The Monarchs took their yearly road trip to the 3&2 Park in Missouri to play Pembroke Hill. Notably absent were Skipper Shannan (trying to restore phone and computer power to the KU Campus) and Dylan Smith (trying to restore the quality of life he had before losing his wisdom teeth).

Midland started Sam Douglas on the mound, who performed more than admirably, starting the game with three innings of perfect baseball. Innings two and three consisted of six straight ground balls and only 17 pitches. However Pembroke's pitcher also kept the Monarchs scoreless, although they did pick up three hits and a HBP over that same span. Their best hope came in the second with a double by Jalen Curtis, a walk to Sam, and an infield single for Mick Kelley - but no runs.

First blood came in the fourth, as the Pembroke defense started the inning with a mishandled fly to left. Sam bunted Jalen over to second, Mick walked, and another hit batter (Alex Theile this time) loaded the bases for Joel Donn. A 6-4 fielder's choice brought in a run, followed by a booming double to right from Charlie Williams that cleared the bases for a three-run lead.

In the bottom of the 4th, the home team finally broke the no-hitter with one out. The leadoff hitter went down on a defensive gem from 2B Harrison Carrender, who dove for the ball, then threw from his knees to a leaping Josh Winscott for the out at first. He almost pulled off a second stunner on the next hitter, but the ball slid by inches from his glove and left Pembroke's catcher standing on 1st. The #3 hitter wasted no time in cashing in the run, swinging on the first pitch and launching an RBI triple up against the fence in right center. 

The Monarchs saved themselves a run by pulling another defensive ticket out the hat on the next batter. Pembroke's DH hit a dribbler on an inside pitch, bouncing it right in front of home plate. Catcher Peyton Shellenberger leapt on the ball and charged the suprised runner coming down the line from the hot corner. The boys in red handled multiple exchangex from catcher to third and back again, finally tagging out the runner as he made a desparate final dive towards third. At the end of four, the score stood 3-1 in favor of Midland.

In the fifth, The hometown Raiders brought in a new pitcher, sending their starter to center. They also made their third error of the game with one out, with the shortstop throwing a ground ball over the first baseman's head. Sad to say, a 143 double-play snuffed out the Monarchs' rally before it had hardly begun. 

The bottom of the fifth started out well for Midland, as new Midland pitcher Charlie W picked up two quick outs after a lead-off double. But as they say, walks will kill you and this time, they did. Walks to the next two batters (one of which included a wild pitch that sent home the runner on third) brought up Pembroke's #3 hitter, the same guy that had launched the triple in the previous inning. He delivered once again, sending the second pitch into left-center for a 4-3 Pembroke lead.

The red boys put runners on 1st and 3rd in the sixth, and then the tying run on second in the seventh inning, but were unable to knot the game and force extra innings. And so the final goes into the books as a 4-3 loss, evening the young spring season with a 3-3 mark. Get 'em next time, guys!

NOTES: Alex Thiele pitched the sixth, and was helped out by a laser strike from Peyton, cutting down a steal attempt at second... Harrison and Alex were both hit by pitches in the game... The Raiders' #3 hitter had two of their five hits, and three of their four RBIs... Charlie had the only multi-hit game for Midland... The strikezone was not exactly well-defined, as six of the 10 strikeouts in the game were "called" Ks...