MONROE - Junior Carter Sawdey drove in five runs Friday to boost the Monroe High School baseball team to a season-opening 15-6 victory over Lena-Winslow at the MHS field.
Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said the Cheesemakers had just three practices outside before Friday's game.
"We were happy to get the game in, especially with the rain we got early in the week," Huffman said. "We got the field ready and it actually was nice early. I wouldn't say the wind played too much havoc defensively. It was more about the players gutting out the cold weather."
Sawdey was 3-for-3 against Lena-Winslow, Garrett Gogin was 1-for-2 with an RBI, Hunter Ward was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double, Cole Murray was 2-for-2, and Hunter Weckerly was 1-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Lena-Winslow scored first, edging ahead 1-0 in the second, but Monroe responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Ritschard walked with the bases load to push across the first run. Ward scored on a passed ball, and then Sawdey singled to right field to drive in two runs before scoring on another passed ball.
The Cheesemakers added three more runs in the third inning. Weckerly led off with a double and scored on a single by Ward, and then Sawdey singled to center to drive in two more runs.
Lena-Winslow trimmed the deficit to 8-6 by the middle of the fifth but Monroe erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away.
Taylor Meir started on the mound for the Cheesemakers. He was followed by Brent Edmunds, Brad Ripp and Weckerly.
Monroe hosts Madison Edgewood on Tuesday in its first conference game of the season, and Friday's game helped Huffman fine-tune his practice plans for the Cheesemakers.
"We definitely will work on some communication issues with defense, like hitting cutoffs, things like that," Huffman said. "And helping our pitchers get a feel on the mound. We used about everybody, so hopefully the first-game jitters are gone. We need to do a better job throwing strikes. Our base running was good and our hitting was good."
Monroe committed four errors against Lena-Winslow.
"Two, for sure, were routine ground balls," Huffman said. "We just need more repetitions out there with live ground balls. We'll make those plays as the season goes on."
Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said the Cheesemakers had just three practices outside before Friday's game.
"We were happy to get the game in, especially with the rain we got early in the week," Huffman said. "We got the field ready and it actually was nice early. I wouldn't say the wind played too much havoc defensively. It was more about the players gutting out the cold weather."
Sawdey was 3-for-3 against Lena-Winslow, Garrett Gogin was 1-for-2 with an RBI, Hunter Ward was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double, Cole Murray was 2-for-2, and Hunter Weckerly was 1-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Lena-Winslow scored first, edging ahead 1-0 in the second, but Monroe responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Ritschard walked with the bases load to push across the first run. Ward scored on a passed ball, and then Sawdey singled to right field to drive in two runs before scoring on another passed ball.
The Cheesemakers added three more runs in the third inning. Weckerly led off with a double and scored on a single by Ward, and then Sawdey singled to center to drive in two more runs.
Lena-Winslow trimmed the deficit to 8-6 by the middle of the fifth but Monroe erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away.
Taylor Meir started on the mound for the Cheesemakers. He was followed by Brent Edmunds, Brad Ripp and Weckerly.
Monroe hosts Madison Edgewood on Tuesday in its first conference game of the season, and Friday's game helped Huffman fine-tune his practice plans for the Cheesemakers.
"We definitely will work on some communication issues with defense, like hitting cutoffs, things like that," Huffman said. "And helping our pitchers get a feel on the mound. We used about everybody, so hopefully the first-game jitters are gone. We need to do a better job throwing strikes. Our base running was good and our hitting was good."
Monroe committed four errors against Lena-Winslow.
"Two, for sure, were routine ground balls," Huffman said. "We just need more repetitions out there with live ground balls. We'll make those plays as the season goes on."
