Saline Baseball Moves into Tie for Top Spot in Red

A sweep of rival Ann Arbor Pioneer and some help from Huron made things very interesting for the Saline baseball team and the rest of the crowded SEC Red.

The Hornets moved into a first-place tie with Dexter after the sweep of Pioneer and the Dreadnaughts surprisingly dropped two of three games against last place Huron this week. 

The top four teams are within two games of each other with six games remaining in the conference. Saline and Dexter are tied with 12-3 records, Monroe one game back at 11-4, and Bedford sitting at 10-5.

The four teams face off with each other this week with the Hornets taking on Bedford and Dexter facing Monroe. The Hornets and Dreadnaughts face off in a three-game series the last week of the season. 

The Hornets took a pair of games from Pioneer 8-1 and 7-1 Monday.

A four run third inning helped Saline pull away in the opener. 

Kriss Sydlowski had two hits, including a home run and an RBI to lead the offense. 

Cade Tousa added two hits and two RBI, while Bobby Butler and Braden LaRusso chipped in with two hits and one RBI. Giuseppe Gottfried and Ian Balint added one hit each. Aidan Carlson struck out five and allowed three hits for the win on the mound.

Saline pulled away with a four run fifth to take the second game.

Butler smacked a home run and double and drove in two to lead the Hornets. 

Jackson Muir, Sydlowski, and LaRusso had a hit and RBI each, while Jackson Conley, Gottfried, and Roman Laurio had one hits each. LaRusso struck out 11 and tossed a four-hitter for the win.

Six runs in the fourth inning broke a 1-1 tie and led the Hornets to the series sweep with an 8-2 win.

Gottfried smacked a three-run homer and finished with four RBI to lead the Hornets. 

Tousa added a hit and two RBI, and Butler a double and RBI. Luke Masters, LaRusso, and Laurio collected one hit each. Jackson Muir struck out five for the win for Saline.

The Hornets improved to 15-8 on the season