04/25/2007

Prep Softball & Baseball Roundup

Elliott pitches Frankfort to sweep

West, Petoskey split; Alpena sweeps Trojans

FROM STAFF REPORTS

KINGSLEY — Jenny Elliott is proving to be almost unhittable this spring.

The Frankfort senior pitched a two-hitter in the opener and a one-hitter in the nightcap as Frankfort swept Kingsley 13-1 and 9-0 in Northwest Conference softball action.

Elliott struck out seven in the opener. At the plate she was equally impressive, pounding out four hits.Allison Webber and Laney Eubank added three hits apiece. Nikki Fisher and Courtney Stocking had the two Kingsley hits.

Elliott came back with a one-hitter in game two, striking out eight. She also had two hits, including a home run. Bree Beyette and Kirsty Rice contributed two hits apiece for the Panthers (8-0, 4-0 in conference). Fisher had the lone Kingsley hit.

TC West 0 7
Petoskey 2 2

Angie Gasco belted a two-run homer in the first inning to account for all the scoring as Petoskey beat Traverse City West 2-0 in the opener of a Big North Conference doubleheader.

Gasco pitched a three-hit shutout for Petoskey. She struck out nine. Molly Valleau suffered the loss. She gave up four hits and struck out nine.

Valleau came back with a three-hitter in the nightcap as West posted a 7-2 victory. Valleau struck out 10.

Sydney Allgaier carried the hot bat for the Titans. She had four hits and drove in three runs. Valleau, Kirsten Robinson and Kate May all contributed two hits.

West takes on Ludington on Thursday.

Alpena 15 5
TC Central 0 1

Kaitlin Gruchowski tossed a one-hit shutout and was backed by a 20-hit offensive attack as Alpena defeated Traverse City Central 15-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Thirlby Field.

Rachel Brown, Aubrey Kowalski and Kirsten Paczkowski had three hits each to pace the visiting Wildcats.

Alpena also won the second game 5-1, dropping Central to 5-6 on the season. The Trojans' lone run scored on an RBI double by Sierra Soden.

Central hosts Kalkaska on Thursday.

TC St. Francis 3 2
East Jordan 0 1

Led by the pitching of Nikki Hastings and DeLynne Montroy, Traverse City St. Francis swept East Jordan 3-0 and 2-1 in a Lake Michigan Conference doubleheader.

Hastings allowed two hits and struck out 11 in the first game. Julia Banducci singled and doubled and batted in two runs for the Gladiators (4-3, 4-0 LMC), while Lyndsay LaCourse had an RBI triple.

Montroy struck out four in the nightcap. St. Francis managed only three hits, but two of them drove in runs — one each by LaCourse and Jill Kuhlman.

Elk Rapids 4 0
Kalkaska 2 8

Alex Jennings pitched a four-hitter, striking out 12, as Elk Rapids beat Kalkaska 4-2 in the opener of a Lake Michigan Conference doubleheader.

Marissa Taylor suffered the loss despite hurling a three-hitter. She struck out 11. Kara Ponstein and Janelle Slater had RBI hits for the Blazers.

Ponstein tossed a two-hit shutout in the nightcap, an 8-0 Blazer win. Ponstein also had two hits — a home run and triple. Katie Krause delivered two hits and four RBIs for Kalkaska (6-2, 3-1).

Boyne City 7 10
Grayling 3 0

Boyne City swept Grayling 7-3 and 10-0 in a Lake Michigan Conference twinbill.

Steph Woodward and Cheyenne Shumaker were the winning pitchers for the Ramblers.

Ashley Bindschatel had two hits in the opener for Grayling.

Glen Lake 14 13
Manton 3 2

Kristen Pleva had four hits and five runs and Sabrina Galla batted in six runs as Glen Lake swept Manton 14-3, 13-2 in a Northwest Conference twinbill.

Pleva had two hits and two runs in the opener, while Galla had two hits and four RBIs. Lauren Pleva and Tara Novak batted in two runs each to back the pitching of Danielle Noonan.

Noonan and Cori Kahler combined to win game two, improving the Lakers to 8-0 (4-0 league). Leading hitters were Kirsten Pleva (2 hits, 3 runs), Galla (2 RBIs) and Lauren Pleva (2 runs).

Clarissa Hesselink had two hits in the nightcap for Manton.

Mancelona 1 1
Gaylord S.M. 0 5

Brooke Orman struck out 10 batters in 12 scoreless innings and Desiree Brandt drove in Stephanie Adams with the winning run as Mancelona edged Gaylord St. Mary 1-0 in the first game of a Ski Valley Conference doubleheader.

Maggie Shanahan singled and doubled for the Lady Ironmen (3-3, 2-1 league), who host Forest Area on Thursday.

Gaylord St. Mary won the second game 5-1. Shanahan and Sam Watkins each had a double and two singles for Mancelona. Watkins also swiped two bases.

TCSF JV 12 10
East Jordan JV 1 1

Rachel Overmire and Amy Brunner combined to strike out 24 batters as the Traverse City St. Francis junior varsity topped East Jordan's JV 12-1 and 10-1.

