Despite sophomore Derek Foyt’s stellar play, the host Brandon baseball team had to settle for a split at the Brandon Invitational May 3.
The Blackhawks, who had a bye in the first round of the invite, lost a semfinal game against Clarkston 12-5, but came back to defeat Goodrich 4-0 in the consolation game. Davison won the invite with a 7-4 defeat of Clarkston in the championship game.
Brandon is currently 8-6 overall and 1-2 in Flint Metro Conference play.
Brandon ran into a juggernaut in the opener against defending state semifinalist Clarkston, although the Blackhawks led 5-1 going into the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Jeremy Fox loaded the bases and was pulled in favor of junior Joel Pappas, who surrendered a grand slam to the next Clarkston batter. From there, it was all Wolves.
Pappas went three-for-four with two doubles against Clarkston, with two doubles and a single, scoring twice. Foyt went two-for-four with a double and single, while senior Stephan Hennard went two-for-four with two RBI and junior Mitch Kusza went two-for-four with an RBI.
Brandon senior pitcher Andrew Foyt shut down Goodrich to earn the win for the Blackhawks in the consolation matchup, allowing five hits in seven innings. Younger brother Derek went two-for-four with two stolen bases, bringing his season total to 19 steals without being thrown out.
Brandon coach Ron Wagner said it was tough for each of the teams to bring out their top pitchers for an extended period of time in the midst of their regular seasons.
‘Everyone was in the same boat ? they had a lot of league games,? he said.
One day earlier, the Blackhawks suffered an eight-inning 6-5 loss to host Flint Kearsley at Broom Park in Flint. Hennard went three-for-four with two runs scored, while Derek Foyt and junior catcher Tony Salvador each went two-for-four.
The Blackhawks return to league action today when they host Fenton at 4 p.m. Wagner said with the league season still relatively young, Brandon figures to be in the thick of the race.
‘Realistically, if we play to our potential, we’ll be in the hunt, but Lapeer West is definitely the team to beat,? he said.