The 2018 season got underway for the Raiders Baseball Team as they went 1-5 against some tough competition in Myrtle Beach.
The squad played against Garrett College in its first game and lost 10-0. Cory Moore and Benjamin McHarg each had singles to lead the offense. Bradley Smith started on the mound for FM and went 4.1 innings, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits and struck out two.
FM bounced back in their second game of the double header, but suffered a tough 6-5 loss to Region 3 competitor Finger Lakes. The game was tied at 5-5, but the Lakers Cody Cooper doubled to secure the 6-5 victory. Richard Umholtz started the game for FM allowing just five runs on three hits and striking out one. Coby Caraballo, Moore and McHarg all had one hit for the Raiders.
Despite eight hits, FM fell 10-5 against Garrett College in Monday's contest. James May led with a 2 RBI triple. McHarg and Kyle Sherlock managed multiple hits for FM.
The Raiders had a day off, and bounced back to play Garrett College and Finger Lakes again on Wednesday. Garrett scored six runs in the sixth innings and the Raiders could not recover and suffered an 11-3 loss. Michael Brown led things off for the Raiders on the hill. He went five innings, allowing four hits and four runs, while striking out two. Caraballo had the lone hit for FM in the contest. Moore, Umholtz, and Caraballo each had RBI's.
FM suffered a 4-3, eight inning loss to the Lakers in game two of the double header. Noah Wygel was stellar on the mound for FM. He went seven and two-thirds innings; allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out three. The Raiders offense came alive in the contest with seven hits. Kyle Sherlock led with a double and a single and one RBI. Joshua McCaffrey had a double and an RBI. Daniel Parslow went 1-3 with an RBI. Andrew Marciniak, Brogan Barker, and Ben McHarg each had a hit.
On Thursday, FM played their final game of the trip against Finger Lakes. The Raiders came out on top with a 6-5 victory. With the game tied at 5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Michael Brown singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring the winning run. Brad Smith went seven innings on the rubber, allowing five runs, on nine hits and striking out four.
Mike Reith, Moore, Brown, Sherlock, McCaffrey and May each had a hit for FM. Mike Brown led with 2 RBI's, and Parslow, Umholtz, and Sherlock each tallied one RBI.
FM will now prepare for its northern season when they host Jefferson Community College on April 10th, weather permitting.