Lakers, Portagers Split Last Doubleheader

By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer

ONEKAMA — In the last doubleheader of the regular season for both schools, Onekama and Bear Lake each walked away with a victory.

The Lakers (6-9) had the upper hand in the low-scoring first game, winning 1-0.

“We did a good job in the first game in both hitting and playing defense,” Lakers coach April Bradford said of the win.

The Lakers were led by Sarah Hilliard on the mound, who struck out 10 Onekama batters en route to picking up the win.

“We didn’t seem like we wanted to swing,” Onekama coach Phil Sedelmaier said. “We weren’t very selective with the pitches we swung at, but I don’t want to take anything away from Sarah Hilliard. She pitched an outstanding game for them.”

Hilliard also had two hits and an RBI for the Lakers at the plate. Also for Bear Lake, Shelby Dansby and Katelyn Traeger each had three hits, while Jaimey Ferguson, Katelynn Holly, Abigail Smeltzer, and Katie Mortenson all had two, and Rochelle Diller, Kaydee Swanson, and Samantha Stockfisch each had one.

On the mound for the Portagers (11-15-1) was Chelsea Miller who tallied two strikeouts. At the plate for Onekama, Sherece Revolt, Brooke Sedelmaier and Nicki Slater all had a hit.

“At the end of the first game, we started settling down and started putting the ball in play, which we carried into the second game,” Sedelmaier said. “I think we came out the second game a little hungry since we lost the first game, and played much better.”

Despite seven more strikeouts from Hilliard in four innings pitched, the Lakers were unable to slow down Onekama’s bats.

Senior Paige Rutowski led the way for the Portagers, going 3-3 with a double and three RBIs, while Slater went 2-3 with two RBIs and Revolt and Sedelmaier each had a hit and an RBI.

Miller pitched her second complete game of the night and picked up five strikeouts for Onekama.

At the plate for the Lakers, Hilliard, Swanson, Dansby, and Mortenson each had three hits, while Ferguson, Diller, Traeger, and Stockfisch all had two and Holly added one.

“I think we got a little tired in the second game,” Bradford said. “Our hitting was so-so, we still need a little work on that but if we come and play our game we’ll be able to put up a good fight (in districts).”

As for the Portagers, Onekama has won three of its last four games and Sedelmaier is pleased with how the team is playing heading into districts. “We’re seeing glimpses of everything starting to click,” Sedelmaier said. “We’re getting some hits from different people every night. It’s kind of nice to get a win like (tonight). When they could have easily called it a day, they didn’t, and picked their head up and played ball.”