After scoring 41 runs in the previous three games, the Diamond Cats offense was shut down in the
semi-finals of the Sylvania Mavericks 4th of July Invitational. In their rematch with the Great Lakes
Eagles, the Cats would generate only one run in falling 11-1.
BG would remain close early as it trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, but that’s
when the Eagles potent offense came to life. They would score eight runs on six hits and two walks, all
capped by a long home run over the center field fence at Sylvania’s Pacesetter Park.
When the dust settled after four full innings, the Eagles had a commanding lead and victory was assured
once the Cats went down scoreless in the top of the fifth.
Even though the Cats fell short of their ultimate goal of winning the tournament, they did put together
an impressive run by reaching the semifinals of strong tournament field.
BG finished the tournament with a 4-2 record. They were lead at the plate by Adam Furnas who batted .714
with a .842 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage. Included in his totals were two doubles,
a triple and six RBI. Alec Brown contributed an average of .500 and an on-base percentage of .722 while
collecting a team high seven RBI’s. Elijah Richardson batted .429 with five RBI and Clayton Brown
chipped in with a .412 average and three RBI.
BG also received several strong pitching performances from Grant Stierwalt, Brett Rich, Collin DeWese,
Furnas and Clayton Brown.
The tournament brings BG’s overall record to 23-15.
Earlier in thet tournament, despite an outstanding pitching performance by BG’s Rich, the Diamond Cats
fall 5-1 in their opening game of the state tournament.
Rich pitched a complete game giving up four earned runs on seven hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

The Wildcats scored all four of their earned runs with two outs in the seventh inning. Two runs scored on
a slicing triple that fell just inside the right field line, and the next batter followed with a home
run just off the glove of BG’s diving left fielder.
In the meantime, the Diamond Cats weren’t able to generate any offense in support of Rich. BG collected
its first hit of the game with two outs in the sixth inning as Ryan Tyrrell lined a double into the
right center gap. BG followed the double with back-to-back walks to load the bases, but were unable to
cash in as the score remained 1-0 going into the final inning.