Farwell baseball opens new season with road sweep over Merrill

By BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

Strong pitching and plenty of offense led to a pair of season opening wins for the Farwell baseball team Wednesday, March 25. The Eagles were playing at Merrill, and they defeated the Vandals 14-0 and 10-1.

Three different pitchers saw time on the mound in game one, throwing a combined five inning no-hitter. Mason Esterline started by throwing two scoreless frames and striking out five batters.  Walker Brown threw two innings and struck out five as well and Asher Yarhouse struck out one batter and walked two in one inning of work.

For the offense, Brown had two hits, one walk and two RBI, Yarhouse had two hits and one RBI and Evan Lease added one hit and he drove in two runs. Cooper Stover had one hit and one RBI and Zane Hanna drew three walks and drove in one run.

The Eagles allowed just one run and two hits in another five inning contest in the nightcap. Hunter Edlin tossed two innings, gave up one hit and struck out five, Dylan Mitchell went one and one-third innings and gave up one unearned run on one hit and three strikeouts and Conner Cousineau went one and two-third scoreless and struck out one and walked two.

At the plate, Esterline had two hits, two walks and one RBI, Mitchell and Yarhouse had one hit and two RBI apiece, with Yarhouse also earning one walk.

Farwell hosted Vestaburg one day later on Thursday, March 26. They got one contest in, with the Eagles claiming a 3-1 victory. Esterline and Edlin combined to throw another no-hitter.

Esterline got the win, tossing the first four innings and giving up zero runs while striking out eight batters. Edlin went the final inning and allowed one unearned run and he struck out three and walked two.

Gavin Brown and Chrystian Schuldt had one hit each, Esterline walked and W. Brown added one RBI.

Game two was canceled due to worsening weather conditions.

All things considered, it was a pretty good opening week of games for Farwell.

“I was happy with our play on the field, considering we only got to practice outside for a couple of hours before playing an actual game,” head coach Alan Esterline said. “I was happy with our pitching, all of the guys stepped up and pitched well. Our common goal is to get better each and every day.”

Farwell is scheduled to return to the field Thursday, April 9 when they head for Houghton Lake. They’ll also be at Breckenridge on Friday, April 10.

© Clare County Cleaver