By John Rittenhouse
Like a poor guest, the Edgerton baseball team treated Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth rudely in Hills Thursday by sweeping a double-header from the hosts.
The Flying Dutchmen picked up a 5-1 victory in Game 1 before holding off a late charge by the Patriots to prevail 12-10 in the finale.
Edgerton scored the first four runs of the opener in the first three and one-half innings of play.
H-BC-E made it 4-1 with consecutive singles by Tyson Metzger, Matt Buck and Paul Jess in the bottom of the fourth, but Edgerton got the run back in the top of the fifth to win the six-inning game by four runs.
David Top tossed the first two and one-third innings to take the loss in the opener. Justin Van Maanen worked three and two-third innings in relief of Top.
Metzger led the Patriots with two hits in the opener.
The Patriots sported a 4-2 lead in Game 2 before falling to a pair of big innings produced by the Flying Dutchmen.
With Kevin Van Batavia and Lyle DeBoer slapping two-run singles in the top of the third inning, H-BC-E took its first lead of the day at 4-2.
Edgerton, however, countered with four runs in the bottom of the third before adding six runs in the fourth to take a 12-4 advantage.
H-BC-E did score three runs in the fifth and sixth innings but couldnÕt recover from Edgerton's big innings.
Jess singled home a pair of runs and Zach Wysong added an RBI single as the Patriots made it a 12-7 game in the fifth inning.
DeBoer, Van Maanen and Jess all drove in runs with one-out singles in the top of sixth, and H-BC-E had runners on first and third after Jess' single. Edgerton, however, got out of the jam when a relief pitcher fanned the next two Patriot batters.
DeBoer worked the first two and two-thirds innings on the hill and was saddled with the loss. Top tossed the final inning and one-third.
Jess, Metzger, Van Batavia, Top, Lyle and Darin DeBoer had two hits each for the Patriots, who ended the day with a 3-9-1 record.
The Patriots drew the 12th seed for the Section 3A Tournament. They play No. 5 Ortonville at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Granite Falls.