GAYLORD ― The end of the spring high school sports season can feel as chaotic as it can exciting.
After months of gloomy, damp and sometimes snowy weather gave area teams fits, the spring weather is finally (seemingly) here to stay, meaning teams are able to get all their regular games, make-up games and any additional games left on the schedule out of the way as they build towards the looming postseason.
The MHSAA playoffs are right around the corner, with the first round of baseball and softball districts kicking off on Tuesday, May 30. Before we look ahead to those games, see how area teams are wrapping up their final stretches of regular season games before the postseason begins.
Gaylord takes two in weekend play, swept in conference doubleheader
The up-and-down season for the Blue Devils baseball team continued over the team’s last four games, with the high coming on Saturday, May 20 with wins over Kingsley and Gladstone, while the low came on Tuesday, May 23 as the Alpena Wildcats sent the Blue Devils home with two conference losses.
Saturday’s games took place in Big Rapids, Mich. as the Blue Devils traveled south for the Cardinal Invite. Their road trips have been a mixed bag this year, but this trip turned out as well as it could as they took down Kingsley 5-3 in game one and Gladstone 10-5 in game two to finish the day 2-0.
Game one was tied 1-1 until the Blue Devils broke open the game with a four-run fourth inning, highlighted by back-to-back RBI singles from Louden Stradling and Luke Enders. Those two players led the way, with Stradling finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and Enders getting the win on the mound, allowing two runs on three hits in three innings of work.
Meanwhile, Gaylord’s offense wasted no time jumping all over the Gladstone pitchers in game two, scoring four runs in the top of the first and five runs in the top of the third en route to a 10-5 victory.
Will Bethuy led the way this time, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Enders had two hits, a run scored and three RBI, while Aidan Locker also added two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Locker also got the win with one earned run and four strikeouts in four innings of work.
That script flipped when the Blue Devils made it back to conference play, allowing 11 and 13 runs in back-to-back losses to Alpena on Tuesday.
Louden Stradling had two hits in the game one loss, while Torino Lamerato had two hits in the game two loss.
Now 14-16-1, Gaylord has two final BNC games against Cadillac on Tuesday, May 30 before kicking off districts with a matchup with Petoskey on Saturday, June 3.
GSM wraps regular season with sweep of Central Lake
After falling twice to Inland Lakes on Thursday, May 18, the St. Mary’s Snowbirds were back in action the very next day, wrapping their Ski Valley Conference schedule and regular season schedule in general with a doubleheader at Central Lake.
The two evenly matched teams played two games that followed wildly different paths to the same outcome, back-to-back St. Mary’s wins, wrapping the Snowbirds’ regular season on a high note.
Game one was a pitcher’s duel the entire way, with Donovan Blust going head-to-head with Drayton Evans. Blust got the best of Evans and the Trojans in the end, pitching six innings of scoreless baseball, meaning the lone run Evans gave up in the first inning was enough to sink the Trojans’ ace. and give GSM the victory.
Blust allowed just three hits, striking out seven. Gavin Bebble led the way at the plate, finishing with two hits including a double while scoring the only run of the game.
Game two was an offensive battle as the teams combined for 22 runs in six innings, with St. Mary’s pulling away late with four runs in the sixth for a 14-8 victory the second time around.
Bebble had three hits, two RBI and two stolen bases, while Hogan McKinley and Jack O’Connell had two hits apiece. The Snowbirds managed 10 hits and 12 RBI off three different Central Lake pitchers.
St. Mary wraps the season with a 19-3-1 record. Now, they wait until Saturday, June 3 for their district semifinal matchup with Boyne Falls.
JoBurg softball ties with Hillman, bounces back to beat Rogers City
The Johannesburg-Lewiston softball team tested itself against some of the best teams Michigan’s Division 4 has to offer, taking on No. 5 Hillman On Friday, May 19 before battling No. 6 Rogers City on Monday, May 22.
And, in a year where the Cardinals have won 21 games and lost just twice, the two-game stretch may have been their most impressive as they finished 1-0-1 against the top ten team, finishing with a 1-1 tie in the Hillman game before taking a 4-3 win over Rogers City.
The game against Hillman was a pitcher’s duel between two of the best in D4, JL’s Jayden Marlatt and Hillman’s Nicole Barbeau. Marlatt finished with eight strikeouts while allowing just one hit, while Brbeau allowed three hits and struck out six. In the end, both offenses managed a single run each, with JL’s Jocelyn Tobias and Hillman’s Gretchen Weiland both homering to score the lone runs of the day.
That game takes on extra meaning as the teams look toward the postseason as there’s a chance the two could meet in the district finals on Saturday, June 3.
Meanwhile, it was a standout performance from Marlatt that led the Cardinals to a 4-3 win over Rogers City on Monday, dominating in the circle and at the plate. Offensively, she hit two home runs in two at-bats, adding three RBI and two runs scored while pitching all six innings, allowing three runs on two hits while striking out 12 batters.
The back-to-back solid performances against top-ranked opponents have put the Cardinals among the top competitors to make a postseason run, not just in the district rounds, but as far as they can go in the D4 bracket.
JoBurg baseball goes 3-3 over six-game stretch
Finally, JoBurg baseball has been as busy as any team the past week and a half, playing six games from Friday, May 19 to Wednesday, May 24.
They ended that stretch 3-3 overall, splitting a doubleheader with Hillman on Friday, getting swept by Rogers City on Monday before sweeping Pellston on Wednesday.
JoBurg bounced back from an 11-1 loss to Hillman in game one for an 11-4 win in game two. Will Boden and Riley McVannel led the way with two hits apiece in the win, each adding an RBI and three runs scored to their tallies.
After dropping both games to Rogers City, the Cardinals swept the Pellston Hornets with 18-2 and 8-3 wins, finishing the six-game stretch at .500. McVannel tallied three hits including a double and four RBI in the game-one win, while he added another three hits and three RBI in the game-two win.
Colin Basinski also had an impressive two games, tallying four hits, six RBI, a home run and a double. Eli Lindbert had two doubles and two RBI in the game two win as well.