Onekama’s Dallas Hearit delivers a pitch during the second game of Monday’s doubleheader against Manistee Catholic Central. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)
Posted by Dylan Savela, News Advocate
MANISTEE — Joe Eno gave himself some extra work Monday, May 13, when he knocked a three-run double to the fence in the top of the sixth inning.
The Onekama senior’s swing eventually sent the game into extras, where he would pick up a win on the mound in an eight-inning start.
The Portagers kept their momentum from the 10-7 come-from-behind victory and completed the West Michigan D League sweep of Manistee Catholic Central with a 5-3 win in the nightcap.
“Joe drives one to the fence, and got us back even. What a yeoman’s job he did,” said Onekama coach John Neph. “Eight innings of pitching — battling and battling — and then to do that.
“We found ways today, with timely hitting and a few breaks, to get some runs in. I’m proud of the guys for rallying.”
With another pair of league wins, Onekama (13-5, 10-1 WMD) is atop the standings with the season winding to a close.
The Sabers (4-8, 4-4 WMD), however, looked to be in good shape for the majority of the opener.
Led by three-hit performances from Ben Feliczak and Andrew Perry, MCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two and a 6-3 advantage after four.
In the top of the sixth, however, the Portagers loaded up with no outs before Eno cleared the bags with a double to the Rietz Park fence.
After a scoreless seventh, Onekama plated four runs in the eighth, and limited the Sabers to just one in bottom half of the frame.
Eno got the win, allowing seven hits with seven strikeouts.
“We continue to be plagued by errors,” said MCC coach Dave Ranville, citing six unearned runs in the opener’s letdown loss. “You just can’t do that.
“Again, I don’t think we hit the ball too bad,” he added. “We’ve been hitting pretty good, actually, it’s just that we’ve been letting in too many runs.
