Morrow hits Lemonade League's first HR in Lugnuts rout

LANSING, Mich. – Andrew Morrow (Michigan State University) crushed the first home run in the young history of the Lemonade League, and the Lugnuts romped to an 11-4 victory over the Locos on Wednesday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The Nuts are 4-2 against the Locos in the league’s six games, winning the last three.

The Lugnuts put the game out of reach early with a pair of five-run rallies.

In the second inning, Mark Connelly (Lansing CC) broke a scoreless tie against Locos starter Jesse Heikkinen (MSU) with a two-out, two-run single; Darryn Davis (Toledo) raced home on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead; and Morrow followed with a towering fly over the right-field wall to put the Nuts up 5-0.

In the third inning, Gabe Sotres (MSU) singled home Colin Cornwell (SVSU) for a 6-0 lead; a grounder went right through shortstop Brandon Scheurer (SVSU) to plate Sotres for a 7-0 lead; Davis greeted new reliever Collin Bradley with a two-run single to make it 9-0; and, for a second time, came rushing home on a wild pitch for a 10-0 Lugnuts lead.

The teams exchanged solo tallies in the fifth. Sotres scored his third run of the night for the Lugnuts on a throwing error by catcher Craig Palidar (LCC), while the Locos touched up the scoreboard for the first time on a Matthew Williams (Albion) triple and an Adam Purdy (Concordia) sacrifice fly.

The Locos scored three runs in the seventh on a fielding error by third baseman Logan Welch (SVSU) and an Owen Ruddock (Davenport) two-run single, closing out the scoring.

Lugnuts starter Ethan Young (Mott CC) tossed three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking four. Kameron Marnon (LCC) followed him by striking out the side in the fourth before allowing a run in the fifth. Garrett Larner (Cleary) took care of the final six outs, striking out two and allowing the three runs, all unearned, in the seventh.

For the Locos, Heikkinen gave up nine runs (eight earned) on five hits and five walks in 2 1/3 innings, striking out four. Bradley followed with 2 2/3 innings, striking out three and allowing one hit, one walk and two runs (one earned). Ryan Abenth (Concordia) pitched a scoreless sixth and Aaron Husson (CMU) worked a scoreless seventh.

Of all the hitters, only the Locos’ Ruddock finished with more than one hit, going 2-for-4 with a single, double and two runs batted in.

The next Lemonade League game will be played on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Cooley Law School Stadium, with the Cedar Street gate opening at 6 p.m., the second of five consecutive days of Lemonade League baseball. Masks are mandatory for admission.

Lemonade League is a college wood-bat league featuring Minor League Baseball umpires, yellow baseballs, seven-inning games, and extra innings replaced by a one-on-one Home Run Derby – although none was needed on this night. Every Lemonade League game is livestreamed FREE across multiple social and digital platforms, including the Lansing Lugnuts’ Facebook and Twitter pages.

For more information, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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