Overmire fanned 12 and gave up only two hits in the opener and Brunner had the same success in the nightcap, striking out 12 and giving up two hits.

Allison Vanderkolk was 2-for-2 and Heather Larsen was 3-for-4 in the second contest for the Glads (6-0), who take on the TC Central junior varsity on Wednesday at Thirlby Field.

BASEBALL

TC West 2 6
Petoskey 12 4

Chad Braun's RBI single plated Corey Keyton and proved to be the game-winner as Traverse City West came back in the nightcap to win 6-4 and salvage a split with Petoskey.

The Titans trailed 4-3 in the top of the seventh and final inning, scoring three runs with two out.

Chris Reed was the winning pitcher for West (8-4, 1-1), with John Purdy picking up a save.

Petoskey scored 13 runs in the first two innings on 11 hits en route to winning 13-2. Keyton was 3-for-3 with a solo home run and Jordan Rife added two hits.

The Titans host Caledonia on Saturday.

TC St. Francis 6 5
East Jordan 4 2

Winning pitcher Dan Brick helped his own cause with a home run and triple as St. Francis defeated East Jordan 6-4 in the opener of a Lake Michigan Conference doubleheader.

Brick allowed six hits. He struck out 10. Parker Prusick had three hits for the Gladiators (3-4-1, 3-0-1).

In the nightcap, Zach Lizenby and Prusick pitched St. Francis to a 5-2 win.

The Gladiators will play Lake Leelanau St. Mary's at 10 a.m. at Wuerfel Park as part of a four-team tournament. Games will also be played at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 and are good for the whole day.

Grayling 6 2
Boyne City 2 6

Richie Schreiber tossed a four-hitter as Grayling upended Boyne City 6-2 in the first of two Lake Michigan Conference games.

Jordan Herrick drove in two runs and Eric Ferrigan one for the Vikings (2-6, 2-4).

Boyne City won the nightcap 6-2.

Charlevoix 3 11
Harbor Springs 1 1

Sparked by the pitching and hitting of Chris Waha, Charlevoix swept Harbor Springs 3-1 and 11-1 in Lake Michigan Conference action.

Waha tripled and scored and was the winning pitcher in the opener. He allowed six hits and one unearned run in six innings.

J.D. Speigl also had an RBI double.

The Rayders (4-4, 2-2 LMC), who host Ellsworth on Friday, won the nightcap as Danny Waldron pitched a one-hitter, striking out six.

Pacing the offense were Jon Putman (3 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), Waha (3-run triple), Michael Heckendorn (2 runs) and R.J. Moore (2 RBIs).

Kalkaska 4 4
Elk Rapids 16 2

Steven Bonofiglio had two hits in each game, but Kalkaska only managed to win the nightcap.

Travis Shuba was the winning pitcher as the Blazers (4-4, 2-2 Lake Michigan) defeated league rival Elk Rapids 4-2.

The Elks won the opener 16-4.

Frankfort 10 3
Kingsley 4 5

Rob Kautman prevented a sweep, allowing only two Frankfort hits as Kingsley won the nightcap 5-3.

Frankfort won the opener 10-4 as Wade Luxford had two doubles and scored three runs and Max Banktson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and received the win on the mound.

Dan Taylor was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Tyler Schoening had two hits and an RBI for the Stags (5-2, 3-1), who host Pine River on Thursday.

In the nightcap, Taylor was again 3-for-3, adding two more doubles and scoring two runs.

Mesick 13 2
Suttons Bay 10 0

Mesick scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning to beat Suttons Bay, 13-10.

Josh Feickert (two doubles), Jeff Ruthkowski, Shane Kaufman and Danny Holmes (double) had two hits for Suttons Bay (5-7, 2-2 Northwest).

Holmes and Feickert had doubles as Suttons Bay lost 2-0 in the nightcap.

Glen Lake 4 14
Manton 6 4

Josh Scarbrough and Joey Galla each had four hits and two RBIs to pace a 22-hit attack as Glen Lake defeated Manton 14-4 in the second game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader.

Weston Buchan added three hits and Josh Jacklin and Gary Brown each had two hits and two RBIs for the Lakers (2-8 1-3 league).

Galla was the winning pitcher, allowing five hits and striking out eight.

Glen Lake's KC Novak had two hits in the first game.

Mancelona 10 2
Gaylord S.M. 0 1

Zach Squires had three hits, two runs, two RBIs and three stolen bases in Mancelona's 10-0, 2-1 sweep of Gaylord St. Mary.

Squires and Bruce Kaufman both went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three steals to back the pitching of Cody Sehl in the opener. Sehl struck out five in five innings.

Squires was the winning pitcher in game two. Greg Blanco earned the save. Tommy Pecar natted in two runs for the Ironmen (5-1, 3-0 Ski Valley).

Forest Area 9 6
Onaway 7 3

Winning pitcher Jared Gerring drove in two runs as Forest Area edged Onaway 9-7 in the opener of a Ski Valley Conference doubleheader.

Catcher Justin Gordon scored three runs for the Warriors. Tyler Denike added two hits and two RBIs.

Denike earned the win in the nightcap, a 6-3 Forest Area win. Gerring drove in three runs.