Coldwater baseball struggles on defense as Harper Creek takes two game sweep

COLDWATER – The bats were singing Thursday night at Lowe Field as the Coldwater baseball Cardinals played host to Interstate 8 rival Harper Creek for a conference doubleheader.

The only trouble was it was the bats of Harper Creek doing the crooning. The Beavers out hit Coldwater 23-13 in the two-game sweep while also taking advantage of 17 total fielding errors by Coldwater as Harper Creek took the two wins by scores of 13-2 and 19-4.

Game one saw Harper Creek turn a 2-2 game on its head in the sixth inning as the Beavers plated 11 runs in a monster inning that saw 12 straight Harper Creek base runners reach base on the way to the final score of 13-2.

Harper Creek out hit Coldwater 13-5 in the win and took advantage of five Cardinal errors to race to the win.

Evan Porter took the loss on the mound for Coldwater after throwing five innings and a third in the start, allowing 10 hits and eight runs, five earned, with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Drake Thornton led the Cardinal offense with a double and an RBI. Also adding to the Cardinal game one effort was Brady Massey, Coletin Calhoun, Dayton Ennis, and Ethan Parker all with singles, with Parker adding an RBI.

Game two of the double header saw Coldwater’s defense struggle mightily, as the Cardinals committed a total of 12 errors throughout the seven-inning affair that saw the Beavers score nine runs in the top of the seventh inning to officially put the game away, giving Harper Creek the 19-4 win.

Harper Creek scored four runs in the second, three in the third, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and nine in the seventh for their 19 runs. Coldwater answered with one run in the first, two in the second, and a single run in the fourth to find the final score of 19-4.

Owen Tappenden took the loss on the mound for the Cardinals after throwing three innings in the start. Tappenden allowed four hits and seven runs, three earned, with six walks and five strikeouts.

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Dayton Ennis and Drake Thornton both recorded a pair of hits, with one of Thornton’s hits coming as a double. Kayden Roby added a single and an RBI while Eddie Pool, Porter, and Matthew Nichols all had singles. Nichols added an RBI while Porter and Pool both scored runs.

Coldwater falls to 14-21 overall on the season and will be back in action Friday when they travel to Otsego.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater baseball struggles defensively as Harper Creek takes two