By Adam Bouton
The 21-and-under Midland Junior Explorers men’s fastpitch softball squad started off with a bang — both in its debut as a team together and in its game Friday.
Facing the 19-and-under USA Men’s Fastpitch Junior National Team, the Junior Explorers jumped out to 4-0 and 6-2 leads to open the Junior Explorer Invitational at Emerson Park.
But as they’ve done all week, the USA Junior National Team clawed back and capped off an 8-6 comeback victory with a walkoff two-run home run by Mauro Olivarria in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“We got off to an early start,” Junior Explorers’ manager Mike Hoon said. “We came out and hit the ball well and then put it a little bit in cruise control, and the (Junior National Team) has a good young ball team over there that runs well, and (they) worked their way back and made it a ballgame.”
The 10-team Junior Explorer Invitational continues through Sunday with the championship game set for 3 p.m. at Currie Stadium. For the Junior National Team, the tournament caps off its week-long training in Michigan, in which the team has started to find its identity as a comeback squad.
“We are 8-4 in Michigan, and we were figuring that in about six of those eight wins, we’ve come from behind,” Junior National Team head coach Tim Lyon said. “This team doesn’t really know when to quit. They just keep battling and battling. We’ve been down all week, and we just keep coming back.”
The Junior Explorers started off hot, scoring four times with two outs in the top of the first inning. Justin Krenzke and Lee Focco had back-to-back RBI triples and Jon Gwizdala and Mike Zink each notched RBI singles in the first inning.
Gwizdala, who also pitched five innings and struck out five, added a solo homer in the game for the Junior Explorers, while Adam Auernhammer added three hits.
“This is our first time together, period,” Hoon said. “David Lach is the guy that put this all together. ... This is their first outing together, and they did a good job. I’m pleased with the way we came out and played.
“I’ve played fastpitch for 25 years, and to get an opportunity to coach a 21-and-under team versus Team USA is pretty neat,” Hoon added.
Lach’s son, Zach Lach, who lives in Clio, started in the circle for the Junior National Team and pitched the first two innings. He’s the lone player on the roster from Michigan.
Even though Team USA ultimately came back for the victory, Lyon said that he liked what he saw out of the Junior Explorers.
“It’s a good, athletic team,” he said of the Junior Explorers. “We need young teams like that in softball. Teams like that, they become better and better as they get older, and that’s what we need.”
The Junior National Team has used Midland and Northwood University as its home base during its training and has also made visits to Munger, Coldwater, Port Huron and Frankenmuth.
Lyon said that, overall, he’s liked what he’s seen out of Michigan teams during their visit.
“We played a couple young teams in Munger (on Thursday) that had some young kids,” he said. “We’re very happy with the talent. I’ll say that we’ll have kids from Michigan on the team (in the future).”
