Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The Spencer Baseball team hosted Cherokee on Tuesday night for their home opener as well as the first Lakes Conference matchup of the season.

The Braves were able to pick up a couple of singles in the top of the 1st, putting two men on with only 1 out, but a groundout and strikeout forced by Spencer starter George Lawson ended the inning without a Cherokee score.

Spencer would strike for 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st.  After a single and stolen base, Jace McCormick was knocked in by George Lawson on an RBI single.  Evan Ver Steeg got on base with a single before Larson Vulk drove a ball over the Right-Center Field Fence.

Lawson faced four Brave hitters in the top of the 2nd, striking out 3 of them for another shutout inning.

The Spencer offense exploded again in the bottom of the 2nd, striking for 7 runs on 3 hits with 5 walks drawn.  Sheldon Bendlin drove in Aaden Techen and Jace McCormick with a 2-RBI single.  Larson Vulk picked up RBI number 4 and 5 with a single that brought in Lawson and Bendlin.  Eli Harmon would double to score Ver Steeg and Vulk, giving Spencer an 11-0 lead going into the 3rd.

Noah Rapp started things off in the top of the 3rd with his 2nd hit of the game in the form of a double.  Wyatt Ludvigson switched places with Rapp on a double of his own, scoring the Braves first run.  Kam Kohn, the Cherokee starting pitcher on the night, gave himself a little help with an RBI single to drive in Ludvigson, making it 11-2 going into the bottom of the 3rd.

Spencer would score 4 more runs in their half of that 3rd inning.  George Lawson started things off with a single, setting up Shelton Bendlin for a 2-run home run.

Evan Ver Steeg fired the base paths back up in the next at-bat, drawing his 2nd walk of the game, and Larson Vulk hit his 2nd Home Run of the evening, making it 15-2.

After Lawson held Cherokee in check for the 4th inning, Wyatt Ludvigson came in to throw for the bottom half against Spencer, holding the Tiger offense scoreless for the first frame of the night.

Trailing by 13 going into the 5th, Cherokee needed four runs to extend the game to the bottom half of the inning.  Wyatt Ludvigson reached on an error and would later score on an error to make it 15-3.  Ty Schliting singled to follow him up and Kam Kohn reached on an error putting two on with nobody out.  Tyson Fuller loaded up the bases with a single before Mallon Malausky knocked in Schliting with a sacrifice fly.  Fuller forced some action on the base paths by stealing 2nd, forcing the throw which Cam Kohn capitalized on by taking home, giving Cherokee their 3rd run of the inning and making it 15-5.  Lawson got Karson Miller to pop out to end the inning though and thus ending the game with a 10-run-after-5 mercy-rule, giving Spencer their first win of the year.

Lawson picked up the win, throwing 5 innings, allowing 8 hits with 3 earned runs, walking 1 and striking out 6.  Cam Kohn absorbs the loss for Cherokee in 2 innings of work with 7 hits allowed, 10 earned runs, 6 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

On a big offensive night for Spencer, Larson Vulk led the charge with 2 home runs, a single, 7 RBI, and 3 runs scored.  Wyatt Ludvigson had a strong night both at the plate and on the mound in relief.  Ludvigson had 2 hits, and RBI and 2 runs scored.

Spencer is now 1-2 and looks forward to another matchup with Cherokee Thursday, this time on the road.  Cherokee drops to 0-3 this season and will try and pick up their first win when the visit Ridge View on Wednesday.

Box Score   R   H   E  LOB

Cherokee    5    8    2    6

Spencer      15  11   2     3

WP: George Lawson 5IP 8H 5R (3ER) 1BB 6K

LP: Cam Kohn 2IP 7H 11R (10ER) 6BB 2K