It’s safe to say that Vicksburg’s varsity baseball team had a flair for the dramatic this season. The Bulldogs finished one game shy of a first-ever state championship appearance in a semifinal battle against fifth-ranked Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills.
The first inning was a stalemate before the Knights got a runner home on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 in the top of the second inning. The Bulldogs couldn’t get the bats going, which led to a disastrous third inning. Vicksburg gave up four runs thanks to some fielding errors.
The Bulldogs came storming back in the top of the third. Spencer Spicer got it started with a lead off base hit. Braylen Vallier hit a chopping grounder that turned into a double on a Kenosha Hills error. Spicer was tagged out before second on the play. The umpires held a conference to discuss baserunner interference, but ultimately the call stood. This gave the team one on with one out. That’s when Maguire Bowles hit a deep triple to left field that was fair by inches. Vallier scored to make it 5-1. With runners at the corners, Graham Kubiak laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. Bowles scored to make it 5-2.
Momentum was on Vicksburg’s side as Maddox Rosalin came in to pitch in relief for Caden Chisholm. Rosalin promptly struck out all three batters in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Korbin Dugan got things rolling with a leadoff single. Matthew Martin came in as courtesy runner and stole second after a wild pitch. Vicksburg got runners at the corners again after Chisholm hit a bouncing grounder that the Knights errored on fielding. He was picked off a few plays later at first. However, Martin used the commotion at first as a distraction to make a run for home. He ended up scoring after Kenosha Hills dropped the throw home. That made things 5-3.
It got dramatic in the bottom of the sixth inning when Chisholm and Spicer both got base hits. With one on and one out, Vallier walked to load the bases. The Knights gave Vicksburg a free run when they walked Bowles moments later. Mitchell Beyer then got another base hit to drive in another run and tie it up 5-5. The bases were still loaded with only one out when Kubiak performed another perfect sacrifice bunt RBI. It gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead going into the seventh inning.
The last inning quickly turned sour for Vicksburg. They gave up four runs to put Kenowa Hills back in the lead. Vicksburg didn’t give up though. The Knights walked Dugan, Luke Deal, and Spicer to load the bases again. However, the Bulldogs couldn’t get the bats going again and eventually ran out of outs. The final score was 9-6. Vicksburg finished the season with a 30-8 record as the 14th-ranked team in Division 2 this season.
