The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Three straight losses for Milan baseball
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 24, 2007
The Milan baseball team's 11-game winning streak and perfect Huron League record are finished. Unfortunately for the Big Reds, their chances of winning a Huron title might be, too.
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A double-header sweep at the hands of Airport Monday dropped Milan into a sudden three-game losing skid and put the Jets, 11-1 in conference play, in clear control of the Huron race. Milan trails with a 10-3 record and must beat New Boston Huron this week and hope Airport drops both of its remaining league games to earn a share of the crown.
"It's high school baseball. Even the best teams in the state lose occasionally. So I knew we were going to lose one eventually," Milan head coach Adam Gilles said after the sweep. "But I didn't think we would lose three in a row ... I feel bad for these guys. They've worked hard for this. We just didn't perform."
The skid began Friday with a 9-2 home loss to Monroe-Jefferson. The Big Reds had won a close game in Monroe May 2 but fell behind 5-0 in the top of the first. Denver Straub's second-inning single plated Ryan Bordine to get the Big Reds on the board, but by that time Jefferson had already gone up 9-0.
"We killed ourselves that game," Gilles said. "We had a couple of huge errors. One came with two outs in the first, when we get a bad hop and it hits our shortstop (Mike Barnett) in the face. It's just one of those things. That's baseball."
The loss placed even more importance on the Airport double-header and the Big Reds responded with what Gilles called a much better performance in Game 1. Starter Cameron Hynds held the Jets to one second-inning run over the first five innings and Milan tied it in the top of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Lance Smith and senior Matt Craig.
The Jets responded by pushing across a single run against Hynds in the sixth. Milan was unable to muster a rally in the top of the seventh and fell 2-1.
"We played a good game. That's their No. 1 and he's one of the best pitchers in the league. We actually hit the ball pretty well," Gilles said. "But Airport made some good defensive plays."
What hitting Milan did have in Game 1 dissolved in Game 2 as the Jet starter threw a one-hit shutout, sending the Big Reds to a 6-0 defeat. Milan loaded the bases in the second after an error and two walks, but Craig grounded out to end the inning.
While the Jets stretched their lead to six with a four-run second, the Big Reds would have only two baserunners the remainder of the game. Bordine's sixth-inning double broke up the Jet no-hitter, but Milan was unable to push him across to get on the scoreboard.
"I was surprised at how flat we came out for the second game," Gilles said. "We give up a couple of runs and act like it's the end of the world."
Gilles remained confident about his team's ability to rebound, however, pointing to the success of the Big Red offense in their 11-5 win over St. Mary Catholic Central Wednesday, May 16, and 8-6 win over Riverview the following day.
Zach McGovern and Aaron Straub each connected for a home run and Jesse Karr scored twice in the SMCC win. Hynds picked up the victory, pitching all seven innings and striking out five, before going 2-4 with four RBIs in the Riverview win. McGovern pitched six innings for the win with Straub and Karr providing relief.
"We're a team that's capable of becoming extremely hot at any time," Gilles said. "Hopefully we'll get it turned around as we go into Districts."
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