HESPERIA — Shelby did what it needed to Tuesday to secure a share of the West Michigan Conference Rivers title, sweeping county foe Hesperia by scores of 14-1 and 12-2.
The Panthers stayed within striking distance for a while in game two, but Shelby ripped off five runs in the fourth inning to go ahead 10-2, then polished off the mercy rule win with two more in the fifth. The wins gave Shelby its first conference title since the 2010 Tigers that won a regional championship.
“To win this conference, it’s a big thing,” Shelby coach Brian Wright said, shortly before he received an impromptu bath courtesy of the team’s Gatorade cooler. “I told them, it’s not our only highlight, though. We’ve got (the district) a week from Saturday that we’re really hoping (to get). We were banged up today, a couple groins and Cam (Smith)’s fighting a knee. We need to get healthy before that.”
The Tigers ripped through game one and started fast in game two, with four first-inning runs, but as the weather got colder and occasionally wetter, Hesperia remained in the game and scored a fourth-inning run on a wild pitch to make it 5-2, then loaded the bases with only one out. However, Trevor Weiss pitched out of the jam, and the Tigers took command after that.
Taking advantage of three Hesperia errors, Shelby expanded its lead to 10-2 and sapped the drama from the game. Jaden Furman and Jacob Regeczi had run-scoring singles in the inning. Weiss and Eli Kelley ripped consecutive RBI doubles in the fifth to end the game.
As well as Shelby’s bats played - the Tigers got 20 hits on the day, five short of the goal set for them - Wright was most excited by his defense, which committed only one error in each game.
“Eli made some really, really good plays at short,” Wright said. “That’s the key with us, because we’re not going to strike out 20 guys in a game. We’ve got to be able to catch the ball. I tell them, defense is something that should always show up. We don’t know if we’re going to hit some days, or pitch, but we’ve got to be able to play that defense.”
Weiss got three hits for the Tigers in the opener, and Furman and Smith each hit home runs. Chase Simon scored three times. DayDay Garcia pitched a two-hitter, striking out five. Braxton Hendrix got a hit, drove in a run and drew a walk for Hesperia.
Evan Waller and Simon got two hits each in game two, and Simon plated three runs. Weiss struck out six and allowed one earned run on three hits. Tucker Bolles got a pair of hits for the Panthers, and Evan Conkle drew a pair of walks.
Hesperia coach Gage Balkema said struggles with blow-up innings on defense and to hit the ball hard offensively have contributed to the team’s struggles in the win-loss column this year.
“It’s having confidence at the plate and knowing that you can hit a fastball that’s coming towards you,” Balkema said. “I have two or three kids that I know I can count on, but right now, everybody just seems to be behind on everything. Everything’s inside. Their hands can’t get extended through the ball, and that’s why everything’s so weak all the time.
“(Bolles) had two nice hits towards the left side where he got out in front and they were past the shortstop, so that’s what I need more of.”
The Tigers received a fortunate draw in their district bracket, as the two heavyweights - Montague and North Muskegon - are on the other side and will have to face each other prior to the finals. Of course, Wright has been around long enough to know anything can happen and his team can’t take Western Michigan Christian lightly.
For Tuesday, though, celebrations were in order.
“I’m just proud of this group,” Wright said. “I just told them, we beat the two other teams that we’re going to share it with (once each) - Ravenna and North Muskegon - so we earned it. The kids earned it.”
