Friese happy with Bucks’ effort against Montgomery despite loss

By Bees O’Brien

Montgomery- Bucktail baseball coach Casey Friese was extremely happy with his team’s effort at Mid Penn leading Montgomery on Wednesday night.

“Best game we played all year.” said Friese following Bucktail’s 7-2 road loss to Montgomery. “Proud of the boys, they played well and Tyler was great on the mound.”

Starting pitcher Tyler Hillyer was great and his best outing of 2025 was on target. Hillyer pitched six innings and only struck out 2 Red Raiders, but he threw 63 percent of his 93 pitches for strikes and allowed just one walk.

Bucktail jumped out to a 1-0 lead following a run in the top of the third inning. Montgomery took advantage of a pair of Bucktail errors to plate 5 runs in the bottom of the third inning.

The Red Raiders’ lead grew to 7-2 following a pair of runs in their next at bat.

Bucktail plated a run in the top of the seventh inning, but a low called third strike ended a rally that stranded runners on second and third base.

Cael Dorman powered the Bucks at the plate by 3 for 3 with a run scored. Talan Ditty added a single and an RBI. Thomas Tarantella and Gary Whipp also had base hits in the loss.

Bucktail dropped to 2-11 on the season and will be back in action in Farwell on Thursday afternoon when they meet Muncy.