Sawyer Cuthrell has been a catalyst for the Red Hawk offense this season, and currently holds a .431 batting average, and has 31 hits and has scored 19 runs.
MEMPHIS— Cass City has been steadily improving all season. Monday night, their progress was on full display, as they swept the Memphis Yellowjackets, the winner of the Greater Thumb East Division, and a team that had only lost one conference game prior to their matchup with the Red Hawks.
The first game, a 4-1 victory for Cass City, was highlighted by a powerful 16 strikeout performance by junior Mason Erla, who now has 91 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched this season.
“He was getting ahead of batters, and when he gets ahead, he is pretty hard to beat,” said first year coach Josh Stern.
Erla, a Michigan State University baseball commit, threw first pitch strikes to nineteen of the twenty-six batters he faced, and allowed only two hits, both singles.
“He was throwing pretty hard tonight, and his curveball was really snapping,” Stern said.
The second game was a 14-13 shootout, and the Red Hawks took command in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs to take the lead, before Kyle Ross came in in the top of the seventh, throwing only eight pitches to record the save.
“Memphis gave one of their backup pitchers a chance to get some innings and we jumped on him early,” said Stern. “But when they brought in their stud late in the game, we hit him pretty well too.”
Mason Erla has pitched well this season, and Monday night was no exception, as he struck out 16 Memphis batters. In 42 innings this season, Erla has given up only 15 hits, has struck out 91 batters, and holds a 0.35 earned run average.
The Memphis starter only lasted 2/3 of an inning, as the Red Hawks scored five runs on four hits to take an early lead. When Memphis ace Connor Gillespe came into the game in the fifth innning, Cass City tacked on three runs and five hits.
The Red Hawk offense was led by lead-off hitter Kyle Ross, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, Sawyer Cuthrell, who was 3-for-4 and scored four times, and Erla, who collected three RBIs on three hits.
“Ross and Cuthrell have scored a lot of our runs this season, and have really set the table nicely for Erla, Brad Thornton, and Jack Stern,” said Stern.
Cuthrell and Ross sport .446, and .436 on base percentages respectively, and Erla has capitalized, driving in 22 runs.
Cass City is now 9-12 on the season, and have won four games in a row. The Red Hawks will host Harbor Beach Thursday, before starting district play next Tuesday.
“Coming into the season, our whole goal was to improve, and prepare for districts,” Stern said. “We have been coming together lately, and the guys have been playing great.”