Birds drop two in opening day of Gopher Classic

Chester Bird dropped its first two games of the Jim Hanus Gopher Classic, falling 13-4 to Alexandria and 7-5 to East Ridge.

In the opener, The Birds were held in check on just three hits but received nine walks as none of the team's runs were driven in with base hits.

In the loss to East Ridge, Chester Bird took a 4-0 lead after two innings but a seven-run third by the Raptors proved to be the difference as neither team scored a run after the third inning.

The Birds' Kenny Polarek was nearly flawless outside the third inning. Seven of the 12 hits he allowed came in the inning but he held East Ridge in check over the final four innings, giving his team a chance to come back.

Chester Bird scored three times in the first inning, getting an RBI single from Joe Melles before Gabe MacDonald's second home run of the season made it 3-0.

The fourth run came in the second when Greg Zeman singled with two outs and scored on Melles' double.

After East Ridge's seven-run third, The Birds opened the bottom of the third inning with a double by John Kernan and back-to-back singles by Jack McGinn and Bobby Papetti.

Saturday, Chester Bird plays at 3:30 and 6 p.m., taking on West Warwick and Sioux Falls East.