Despite the loss, Lake Placid came away with plenty of positives, especially since this was the first time the team had been on a baseball diamond this spring.

In the close contest, Lake Placid held a 4-2 edge in hits and Blue Bombers pitchers threw twice as many strikeouts as King, who pitched a complete game while earning the shutout victory.

“I’m not disappointed at all,” Lake Placid coach Brian Brandes said. “We had four hits and they only had two, and we had eight strikeouts and they only struck us out four times.”

The teams combined for six hits, all singles. Bailey Cross came up with the big hit for NAC, singling home King for the game’s only run. Ryan Manion picked up the other Bobcats hit.

Tucker Angelopoulos, Shane McNierney, Noah Mohr and Chris Williams rapped out a single each for Lake Placid.

Williams and McNierney worked the mound for the Blue Bombers. Williams, a sophomore, started and played five solid innings. He gave up both NAC hits, struck out six and walked five. McNierney fanned two batters and walked one while throwing in the sixth and seventh innings.

“I was happy with our pitching,” Brandes said. “I thought Chris and Shane did very well for our first time out.”

Brandes also praised the opposition’s pitching, as King threw 97 pitches, including 63 strikes, while going the distance for the Bobcats. He walked just two batters.

“I think he did a really good job for them,” Brandes said. “He kept us off-balance at times. He picked one of our guys off at first, and that was huge for them, and we had another runner thrown out at third. They made some nice defensive plays. One or two here and there in a tight game, those plays can mean the difference.

“What I really like seeing was the fact that we came out in the last inning and had two hits,” Brandes continued. “We have a young team, and we hung right in there, first day out. Late in the game, we had five sophomores and one freshman playing the field at the same time.”

The Blue Bombers are next scheduled to play a doubleheader on the road against AuSable Valley. Their next home game is slated for Friday against Saranac Central starting at 4:30 p.m.