By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

DARLINGTON — The Spencer baseball team opened its 2015 season with a split of two nonconference games at Darlington High School on Saturday.

Spencer lost 9-7 to Scales Mound/River Ridge (Ill.) before pouncing on Darlington for a 15-2 victory in the second game.

In the opener Mitch Susa struck out 10 and walked two but was victimized by five Spencer errors and suffered the loss.

Spencer led 7-5 before Scales Mound scored four times in the bottom of the fifth inning and held on from there.

Bobby Pilz, Nate Neumann, and Susa each had two hits for the Rockets.

Spencer exploded for six runs in the top of the first inning and went on to rout Darlington in the second game of the day.

Pilz allowed just four hits in five innings and struck out nine to earn the win for Spencer.

Pilz, Calvin Lenz, Susa, and Jake Meyers each had three hits for the Rockets, who had 19 in all. Meyers, Hunter Luepke, and Hunter Hildebrandt each had two RBIs for Spencer.

The Rockets are scheduled to play a nonconference game at home against Prentice at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Scales Mound/River Ridge (Ill.) 9, Spencer 7

Spencer 203 200 0 – 7 10 5

Scales Mound/River Ridge 410 040 x – 9 9 1

WP: Klippert. LP: Mitch Susa.
SO: Susa 10, Calvin Lenz 2. BB: Susa 2, Lenz 0.
Top hitters: S, Susa 1B, 2B; Nate Neumann 1B, 2B; Bobby Pilz 2 1Bs.

—

Spencer 15, Darlington 2

Spencer 620 025 – 15 19 1

Darlington 010 001 – 2 7 1

WP: Pilz. LP: Singer.
SO: Pilz 9, Jake Meyers 0. BB: Pilz 0, Meyers 1.
Top hitters: S, Pilz 3 hits; Lenz 3 hits; Meyers 3 hits, 2 RBIs; Hunter Luepke 2 RBIs; Hunter Hildebrandt 2 RBIs.