Wolverines fall short versus FM, knock off Sidney in districts

 ESSEX — The East Mills baseball season came to an end Thursday when they lost 13-3 in five innings to the Fremont-Mills Knights during the 1A district semifinals at Dave Jauron Field in Essex.

East Mills scored three runs in the first inning, but Fremont-Mills scored three in the first and three more in the second to take a lead.

The Knights tacked on seven more runs in the third and fourth innings to get the win via the 10-run mercy rule and advance to the district final.

Despite giving up the three runs in the first inning, Mackenzy Lang kept East Mills in check, striking them out 10 times.

The Wolverines reached the semifinals by rallying to defeat the Sidney Cowboys last Tuesday in the 1A district quarterfinals 6-4 at Essex High School.

East Mills scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead from Sidney.

“It was really nice. They beat us twice in the regular season,” East Mills pitcher Logan Currin said. “It feels good to be able to win.”

A two-run double with the score tied 4-4 with two outs in the inning proved to be the difference.

The Cowboys went to Jacob Cain on the mound at that point, who subbed in for starting pitcher Sergio Rodriguez.

“The first pitcher was really keeping us off balance with his curve ball, his off speed stuff,” Currin said. “Once they brought Cain in, we started seeing more fast balls so we started hitting a little bit.”

East Mills tied the game in the sixth on a bases loaded walk.

Sidney struck first in the second inning thanks to a RBI groundout to take a 1-0 lead. They added another run in the third to make it 2-0.

East Mills got on the board in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 2-1.

Sidney scored again in the fourth and fifth to make it 4-1.

The Wolverines chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the fifth by scoring two runs.

They had two chances to tie the game, but in both instances with the bases loaded, Sidney was able to get the runner out at home.

East Mills trailed Sidney 4-3 entering the sixth.

Currin was able to keep Sidney in check in the final innings, allowing just one base runner in the last two.

The Wolverines finish the 2014 season with an 8-9 record. East Mills will lose three seniors, including Michael Story, Jacob Schafer and Hunter Jones.