MANISTEE — In a doubleheader split, both
teams derive the same tangible objective of a win.
However, that doesn’t mean both squads
leave feeling the same about a split, which was the case Monday as
Onekama and Manistee Catholic Central each won a game in a West
Michigan D League doubleheader at Rietz Park. The Portagers walked
away smiling while the Sabers were more subdued.
The reason is simple. Just 12 days earlier, the young Onekama team
lost a pair of games to MCC by a combined score of 22-4. So, after a
4-2 loss in the opener Monday, the Portagers were pleased with a 7-4
win in the nightcap to salvage the split.
“We’ve been getting better and better the past 10 days and tonight
was a just pinnacle,” said Onekama coach John Neph. “We really made
a jump last week against Pentwater and the game tonight was really
good. I’m excited for the kids. They deserve success for all the
hard work they’ve put in.” MCC coach Mike Kolanowski said he thought
his team was a little flat, but also acknowledged a solid effort
across the diamond.
“I think they looked a lot better,” he
said of Onekama. “Coach Neph is doing a great job. He’s getting
those kids to turn a corner. They looked like a totally different
team.”
The Sabers (9-9-2, 5-3 WMD) won the opener as Nick Doyle had three
hits and three RBIs. He started on the mound and allowed two runs
and struck out seven over three innings before Alex Bialik relieved
him and tossed three shutout innings.
MCC scored three runs in the second inning while Onekama got two in
the third on Curtis McKenney’s two-run single.
Bryce Reckow pitched a solid game for the Poratgers (8-13, 8-5 WMD)
and struck out nine.
The Sabers opened the nightcap with two runs in the top of the first
on RBI singles by Doyle and Andrew Perry. The Portagers countered in
the bottom of the first with run-scoring doubles from Joe Eno and
Jared Miller to tie the game. MCC reclaimed the lead on an RBI
single from Jared Janicki in the third and made it 4-2 in the fifth.
Just five outs from another loss, the Portagers rallied in the
bottom of the fifth with five runs on five hits. Stephen Verrett got
it started with a one-out single, Eno was hit by a pitch and Jared
Miller ripped an RBI single. After McKenny singled to load the
bases, MCC’s Mason Clark was called for catcher’s interference as
the Portagers were attempting a suicide squeeze, which tied the
game. Josh Jacobs followed with a two-run single and Tanner Kott,
who had two hits in the game, singled in another run to close the
scoring.
