Lansing, MI - In day two of the GLIAC Tournament, the Parkside Rangers faced defeat to the Purdue Northwest Pride. The Rangers were forced into an uphill battle from the get-go and their comeback fell short. The Rangers were eliminated after a 9-7 loss.
How it happened:
From the start, Purdue Northwest had a lead and they brought it all the way to the finish line. Despite 7.1 innings of relief from Austin Grube, the Rangers committed four errors behind him for the second straight game. The Rangers battled back but their effort came up short in the end. John St. Clair led the headlines offensively with a three-hit performance.
The Pride made an early statement, scoring four runs in the top of the second inning. However, the Rangers had a quick and gutsy response in the bottom half of the inning. After Carter Storti and John St. Clair reached to begin the inning, Emanuel Andujar Ferreira wasted no time cashing in. He reached on an infield single and brought Storti home to put the Rangers on the board.
Later in the same inning, sacrifice RBI's from Owen Brock and Koto Sato brought the Rangers within a run. After two innings of baseball in the elimination game, the Pride led the Rangers 4-3.
The Pride had a quick answer in the next half inning. They dropped four more runs in the top of the third inning and stretched their lead to 8-3. Once again, the Rangers cut into the deficit. In the home half of the fourth inning, they loaded up the bases for Jude Allen. Allen, who has come through over and over again for the Rangers this season, delivered the big hit. He smoked a two-run double down the left line, scoring both Peter Fusek and Owen Brock. The Rangers registered a three-run inning and trailed 8-6 after four innings.
After surrendering another run in the fifth, Austin Grube settled down and put together a performance to remember. He tossed four shutout innings to end the game, totaling 7.1 innings of relief. In the process, he allowed just five hits, and struck out two batters.
Despite Grube's phenomenal effort, the Rangers were only able to scrap one run across in the final five innings of the game. In the seventh inning, John St. Clair doubled and put himself in scoring position. Next, Emanuel Andujar Ferreira picked up an RBI hit. He ripped a run-scoring double into center field and the Rangers were within two runs.
In the eighth inning, the Pride were threatening to stretch their lead with a runner on third. On a routine fly ball to left, Peter Fusek gunned down the runner breaking for the plate, taking a run off the board on a twin killing His heroic throw kept the score at 9-7.
The Rangers were set down in order in the eighth and ninth inning and their season came to an end in the GLIAC Tournament. They completed the 2024 campaign with a 21-30 overall record.
Next:
To keep up with the Rangers this off-season, visit ParksideRangers.com/coverage.
