Several West Michigan Conference baseball teams were in action Saturday (June 3) in district tournaments.
Here is a roundup of the games reported to CatchMark SportsNet:
DIVISION 3 AT HART
Shelby’s baseball team made sure that win No. 600 for Brian Wright would be a memorable one.
For the second straight district game, the Tigers won in walk-off fashion. They beat Hesperia, 3-2, on Wyatt Dickman’s single scoring Chase Simon in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Shelby lost to White Cloud, 15-3, in the district championship game. But the last week has been one to remember for Wright and the Tigers, who beat Morley Stanwood in Tuesday’s first-round district game, 6-5, on Eli Kelley’s walk-off hit.
“The kids went crazy. You know, these last few games, we’ve had two walk-offs. You could just see how they’ve been believing in each other, you know,” Wright said.
In the 10th inning of the district semifinal, freshman Simon led off with a hit. Freshman Cam Smith followed with a nice bunt to move Simon to second. Junior Wyatt Dickman then delivered a line-shot single to left-center field to score Smon for the walk-off win.
Lalo Garcia picked up the win in relief of Danien Garcia. Lalo struck out six and allowed only one hit in four innings of work. Danien Garcia struck out 10 in six innings.
Lalo Garcia went 3-for-6 on the day. Dickman totaled four hits in the two games combined.
The young Shelby team, which fielded only on senior in catcher Travis Boughan, finished with victories in four of its last five games and finishes its season with a 10-19 record.
In the other district semifinal game, White Cloud defeated Hart, 10-0 in six innings. Shelby led White Cloud 2-0 early on, but the Tigers couldn’t hold it.
A nearly three-hour lightning delay made for a much longer day. But in many ways, Wright is trying to soak it all in.
The posters, gestures and kind words make him emotional.
“It was real surreal, you know. It’s funny, a few weeks ago, Lalo in conversation said, ‘Coach, how many wins do you have?’ I said, ‘Oh, I’m getting to a pretty cool number.’ He goes, ‘What, 750?’ and I started laughing. ‘Well, not quite 750, but we’re getting close to 600.’ He said, ‘Boy, we want to get that for you, coach,'” Wright said.
“It’s not why you play the game and that’s what I told the kids after. I said, ‘When I blow this picture up and put it in the mancave, it’s just going to be a special moment that you guys were a part of it,” Wright said. “And this goes with so many guys — kids that have played for me (during) my 42 years, my assistants. I’m hoping they all feel a piece of it, too.”
DIVISION 2 AT OAKRIDGE
Oakridge and Whitehall both saw late leads slip away in district semifinal games, ending their respective seasons.
Oakridge led Spring Lake 1-0, but the Lakers scored five runs in the sixth inning to take command and go on to a 5-1 win. Whitehall took a 12-8 lead into the seventh inning against Fruitport but could not hold it in a 14-12 loss.
In the district finals, Spring Lake defeated Fruitport, 10-4.
Oakridge managed only two hits against Spring Lake. Brody Jennings took the pitching loss, allowing five runs (four earned on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Whitehall lost a wild one to Fruitport, as the Trojans led 6-1 after one inning. The Vikings scored eight runs in the third to take a 9-8 lead. Isaac VanAmberg, Brock Morningstar, Noah Meinert and Jaden Brinkert had two hits apiece to pace Whitehall. Kyle Stratton doubled and drove in three runs.
DIVISION 2 AT KINGSLEY
Ludington saw its season come to an end in an 8-0 loss to Gladwin in the district semifinals. Gladwin went on to defeat Cadillac, 8-3, in the district finals.
Jonny Weinert took the pitching loss for the Orioles, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Gage Jones doubled and drew two walks, while Ryan Kandalec was 1-for-2.
“Today is obviously disappointing, but we don’t feel like the score represents the effort our kids put in today. We gave ourselves a chance to win going into the sixth down 1-0 against a great Gladwin team,” Ludington coach Evan Kroeze said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on our couple scoring chances and had one bad inning in the field.
“I’m very proud to be the coach of this team, as this group has shown great work ethic and character.”
DIVISION 2 AT NEWAYGO
Fremont lost 1-0 to Newaygo in the district semifinals. Newaygo went on to edge Alma in the district finals, 2-1.
No stats or details were submitted.
DIVISION 3 AT RAVENNA
North Muskegon edged Kent City, 1-0, in a pitcher’s duel in the district semifinals before the Norsemen got the bats going in a 17-5 district finals win over Montague.
CLICK HERE for complete coverage from the Ravenna district.
DIVISION 3 AT TRAVERSE CITY CHRISTIAN
Manistee advanced to the district finals with a 4-1 semifinals victory over host Traverse City Christian, but the Chippewas fell to Benzie Central in the championship game, 8-3.
Eli Workman pitched a four-hitter for Manistee in the semifinals, striking out four and walking none. Adam Workman went 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and run scored. Donavyn Kirchinger and Mason Robinson doubled for Manistee, while Tyler Protasiewicz scored two runs for the Chippewas.
In the finals, Benzie Central scored five first-inning runs to take a 5-2 lead and that proved to be enough of a cushion. Jeff Huber took the pitching loss for Manistee, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits with no strikeouts and one walk in 1 1/3 innings. Kirchinger, Protasiewicz, Ethan Edmondson, Adam Workman and Miles Joseph had hits for the Chippewas, who close with a 22-16 overall record.
DIVISION 4 AT WESTERN MICHIGAN CHRISTIAN
Holton lost a competitive game to Muskegon Catholic Central, 6-3, in the district semifinals. MCC went on to beat Western Michigan Christian, 14-1, in the district finals. Western Michigan Christian defeated Blanchard Montabella, 8-0, in the district semifinals.
No stats or details were submitted.
