Sutherland, Litwiller pitch in Alma finale

[private]Alma grad Cade Sutherland and Ashley grad Evan Litwiller both saw action on the mound for Alma College in the Scots’ final baseball game of the season, when they were defeated by Kalamazoo and Adrian College in the MIAA tournament to finish the season 23-20.
Alma dropped their opening game of the day, facing off against the Hornets in a game where the winner advanced to the MIAA Championship game after both teams won their opening round games. The Scots had a quick turnaround after defeating Calvin University in the night game before, on the back of Tyler Johnson who had a career outing, striking out 19 to help advance the Scots along in the tournament. Kalamazoo came out ready to play, scoring a solo run in the first inning, followed by another solo run in the second, allowing the Scots to stay within striking distance with a lot of game still to play. Alma struggled at the plate only managing two hits in the game, making it hard for them to make a comeback even though the Hornets were pulling away early. The fifth inning saw Kalamazoo open up the scoring, tallying nine unanswered runs to bring their lead to 11, as time was dwindling for the Scots. Alma would get a base runner to second in the bottom of the fifth, but Kalamazoo would quiet the threat and Alma would not reach scoring position for the rest of the game.
Cameron Bleasdale started on the bump for the Scots, going for one and a third of an inning with one strikeout. Sutherland Tyler Sparks and Alex all saw action in relief for game one with Hardacre picking up the other Scots strikeout.
Transitioning to the nightcap, in a “winner moves on” game, the Scots faced off against the top seed Bulldogs, as both teams eyed down a spot in the championship series.
Adrian broke the ice in the second inning, scoring on a groundout with runners on second and third, as Alma was able to limit the damage to just one. Alma was able to threaten the Bulldogs throughout the game, though Adrian was able to escape every jam that came about, keeping Alma off the board. The seventh saw the Bulldogs drive in another two runs on a couple singles, pushing their lead to three as the Scots had nine outs remaining offensively.
Sutherland was given the nod for game two on the day after only pitching a handful of pitches in the earlier game. Sutherland pitched for two innings collecting one strikeout before Litwiller came in as his replacement. Litwiller went for two and two-thirds grabbing two strikeouts and only allowed one hit [.private]