Baseball Recap: Forest Hills Northern's Winning Streak Snapped at Seven Games

Huskies

Previous 5 Games

05/07/25 vs East Grand Rapids	0-3
05/03/25 vs Traverse City Central	7-6
05/03/25 vs Traverse City Central	3-1
04/30/25 vs Ottawa Hills	15-0
04/28/25 @ Ottawa Hills	16-1

Forest Hills Northern dropped their record down to 9-9 on Wednesday, which also ended the team's seven-game streak of wins. They fell 3-0 to the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Huskies of the 6-0 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in May of 2023.

Cory Smiewec was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. He is becoming a predictor of Forest Hills Northern's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 2-1 (and 7-8 when he doesn't).

At the plate, Forest Hills Northern saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mateo Rodriguez, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Rodriguez is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

As for East Grand Rapids, the win (which was their tenth in a row) raised their record to 16-1-1. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.4 runs over those games.

On East Grand Rapids' side, Will Hoefer was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Hoefer was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. That double was his first of the season.

In other pitching news, East Grand Rapids got a great performance from Callan Royce as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over six innings pitched.

Back at the plate, Josh McCune was excellent, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: East Grand Rapids beat Forest Hills Northern by a score of 4-0 later that day.