and the Heat took an ….

and the Heat took an early 1-0 lead.

They expanded that lead to 4-0 in the second, two runs scoring on errors and Evan Reis driving in the third on a single to the outfield.

The Edgar/Athens combination got back into the game in the bottom half of the inning. Schreiber was patrolling the mound for Abbotsford and had cruised through the top of the opposing lineup in the first inning. However, the Heat ran into some trouble in his second inning of work as the Wildcat/Bluejay co-op started to make some solid connections with the baseball. A single up the middle with runners on second and third and two outs would score one and an error with bases loaded two batters later would drive in a second. The next batter would take a free pass after getting hit with a pitch, making the score 4-3. Schreiber would settle down and get the final out of the inning with the lead still intact.

After the second inning scare, the Heat would dominate the rest of the game, both offensively and defensively.

Nano Lopez got the scoring started in the third, driving in a run on his RBI single. He came around to score on an error by the opposing co-op’s shortstop. AJ Brodhagen scored a third run on a throwing error, reestablishing the Heat’s previous four run lead.

After adding two more runs in the fourth, a five-run fifth would put the Heat up by double digits. Blake Bargender drove in two runs with a double in the fifth and Reis added two more RBIs on a ground ball single between first and second. Jaxon Polivka drove in the fifth run on a fielder’s choice.

The game ended after Schreiber and the defense held the opposing co-op scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, leaving the Heat up by more than 10 runs after the inning.

Schreiber pitched all five innings for Abbotsford, shutting out the Edgar/ Athens co-op over the next three innings. The defense, after some struggles in the second, backed up their pitcher, their play highlighted by a perfectly executed 6-4-3 double play to end the third.

The Heat would play two more games on Saturday. They fell to host Edgar by a score of 9-0. The team still managed to make solid contact, but unlike the night before, these hits failed to find holes in Edgar’s defense, nor did Edgar give up many free passes. Abbotsford bounced back against West Bend, defeating them 6-2. The victory was highlighted by a home run courtesy of Reis, his second of the week.

The Heat finish up their summer season this Thursday in Loyal.