After an outstanding start in the 2A District 5 tournament, in which they defeated Hawthorne 4-2 to get to the semifinal, Bronson baseball fell hard against top-seeded Mayo in a 10-0 five-inning loss.

The Eagles had split the regular season with the Hornets, beating them 4-3 two weeks ago for the last district game of the year.

“We beat a very good team on an off night, and today they showed why they were the number one seed,” said Bronson head coach Mike Pogue.

The Hornets' Sergio Perez turned a leadoff triple into an early run, coming home on a wild pitch. With two out and only one run on the board in the bottom of the first, Mayo's Chris Mercedes walked, Jamal Reid doubled and Evan Barrington took a pitch off the top of his helmet to load the bases. Billy McClelland stroked a home run to left center to bring everyone home and quickly blast the Mayo lead to 5-0. Bronson starter Luke Morrison buckled down to get Brooks Laminack to pop up for the third out.

The second inning was no better, as Perez opened up again at the top of the order, this time with a double to right. Ethan Perry reached on an infield error and Mercedes singled. Two more errors let Reid and Barrington get on and all five scored before the inning was over.

Starting from a deep hole, largely of their own making, the Eagles couldn't get started at the plate. Bronson had only one hit – Mario Spadavecchia's fifth inning bunt-single – and two baserunners, including Anthony Duncan, who walked in the third inning.

Pogue noted that Morrison, the Bronson starter, had been a controversial choice to pitch on only one days' rest after his winning start against Hawthorne, but noted that it was Morrison who had confounded the Hornet batters in their last meeting.

“I think we just asked him to do too much, but I thought he was our best chance on the mound today,” he said.

Pogue credited Mayo's typically clean play, in addition to his own team's errors, for the Hornets' overwhelming win.

“They came out swinging today,” he said.

“We played a very clean game against Hawthorne Tuesday, with only one error, but that wasn't true today. We had a lot of errors, and they hurt us.”

Pogue looked ahead to next season as he evaluated returning talent. Pitcher-shortstop Kelby Barber will be a senior, and talented infielders Tyler Martensen and John Stephenson are both underclassmen.

“We were senior-heavy this year (eight seniors), but we only had two senior starters in the infield and two in the outfield,” he said.

“If Kelby is healthy next year, this team is in the hunt for the district title in the regular season and in the postseason.”

Pogue himself will not be around to see it, though. The second-year head baseball coach, also an annual contract physical education instructor at Bronson Middle-High School, revealed Thursday that his contract would not be renewed. In addition to his baseball duties, Pogue was an assistant coach for  varsity football and head coach for middle school football.