BAINBRIDGE – The Bainbridge High varsity boys baseball team handily bested the visitors from Cleveland in a 10-0 shutout win Monday, April 2.

It was the island team’s third straight win, and bumped their overall season record to 4-3.

The Spartans stayed on their home turf and hosted Franklin the very next day — an outing which they also expected to win easily.

In both games, Co-Head Coach Bill Ackerley explained, the Spartans were seeking more a friendly scrimmage than serious competition.

“Cleveland and Franklin are two programs that struggle to get enough kids to turn out,” he said. “It’s one of those disappointing circles in which the most experienced athletes don’t turn out because they struggle to compete, and they struggle to compete because the best athletes don’t turn out.”

It was a learning experience for all, Ackerley said, with the actual final score even more lopsided than the official Metro report.

“We get a win in the standings, but that game was an opportunity to give the Cleveland boys some baseball experience while we gave some at-bats to players who rarely get a chance to swing in a real game,” Ackerley said. “You have to tip your cap to the [Cleveland] coaches and players who actually try to make the best of a challenging situation.”

Reportedly, only four Cleveland players had any significant baseball experience before this season.

“The point of all this is that our season restarts in earnest on Wednesday [April 4] when we play Roosevelt in Seattle,” Ackerley said.

The Spartans will next play at home at 4 p.m. Friday, April 6, against West Seattle.