By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp.—  On April 21, the Goodrich Martians swept a pair of games from the Brandon Blackhawks 10-12 and 5-2. Goodrich improves to 5-0 in the Flint Metro League.
GHS Cross Darby pitched seven innings with nine strikeouts with four hits and zero earned runs. For Goodrich Scott Pethers, Cole Illijanic had two hits each, Nate Gould and Zaiden Hall each had triples and two RBIs
“Brandon is a solid team,” said Ben Almasy, Martitan varsity head coach. “They have some very good players and they are going to win their share of games this year in our league. They hit the ball very well and it forced us to play from behind in game two. It was good to see our guys handle the adversity well and get the sweep. I know game three will be just as tough.”
In the nightcap, GHS Parker Pannell pitched five innings, fanning 13 Blackhawks giving up 10 hits and five earned runs. GHS Bryce Woods took the save, on two innings pitched, 0 runs and two strikeouts. GHS Cross Darby had three hits, Cole Illijanic had a three run homer, the first for a visiting team at the new Blackhawk Baseball Park. And Blackhawk Ben Sobeck also had a three run blast, the first for the new facility.
“This season was going to come down to Goodrich and Brandon for the Flint Metro League Division,” said Greg Glover, Blackhawk varsity head coach. “Each season our sights are set on Goodrich. The Martians are the cream of the crop, they don’t make many mistakes and have few errors. If we make any errors they capitalize on them, that’s what great teams do. The Martians are a well oiled machine, good coaches, players, a respectful team that plays baseball the right way and gets it done.”