Albion (1-2) would win the nightcap 7-5, but it was more about
the Purple Raiders getting on the field and the Britons volunteered
some batting helmets and supplies along with agreeing to push the
games back three hours.
"One of the things this experience has shown me is there is good
in so many people," commented Mount Union head baseball coach Paul
Hesse. "The staff at Albion was very supportive and I
appreciate their help."
Saturday morning around 7 a.m., the charter bus carrying the
Mount Union team caught fire along the side of Interstate 95 in
Florida. All the players, coaches and staff evacuated the bus
safely but some equipment and personal belongings were destoryed
and others items had to be cleaned.
The team spent most of Saturday and Sunday morning purchasing
new equipment and items while also salvaging and cleaning what they
could.
Junior Paul Mariotti (Copley/Copley) spanned three hits over
seven innings for a complete game victory in the opener.
Mariotti credited his win to two unlikely sources. "I lost my
glasses and my contacts and my parents were able to get a Walmart
to transfer my prescription down here so I could see."
All the scoring the opener came in the second inning as the
Raiders loaded the bases with two outs and sophomore Craig
Knott (Canton/GlenOak) hit a grounder to second base that was
booted and scored two runs. After a Greg Ferrell RBI single,
Knott would later come around to score on a double steal to
cap the four-run inning.
In the second game, Mount Union would lead 2-1 after a first
inning that included a Ferrell RBI triple and a sacrifice fly RBI
from Dan Henderson.
Albion would come right back with two runs in the second inning
and was up 5-2 after five innings.
Mount Union would score single runs in the fifth and sixth on a
Knott home run and an Albion fielding error to close the gap to
5-4, but the Britons would tally a pair of insurance runs to go up
7-4.
Cory Slaybaugh (Hartville/Lake) would hit his first homer of the
season in the bottom of the seventh but the rally ended there.
Mount Union is back on the field tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
against Waynesburg (PA) in Winter Haven, FL.
