Brandon Marcia started for Saugus and Steve Burton for Hart. Both pitchers were very effective but neither got a decision out of this game. Shane Carlson led off with a single in the first, extending his hitting streak to 16 games, but he was quickly erased on a double play.

In the 3rd Hart got something going. With 1 out, Donny Williams hit a hard line single to left center and took 2nd on a wild pitch, and 3rd on a sharp single to left by Kevin Baker. The rally took a bad turn when Baker was caught off first and was out in a rundown, Williams had to hold at 3rd. A strikeout then ended the inning.

Saugus picked up a run in the bottom of the 3rd on a single by Gary Finley. Chris Pate sacrificed him to 2nd, and Pate was safe on a bad throw to first. Casey Stevenson sacrificed moving the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Dan Hughes hit a grounder towards short and Pate was out at 3rd, but Finley scored from 3rd. Milone followed with a single, but Burton got out of the inning with a strikeout. The unearned run however gave Saugus a 1-0 lead.

Hart tied it up with an un-earned run in the 4th. Ryan Pettersen grounded to short but was safe on a bad throw. Pettersen then stole 2nd. after an out by Matt Valaika, Petterson took 3rd on a grounder to the right side by Ryan Gagnon, and scored on a line single to left by Matt Sreden. In the 5th, with 2 out Kevin Baker doubled to left center but was stranded. In the 6th Kody Kurowski relieved Marcia, and got 6 of the last 7 batters he faced, only hitting Ryan Gagnon with 2 out in the 6th.

Steve Burton pitched a very good game for Hart. There was a lot of hard hit balls hit to the outfield, but this year Hart has outfielders who can really chase balls down and there was a lot of great plays made today by Ryan Gagnon, Brian Charnock and Ryan Pettersen. The infielders also made some great plays, especially by Shane Carlson at 3rd in the 5th and Kevin Baker at 2nd in the 4th.

In the 6th with 1 out, Burton got in trouble, walking Travis Babin and hitting Andy Parr. A debate followed the HBP, but coach Jim Ozella couldn't convince the umpire that the batter had faked the ump out on the play. A fielders choice moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. With Kean Christopherson batting, a ball in the dirt eluded catcher Matt Sreden, but Sreden recovered nicely and made a perfect throw to Burton covering the plate for the final out in the 6th.

In the 7th, after Hart went quietly, 3 up 3 down, Nick Streit came in to pitch for Hart. Nick got the win last Friday pitching 2 scorless innings in the 8th and 9th against Canyon, but today was a different day. Christopherson led off with a single up the middle, almost snagged by Streit. Christopherson was sacrificed to 2nd by Gary Finley, took 3rd on a single by pinch hitter Julian Cruz, and scored on a sharp single to left by Casey Stevenson giving Saugus the 2-1 win.

Streit was the losing pitcher his record now 3-1. Hart's record is now 10-5-1 (3-2 in the Foothill League). Hart next plays Saugus on Friday April 15 at Hart at 3:15pm.

Narrative courtesy of Mike Gaber.