Wednesday June 19th at Wheaton College's Lee Pfund Stadium the Beecher Muskies opened play in the 2026 NABF Charles Blackburn Major Division World Series with a good and exciting win. This first game of their Pool A action against the Erie Buffalo had Muskies ace Bryce Shafer on the mound. The game was a no score contest for some time as the Buffalo’s pitcher Chris Newman was also hard to score on. No score would happen in the game until the 5th inning. This did not mean that there were no close chances of scoring as there were a few. In the bottom of the first the Erie Buffalo had the bases loaded with only one out.  Shafer was able to get out of this jam by consecutively striking out the Buffalo first baseman and right fielder. Shafer would again get into a jam in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded and two outs but would strike out the Buffalo’s left fielder. Then, in the top of the fifth inning, after leading off the offensive inning with back-to-back strikeouts, Muskie second baseman Lucas Acevedo would get a single and the Beecher center fielder Andrew Olsweski would reach base on an error by the Erie third baseman. With two outs and runners on second and third, Muskies shortstop Gabe McHugh would deliver with a two RBI double. McHugh would then add on in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI sacrifice flyout. Muskie starter Bryce Shafer (pictured) would respond after McHugh’s 2 RBI double by in the fifth and sixth innings striking out 5 Buffalo batters. Muskie Manager Fred LeSage would then send Shafer out for the seventh to complete the 7-inning contest with a complete game shutout. After walking the Buffalo leadoff hitter, LeSage went to the pen for Zack Millsap to finish the game. After striking out the first batter Millsap would face, Zack would then get a double play to finish the game and get the save. After the game, Manager Fred Lesage would say that his two MVPs of the game were the winning pitcher Bryce Shafer, and shortstop Gabe McHugh. Shafer would pitch 6+ innings with zero earned runs and an astounding 13 strikeouts. McHugh would get all three Muskie RBIs. After the game one win, the Muskies are set to face the Cleveland Marlins at Zimmerman field of North Central College at 6:30 PM Thursday. The Cleveland Marlins won their first game as well on Wednesday beating the New Jersey Sox by a score of 10-3. After winning the 2025 Charles Blackburn Major Division World Series, the Beecher Muskies started their journey for repeat Champions off to a good start with the win Wednesday night.

By – Luke Sanders