Midget Black Sox split tourney openers

The Soo Black Sox bounced back from a lopsided loss to open the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament and finished the opening day with a 1-1 record.

Facing the DePere (Wisconsin) Dodgers in their opener, the Black Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead early but DePere scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 17-7 victory. DePere scored another four runs in the second, three in the third and two more in the fourth. The Black Sox scored five runs in the top of the fourth to complete their scoring.

Wyatt Curry had a pair of singles and knocked in a run for the Black Sox while Kyle Diotte also hit a pair of singles. Joey Lesage hit a two-run homerun for the Black Sox. Tyler Binkley took the loss on the mound.

In their second game, the Black Sox defeated Green Bay Southwest 8-6. Andrew Toni got the win on the mound while J.J. Bergamin came in for the save in the seventh with two runners on and none out.

Kyle Sayers hit a three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Black Sox an 8-4 lead before Green Bay scored a pair of runs in the seventh to make the game close.

Sayers added a single and a double along with four runs batted in while Lesage and Nick Moon each had a single and a double for the Black Sox.

The Black Sox now face Sheboygan, Wisconsin at noon and Kimberly, Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The four best records in the eight-team tournament will meet in the semi-finals on Sunday morning.