NI Lakers 19U sweeps St. Maries

ST. MARIES — The NI Lakers 19U completed the sweep of St. Maries on Wednesday by scoring a combined 25 runs.

The Lakers downed St Maries 10-0 in the opener and 15-1 in the nightcap.

The Lakers only needed five innings to take care of St. Maries during the first game. They scored all 10 of their runs in the third and fourth innings.

Mick Koch got things started with a two-run RBI single down the right field line. Koch would go on to score two plays later on a wild pitch to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead.

Mike Riley scored the final run of the inning after stealing home plate during Ethan Butler’s at-bat.

In the fourth, Finn Mellander continued his hot strike at the dish by hitting a two-run RBI triple into right field.

Mellander scored one play later after a St. Maries error.

Roop got the start on the mound during the opener; he allowed zero runs on one hit, striking out seven.

Butler came in relief of Roop. He pitched two innings and gave up no runs on one hit, striking out one.

St. Maries took the first lead of the game during the nightcap in the bottom of the second.

The Lakers would answer with 15 runs during the next two innings.

They scored 11 runs during the top of the fourth.

All of the runs scored except one came from an RBI.

The Lakers scored seven runs in a row, starting with a Mellander ground out that scored Dillon Terry.

Roop followed that up with a two-run RBI single into center field to give the Lakers a 7-1 advantage.

Koch did one better and hit a double into center field to score Roop during the next at bat.

Jack Ringer got the start on the hill for the Lakers during the nightcap. He allowed one run on three hits, striking out two.

Alex Leverich came in relief and gave up no runs on no hits, striking out five.

The Lakers improved to .500 on the year at 6-6 overall.