GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--
GAME 1:
Madonna broke open a tie game with five runs in the top of the 10th inning Saturday and defeated Cornerstone 11-6 at DeWitt Field in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Crusaders turned an already back-and-forth afternoon into a decisive win with a late surge led by Brett Reed, Gus Simon, Luke Spicer and Aamir Mitchell.
The decisive inning started with Reed driving in a run on a double. Simon followed with an RBI double of his own, and Spicer added an RBI single as Madonna stacked together the kind of at-bats it had produced throughout the day. A passed ball brought home another run, and Mitchell capped the outburst with an RBI groundout. By the time the inning ended, the Crusaders had turned a one-run game into an 11-6 lead.
Madonna finished with 11 runs on 16 hits and put pressure on Cornerstone all game, even after surrendering the lead in the middle innings. The Crusaders scored first in the second when Spicer hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Simon. In the third, Donovan Thompson added a solo home run to right, part of a two-run inning that pushed the lead to 3-0. Thompson later tripled to open the sixth, and Reed followed with an RBI single as Madonna moved back in front, 6-5.
Cornerstone answered with a strong middle stretch. The Golden Eagles scored twice in the third, then took a 5-3 lead in the fourth. Drew Goodman delivered the biggest swing of that rally with a two-run home run to left. Cornerstone added another run in the eighth to tie the game at 6, but it left 10 runners on base and could not match Madonna's production in extra innings.
Several Madonna hitters anchored the offense. Thompson went 3-for-3 with a home run, a triple, one RBI and a walk. Reed finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a double. Logan Ellis also collected three hits in five at-bats and drove in two runs, including the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth that gave Madonna a 7-6 edge before Cornerstone answered. As a team, the Crusaders totaled three doubles, two triples, one home run and five stolen bases.
Madonna's pitching staff worked through 10 innings, allowing 12 hits and six runs while striking out seven and walking one. Cornerstone also managed only one walk at the plate, a sign of how aggressively the Crusaders attacked the zone over 153 pitches. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by Andrew Meny, who had three hits and two doubles, while Goodman drove in two runs. Madonna improved its afternoon with a resilient finish
GAME 2:
Madonna erased an early three-run deficit and pulled away for a 9-5 win over Cornerstone on Saturday at DeWitt Field in Grand Rapids, Mich. The decisive swing came in the third inning, when Aamir Mitchell homered to left to tie the game, and Carson Noon later drew a bases-loaded walk that pushed the Crusaders back in front for good.
Madonna struck first in the top of the first. Luke Spicer singled, stole second and came home on Mitchell's double to left as the Crusaders moved ahead 2-0. Cornerstone answered immediately in the bottom half when Corbin Westerkamp hit a three-run homer to left, giving the home team a 3-2 lead.
The Crusaders responded in the third. Mitchell's solo shot evened the score at 3-all, and the inning kept building from there. Ty Stepek scored the go-ahead run on Noon's walk, putting Madonna up 4-3. Cornerstone trimmed the margin in the bottom of the inning on run-scoring hits from Westerkamp and Grant DeRose, but Madonna delivered the game's biggest surge in the fourth.
Kooper Etheridge singled home a run in the top of the fourth, then Gus Simon added a two-run single as Madonna scored three times in the inning and opened a 7-5 lead. The Crusaders finished with 14 hits and continued to pressure Cornerstone throughout the afternoon, adding two more runs in the sixth. Brett Reed doubled to score Donovan Thompson, and Simon followed with another RBI single for the final margin.
Several Madonna hitters turned in strong days at the plate. Mitchell went 2-for-4 with a home run, double, two RBIs, three runs scored and a hit by pitch. Stepek collected three hits, including a triple, scored twice and drove in a run. Simon finished with three hits and two RBIs, while Etheridge also had three hits, including a double, and Reed supplied an RBI double off the bench.
Madonna's pitching staff settled in after the opening inning. Jackson Manoulian earned the win in relief as the Crusaders held Cornerstone scoreless over the final four innings. Madonna did not commit an error, while Cornerstone was charged with three. Jordan Eck took the loss for Cornerstone. The Crusaders left 10 runners on base but paired their 14-hit attack with clean defense.
