Kurtz goes 3-for-4 with two RBI as Hesperia wins Ken Smith Memorial Tournament

LocalSportsJournal.com

HESPERIA — Hesperia’s baseball team went 2-0 to win its own Ken Smith Memorial tournament on Saturday, defeating Manistee in the championship game 6-5 on a walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh.

The Panthers trailed the Chippewas, 5-4 in their last at-bats. Sam Gager stroked a line drive to leftfield for the walkoff win.

Blake Sayer started the game on the mound for the Panthers and worked five innings, giving up five earned runs and registering five strike outs.

Hunter Billman finished the game, pitching the last two innings and gave up just one hit.

Travis Kurtz paced the Panthers on offense, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Kohen Heckman was 2-for-3 with one RBI.

In their first game of the day the Panthers rolled to a 12-1 victory in five innings over Shelby.

Anderson Boes, Alex Sayer, Kurtz, Billman and Kurtz each had four hits to lead the Panthers at the plate.

Kurtz got the win on the mound, allowing only one hit and no earned runs while striking out five.

The Panthers improved to 5-9 overall.