Bloomfield Wildcats Varsity Grabs Lead In Seventh Inning In Season Opener Over Risco

The Bloomfield Wildcats Baseball team took the lead late in the game in a 4-3 victory over Risco on Monday. The game was tied at two with Bloomfield batting in the top of the seventh when Justice Cossey grounded out, scoring one run.

Bloomfield evened things up at two in the top of the sixth inning when Christian Hartlein drove in one after his brother Cole Hartlein singled.

Kayden Craft led Bloomfield to victory on the hill. The pitcher surrendered one run on three hits over two innings, striking out three.

Christian Hartlein was the starting pitcher for Bloomfield. The right-hander allowed five hits and two runs over five innings, striking out six. 

"Christian did exactly what you want a senior to do to open the season. He came out and located his fastball for 5 strong innings. With all the nerves that come with opening the season,” said Bloomfield coach Chris Smith. “Having your starter come out and get outs and keep his pitch count low was big for us."

Bloomfield had eight hits in the game. Christian Hartlein and freshmen Carter Edwards each had multiple hits for the Wildcats.  

"Today was a great way to start the season. It was cold and extremely windy. It made it tough, at times, to get a great reads on anything hit in the air,” said Smith. “We hit the ball hard all day long and forced Risco to play defense.  I thought my boys did a good job of overcoming the elements and hanging on to get the win."