MUSKEGON TWP. - On a positive note, the Reeths-Puffer baseball team got to play some baseball on Tuesday.
It was a long time coming.
The Rockets, who have a pretty talented and experienced roster this year, beat Oakridge back on April 1 and improved to 2-0 on the season.
Then came spring break, followed by a lot of weather interruptions. The Rockets have had four games cancelled since the beginning of the month (a total of five games altogether) and went a full three weeks without game action.
R-P pitcher Jack Yonkman. Photo/Jeremy Clark
That's one reason why Tuesday's results were not completely surprising.
The Rockets committed a lot of errors in the second game of an O-K Green conference doubleheader against Caledonia and ended up losing a pretty ugly contest 12-8.
That came after a very close game in the opener, which R-P lost 2-1.
Now the Rockets can focus on getting busy again, and playing much better, with a 2-2 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the conference.
Ethan Frang (20) and Holden Earnest celebrate a run at home plate. Photo/Jeremy Clark
The recovery effort starts on Thursday, when R-P visits Caledonia for a single game to complete the series.
"There's no excuse, but losing five games (from the schedule) has hurt us," said R-P head coach Butch Attig after the second game. "We're a better baseball team than this. Out of the 12 runs we gave up, I think four were earned. There are a lot of things we need to get better at."
Attig said the O-K Green conference, which has several new and very good teams this year, will be a challenge all season, but playing those teams will work to the Rockets' advantage.
"We love playing Caledonia, we will love playing Byron Center and Jenison, we love the rivalry with Mona Shores, and it's all going to make us better," he said. "We will do some things in practice tomorrow, clean some things up, then we will go to Caledonia and play hard."
R-P catcher Quinn Alderink tags a runner out at home plate. Photo/Jeremy Clark
The second game started out hopeful for the Rockets, who took a 1-0 lead when Cade Paugh reached base on a Caledonia error and ended up scoring on another one.
The Fighting Scots countered with four runs in the top of the second, aided by a walk, three R-P errors and a two-run single.
R-P narrowed the score to 4-3 in the bottom of the third with a two-run double by Jayden Wiseman.
The Rockets scored two more runs and took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Paugh drew a two-out walk, then Brenden Guikema reached base when a Caledonia outfielder dropped a fly ball. Ethan Frang followed with a playable ground ball, but the throw to first was wild, allowing Paugh and Guikema to score.
R-P first baseman Brayden Mitchelson reaches for a bad throw. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Reeths-Puffer lost the lead for good in the top of the fifth when Caledonia plated three runs.
The Fighting Scots collected three singles (including a successful squeeze bunt) and were aided by an R-P error and a hit batter to take a 7-5 lead.
Caledonia added five runs in the top of the seventh, with three singles, three walks, a hit batter, and another R-P error.
The Rockets scored three runs in their final turn at the plate, on an RBI double by Holden Earnest, an RBI groundout by Brayden Mitchelson and an RBI single by Drew Brooks, but it wasn't enough to close the gap.
R-P pitcher Colton Bessinger covers first base on a close play. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Earnest totaled two hits in the game while Frang, Guikema, Wiseman, Brooks and Quinn Alderink each had one.
Game 1 was a much cleaner nail-biter. The score was tied 1-1, then Caledonia plated the winning run in the sixth inning.
Brooks pitched a great game for R-P, tossing 6 2/3 innings while scattering four hits with five strikeouts. Mitchelson, Paugh, Earnest, and Frang each collected a hit.