We saw four West Michigan Conference teams take the diamond on Tuesday night in win-or-go-home pre-district games in the Division Three MHSAA tournament.
WMC-Rivers league champions North Muskegon traveled to take on runner-up Ravenna for a mid-week playoff game. The Norse, backed by a no-hitter from Logan Slimko, advanced to the district semifinal with a 5-1 win over Ravenna.
As for the district north of Muskegon, Manistee and Hesperia competed in their pre-district and it turned out to be a potential game-of-the-year candidate after the Panthers walked it off in the ninth.
North Muskegon 5, Ravenna 1
It’s safe to say both North Muskegon and Ravenna got handed tough draws after having well-above-average regular seasons. Though with a tough district, it was inevitable that the two would likely meet at some point.
Both ballclubs elected to throw their aces on Tuesday—Dylan May for Ravenna and Logan Slimko for North Muskegon. Slimko tossed seven innings of no-hit ball and allowed zero earned runs (1 R) while striking out 13 hitters. May left the game early in the first inning and was relieved by Zeke Erler, who gave up a double to Slimko that drove in three North Muskegon runs.
The Norse scored one run in the bottom of the second and one in the third. Ravenna, who had just three baserunners all game, scored in the top of the fourth on a passed ball.
Jaxon Bean had two hits, including an RBI double. Kylan Nielsen also collected two hits, and Slimko, to go along with his no-hitter, drilled in three RBIs.
Hesperia 4, Manistee 3
In walk-off fashion and backed by an 8.1-inning performance from Blake Sayer off the mound, Hesperia ended Manistee’s season in extra innings on Tuesday.
Both Manistee and Hesperia scored two runs in the first and traded runs in the second and third innings to even the score 3-3 heading into the fourth. Neither ballclub was able to manufacture any runs between the fourth and eighth innings, forcing both managers to use their bullpens.
Manistee was able to get the lead-off hitter on after a single, but a pair of flyouts and a fielder’s choice ended the early rally. Back-to-back singles and an intentional walk set the Panthers up with bases loaded, nobody out.
Nearly any ball hit in play would score Sayer from third, which was exactly what Abe Escobedo executed. A ground ball to second base scored Sayer, and the celebration began after nine innings.
North Muskegon will play Montague on Saturday, which will make for an instant classic.
Hesperia travels to Hart (District 72 host) to play the Pirates in the semifinal on Saturday.
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