Heart and hustle

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

The Carver Black Sox were in the drivers seat last night. Bailey Melz was solid on the mound, keeping the Hollander bats in check. They held a 5-1 lead in the 8th inning thanks in part to timely hitting and too many men allowed to reach base by the Hollanders. The writing seemed to be on the wall and Carver looked destined for victory.

This Hollander squad has no quit and A LOT of heart.

In the bottom of the 8th, Carver brought on a new pitcher in relief. Joey Lilya started the action by reaching base after getting hit by a pitch followed by walks from Casey Clemensen and Kyle Twait to load the bases. David Solfelt snuck a single through the right side to score Lilya. Tim Swanson then delivered a big 2 RBI single on an 0-2 pitch to pull the Hollanders within one. Swanson would move up to to 2nd on the throw from the outfielder putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. Graham Burke then dropped one over the first basemen's head, just fair by inches to drive in Solfelt and Swanson. Just like the the Hollanders took the lead. With Burke at 2nd, Brandon Fritz hit one in the hole and a wild throw by the shortstop allowed Burke to come around to score. Hollanders put up 6 runs in the 8th to hold a 7-5 lead.

In the top of the 9th, the Carver Black Sox loaded the bases with only one out. With fans on the edge of their seats, Zach Nelson put the team on his back striking out the leadoff hitter for the 2nd out and getting a groundout to himself to end the game.

Such a fun night at the park and a great TEAM effort in the comeback win! Thank you for all of your fan support!

Up next, we head to Watertown this Sunday for a 2:00pm contest.