Holyoke High School senior Ty Dirks faces down a Burlington batter in the last inning of Tuesday’s first baseball game before going on to pitch the first two innings of the following game as well. — Photo by Jes-c French
2 drastically different games result in 2 more W’s for the Dragon baseball team
A huge 15-2 win in four and a half innings set the tone for the Holyoke High School baseball team’s afternoon on Tuesday, April 11. The Dragons hosted the Burlington Cougars that day, winning the second game as well.
Where the first game was exciting in its dominance, the second game was equally exciting in its closeness. Holyoke just eked out a 9-8 win in the bottom of the seventh.
After the team secured the pair of wins, Coach Jimmy French said, “I’m really proud of the way we played today. We had everybody contributing out there, and we got to see a lot of the hard work we’ve been putting in pay off. Even when things didn’t go our way, we stepped up and made the plays we needed to make, and that’s what we’ve got to do moving forward.”
Holyoke 15, Burlington 2
After one inning of Tuesday’s first game between Holyoke and Burlington, spectators expected a much closer game than it ultimately ended up being. The Cougars scored two runs during their turn at bat. Then, Tyson Mosenteen, Wyatt Sprague and Caiden Krueger scored one apiece for the Dragons, putting the home team ahead 3-2.
The second inning was huge for Holyoke. After holding Burlington scoreless, the Dragons added nine runs to the scoreboard. Mosenteen and Cash Weber each scored two; and Wyatt Sprague, Krueger, Ty Dirks, Irving Dominguez and Reid Sprague each scored one.
Holyoke’s 12-2 lead stood through the third inning, and the Dragons extended it in the bottom of the fourth, when Colby Weber, Reid Sprague and Mosenteen added three more runs.
Trailing 15-2, Burlington needed to score in the fifth inning to keep the game going, but the Cougars couldn’t do it. With two outs, Holyoke second baseman Cash Weber made an impressive diving catch on a Burlington line drive to put the game away in style.
Mosenteen started the contest on the mound. He faced 17 batters in four innings. He didn’t allow a single hit or earned run, and he struck out three batters and walked four. Dirks pitched the last inning of the game, facing just three batters.
At bat, Mosenteen hit two doubles and a single; Reid Sprague hit a double and a single; Krueger hit a double; Dirks hit three singles;Wyatt Sprague hit two doubles; and Angel Carrasco, Cash Weber and Dominguez each hit a single. Dirks also stole two bases and Mosenteen stole one.
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