With Spring Break underway, the Spartan baseball squad is on the road this week, getting in as many contests as they can. On Monday, they traveled to Saratoga Springs to square off with the Westlake Thunder. The contest started out as a low-scoring affair until the Thunder put up seven runs in the bottom of the fourth, then held on for a 10-7 win over the Spartans.

Emery is sitting at 2-8 overall and is still looking for their first region victory. Westlake plays in the 6A classification and has a 6-3 overall mark.

The Spartans got on the board in the second after both squads went scoreless in the first. Garrett Conover was the leadoff batter and sent his second pitch over the wall in center to put Emery up 1-0.  The Thunder would answer back in the bottom half of the third inning to tie things up.

After holding the Spartans scoreless in the fourth, Westlake would rally with two outs to put up seven runs and take the lead 8-1. They would keep the Spartans off the board in the fifth as well, pushing their score to 9-1 heading into the top of the sixth.

Tyce Larsen came up to the plate for Emery with one out and the bases loaded and was hit by a pitch, walking in Beau Stilson. Ben Johansen came up next and singled to right to drive in Conover. Peyton Nielson would score off of an error by the right fielder, in the same play, cutting the Westlake lead to 9-4. The Thunder added their tenth run in the bottom of the sixth.

Emery’s Nielson came up with one out and drove Stilson in with a double to right. Trygg Jensen sent a sacrifice fly to center to score Nielson. The next two batters, Conover and Tyce Larsen, earned an intentional walk and a single, bringing Johansen back to the plate. He sent a fly to center to bring Conover home and get the score to 10-7.  Westlake ended the game on the next at-bat to take the victory.

Johansen went 2-4, collecting three RBIs for Emery. Stilson went 2-4, scoring a pair of runs. Nielson was 1-3 on the day, scoring twice and had an RBI. Conover was 1-2, scoring three times and had an RBI in the loss.

Larsen got the start on the mound, going 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits and striking out one. Easton Stoker finished the game with six runs, five earned on eight hits, and struck out one.

After taking Tuesday off, the Spartans are back on the road on Wednesday to face the Ogden Tigers.