BASEBALL

You couldn’t script two more different games.

After having their 11-game win streak snapped in the opener, the #RV Forester baseball team flipped the script in emphatic fashion, unloading for a 21-7 rout of Mount Vernon Thursday afternoon at Forest Glen.

With the split, Huntington moves to 35-10 overall and 25-9 in Crossroads League play with two games remaining in the regular season.

Game 1 – Mount Vernon 8, Huntington 1
Game one was all about costly mistakes.

A four-run second inning set the tone for the Cougars, with Huntington’s defense unraveling early. The Foresters committed two errors and issued two walks in the frame, allowing Mount Vernon to plate four runs on just one hit, all unearned, and dig a hole they never climbed out of.

The miscues didn’t stop there. Another defensive breakdown in the fourth led to two more unearned runs, giving MVNU a 6-0 cushion. The Cougars added insurance late while Huntington’s offense struggled to find rhythm.

HU managed just six hits on the day, with Kade Flores leading the way with a pair, including a double. The lone run came in the ninth when Owen Willard launched a solo shot over the right field fence. The Foresters threatened in the inning with two additional hits but stranded the bases loaded.

On the mound, freshman Max Engle was charged with his first loss of the season despite allowing just two hits over four innings. All six runs he surrendered were unearned as he struck out five.

Game 2 – Huntington 21, Mount Vernon 7
Then came the response.

After falling behind 2-0 early once again, the Foresters wasted no time answering as Jace Fowler ripped a two-run double to even things up in the second. What followed was a scoring beatdown.

Huntington erupted for seven runs in the third inning to seize control. Tanner Reinartz jumpstarted the rally with an RBI double before a string of clutch at-bats – including an RBI walk by Owen Imel, a sac fly from Kade Flores, and another RBI double by Fowler – set the stage for Willard’s three-run blast that blew the game wide open.

And he wasn’t done. In his next at-bat, Willard crushed a grand slam to right, finishing with two homers and a staggering seven RBI.

As if Willard’s monster day at the plate wasn’t enough, the Purdue Fort Wayne transfer took the mound in the final inning and struck out the side to finish what he started.

The long ball barrage continued. Reinartz stayed hot with a solo homer in the fifth followed by a three-run shot in the sixth, while Fowler added a two-run blast of his own.

By the time the dust settled, Huntington had piled up 21 runs on 11 hits, drawing 11 walks and launching five home runs. Reinartz (4-for-5, 5 RBI), Fowler (3-for-5, 5 RBI), and Willard (2-for-4, 7 RBI) combined to account for 11 hits and 17 RBI in a dominant display.

On the mound, Aidan Micinski picked up the win in relief, tossing two innings while allowing three hits and two unearned runs while striking out two.

The 21-run outburst marks the third time this season the Foresters have eclipsed the 20-run mark. Huntington returns to action Saturday at 1:00 p.m. as they host Mount Vernon once more to close out the regular season.