The Unatego/Franklin baseball team hung with defending Class D state champion Deposit-Hancock but ultimately fell 7-3 at home Monday.
Xander Johnson went 2-for-3 with a double for U/F, while Chase Birdsall went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI in the loss.
Thomas Reis hit for the cycle in four at-bats for Deposit-Hancock, completing the feat with a home run in the sixth inning.
Blake Fortunato struck out seven over five innings in the win.
The Eagles took the lead right out of the gate, scoring two in the top of the first, but U/F’s Austin Wilde was able to strand a runner on third to keep the deficit at 2-0.
A two-out RBI single by Chase Birdsall in the bottom of the inning closed the gap to 2-1, leading to a 1-2-3 inning by Wilde in the top of the second.
D-H was able to scratch a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it 4-1, but once again, Wilde was able to limit the damage by leaving the bases loaded.
An unearned run for the Eagles stretched their lead to 5-1 in the fourth, and they added another in the fifth, but U/F’s pitching once again got out of the inning with the bases loaded. This time it was Gavin Nordberg who was able to limit the Eagles’ offense.
U/F coach Frank Microni was happy with the way his pitching was able to keep the team in the game.
“We made a couple errors, walked some guys, Wilde pitched a little bit Saturday and he had to come back on short rest,” he said. “I think he kind of got tired there, because he was actually doing pretty well and then he walked a bunch of guys at the end. I brought in Nordberg, who pitched very well I thought.
“To be against an opponent who can hit the ball like they can, this is what I wanted today. I wanted us to have to be pressured a little bit on defense and see good pitching. I was happy with our efforts.”
Reis’ home run extended the D-H lead to 7-2, but U/F began to fight back in the bottom of the sixth when Birdsall tallied another RBI single and Wilde brought in another run on a fielder’s choice, cutting the deficit to 7-3.
Brayden Nichols pitched a scoreless seventh inning, giving the offense a chance to rally.
Devon Stilson drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, but D-H was able to close out the win.
Despite the loss, Microni was pleased with some of what he saw today.
“It’s nice to see balls in play and being pressured a little bit,” he said. “We had to make some defensive plays. We had some guys at different positions. I was really happy with my right fielder Jakob Sargent, who made some nice plays out there.
“They’re all underclassmen that I have back next year, so it’s good to see the ball in play, and we’re out there making plays. It was a good game today for us.”
U/F will host Afton Tuesday in the first round of the Midstate Athletic Conference playoffs.
Deposit-Hancock 7, Unatego/Franklin 3
D-H … 202 111 0 — 7 10 0
U/F … 100 002 0 — 3 6 3
D-H: Blake Fortunato (W), Rynearson (6) and Noah Bass
U/F: Austin Wilde (L), Gavin Nordberg (4), Brayden Nichols (7) and Chase Birdsall
HR: Thomas Reis (D-H)
3B: Thomas Reis (D-H)
2B: Thomas Reis (D-H), Matthews (D-H), Xander Johnson (U/F)