Onekama plates 24 runs in sweep

By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer

ONEKAMA — It was the second time of the night.

The second time a ball from Ryan Miller’s bat sailed over the fence, and the second time Onekama shutout Mason County Central.

Miller’s homer with two men on in the top of the fourth inning brought Onekama’s lead to 15-0 in the second game of its doubleheader, and left the Portagers (5-6, 3-0) three outs away from ending the game early due to the mercy rule.

“All I do is try to hit the ball and let my bat do the work,” Miller said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit, so I just had to keep going and get my bat going.”

The Portagers’ nightcap shutout came after their 9-0 victory against the Cardinals (3-6, 2-2) earlier in the day.

“They beat us in all aspects,” MCE coach Dan Hanson said. “They played a very good game.”

Portager junior Dan Gillespie captured the win on the mound in the first game of the doubleheader, while junior Thomas Koon won the second. Each pitcher struck out three batters.

“It all starts with pitching,” Onekama coach John Neph said. “Danny Gillespie and Thomas Koon pitched the best games they pitched all year. It was awesome.

All Sports at Onekama 2008-2009
Onekama High School 2008-2009

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Date: 4/23/09
Article & Photos by Dylan Savela

Onekama senior catcher Hunter Slade celebrates
a successful inning with coach John Neph against
MCE Thursday. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

“It was a well-pitched game and part of that is because of Hunter Slade, our catcher. And the fact we didn’t make any errors behind our pitching.”

In the first game, Koon had two hits, while Miller had a double and a home run. “I think it’s the best we’ve played all year,” Miller said. “We got our bats going. It’s what we’ve needed to do.”

Along with Miller’s home run serving as an exclamation point in the nightcap, Koon, Slade, Nathan Fitch and Adrian Norman all got on base with hits.

“All around, we didn’t make any mistakes,” Neph said. “We’ve been working hard on our base running — that was better tonight. “And, when you pitch, play defense and hit, you’ve got a pretty good chance to win,” he added. “Everything came together (on defense) and then you had Ryan Miller sticking the ball ... it was by far our best doubleheader this season. It was important for us, because MCE has always been a very good baseball program and we had to bounce back from our four-game losing streak. So, to bounce back and come and play like that — it was awesome.”