TRAVERSE CITY — It’s possible for something to feel like the end, but also only the start at the very same time.
That’s exactly where the Charlevoix baseball team was caught between following their Division 3 regional championship game Saturday in Traverse City.
A 10-6 loss for the Rayders closed the record-breaking 2023 campaign against Standish-Sterling, but with just two seniors on the team, it also had the feeling of only the beginning for Charlevoix.
When it was all said and done on the scoreboard at Traverse City Central, the biggest difference through seven innings came in when the Rayders were able to put hits together.
“It’s disappointing to say the least,” Charlevoix coach Scott Nickel said. “It boils down to, they strung hits together and we didn’t. We hit the ball pretty good, we just really couldn’t string anything together.”
That’s about spot on.
Charlevoix had 10 hits to the Panthers’ 11 and actually committed one fewer error in a one to two margin, though the Rayders never drew a walk and couldn’t get those big hits when they needed them to get a few extra runs on the board.
The loss closed out a 30-6-1 season for Charlevoix, a new program-high for wins in a season, while the win moved Standish into the quarterfinal round, where they then toped Gladstone in a 5-4 final.
Gladstone advanced past Benzie Central in their regional final in a 6-4 final earlier in the day.
Charlevoix fell behind 4-1 after the first inning, then 5-2 heading to the fourth.
Both teams essentially traded runs from there, something the Rayders couldn’t do if they were to climb back in.
Ryan Pearl finished the game 3 for 4 with a double and RBI, Patrick Sterrett drove in two runs, AJ Speigl went 2 for 4, Hunter Lemerand singled in a run, Bryce Johnson had an RBI and Owen Waha, Troy Nickel and Dylan Clapp all singled.
Johnson took the loss after two innings, giving up three hits and five walks, striking out four, then Waha pitched two and allowed two hits and three walks, with three strikeouts. Sterrett also went the final three and struck out two.
Sterrett and Jack Jarema will graduate as the lone two seniors on the team, something that sets the Rayders up well for the future, though there’s some holes in the outfield for now.
“We’re very young,” said Nickel. “We’re only losing two guys. We’ll have to fill a hole in left field and a big hole in center, but we’ve got a lot back.”
That has Nickel feeling good about the years ahead of course, with guys like Waha, Speigl and Pearl being only sophomores, to go along with the other juniors.
But, for now, he’ll first look back on 2023 as one of his fondest memories.
“It was by far the most fun I’ve ever had coaching a team,” he said. “They’re all competitors and most of them are baseball kids.”