Bigfork baseball falls to Frenchtown
The Bigfork baseball team faced a tough outing on Saturday, March 22, falling 16-6 to Class A foe Frenchtown in a challenging early-season matchup.
Frenchtown's offense burst out of the gates quickly, scoring five runs in the first inning and forcing Bigfork into an early hole. Mason Lewis, Bigfork's starting pitcher, struggled to find his rhythm, giving up five earned runs on four hits and two walks in just one inning of work.
Bigfork showed signs of life in the second inning when Hayden Mayer came through with a clutch RBI hit, sparking hope of a rally. Ryder Hamilton also contributed offensively, going 1-for-1 and knocking in another run, helping Bigfork trim the deficit slightly in the middle innings.
Despite Bigfork's effort to close the gap, Frenchtown remained relentless at the plate, adding four more runs in the third inning and another seven across the fourth and fifth innings. Defensive miscues by Bigfork, including five costly errors, compounded the damage.
On the mound for Bigfork, Liam Benson relieved Lewis and delivered a solid performance, striking out two batters and surrendering just three earned runs over three innings pitched. However, the defensive lapses behind him proved costly. Hayden Mayer entered in relief in the fifth inning but was unable to contain Frenchtown’s surging bats, giving up five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Offensively, Bigfork managed three hits total, with contributions from Mayer, Hamilton, and Holland Jantzen, who went 1-for-3. Frenchtown finished the contest with 11 hits and capitalized efficiently on Bigfork’s mistakes, tallying only two errors themselves.
At Frenchtown
FRENCHTOWN 16, BIGFORK 6
Bigfork - 011 - 04 - 6 - 3 - 5
F-Town - 504 - 25 - 16 - 11 - 2
BIGFORK HITTING: Ryeln Rodriguez 0-3, Grady Campbell 0-1, Liam Benson 0-1, Hayden Mayer 1-1, Sam Plummer 0-1, Mason Lewis 0-2, Holland Jantzen 1-3, Ryder Hamilton 1-1, Cavin Wiest 0-3; RBI: Mayer, Hamilton
BIGFORK PITCHING: Mason Lewis (1IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB); Liam Benson (3IP, 5H, 6R, 3ER, 0BB, 2SO), Hayden Mayer (⅔ IP, 2H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB)