michigan Conference Lakes doubleheader Thursday against Orchard View, sparking the Wildcats to a sweep.
Montague (7-16, 2-8 WMC Lakes) won game one 17-7, completing a remarkable turnaround after falling behind 7-5 in the third inning, then romped to a 24-13 win in game two.
The 'Cats took advantage of some OV miscues early in their 10-run sixth inning in the opener, drawing a pair of walks and then scoring twice on an error. Jocelyn Rodriguez-Perez followed by mashing a double to left center field to bring in a run, then Sophia Beishuizen scored her with a single. After some more defensive struggles by OV led to more runs, Kayden Johnson had a two-run single. She later scored on a wild pitch to end the game by mercy rule.
Montague's Reagan Cederquist connects with a pitch during Thursday's doubleheader sweep against Orchard View.
Rodriguez-Perez also ripped an RBI double in a four-run first inning for Montague, with Hayden Boutell and Beishuizen also bringing in runs with singles in the inning. Boutell had three hits and five RBI in all, and Gentry Knop and Lauren Wright joined Beishuizen and Rodriguez-Perez with two hits each. Reagan Cederquist got the win in the circle.
Montague fell behind again in game two when the Cardinals scored eight times in the second inning, but the 'Cats stormed back with five runs in the third, seven in the fourth and 12 in the fifth to again take the game by mercy rule.
Cederquist highlighted the Wildcats' third-inning run with an RBI double, and Montague got four RBI singles in the fourth. Boutell's RBI double was just one of several run-scoring hits in Montague's 12-run fifth.
Greta Auch, Boutell and Rodriguez-Perez all got four hits each in game two, and Boutell and Rodriguez-Perez drove in four runs apiece. Knop and Beishuizen both got three hits, and Johnson and Cederquist got two each. Cederquist again got the win in the circle.
