Hurons make it 14 district titles in 15 years; host third-ranked St. Mary?s

The Huron baseball players will be looking for a repeat performance of last Saturday?s district tournament games when they host regionals Saturday on Steven Schalk Memorial Field. Rogers City (24-11) won the district championship by blasting Atlanta in their semifinal game, 10-0, and Onaway in the title contest, 12-4. The baseball program has won 14 out of the last 15 district tournaments they have played in. ?We worked for everything we got,? said coach Howard Madsen. ?I told them we needed to be workman-like — bring the lunch buckets — and make the plays, and that?s what we did.?

The Hurons pounded the ball against two left-handers, made the plays in the field, and received solid pitching performances from winning starters Adam LaLonde (8-2) and Judd Vekaryasz (8-2). ?Defensively, I was really, really happy,? Madsen said. ?I think if we played the way we did today, next Saturday, we?ll be going on.?

ON PAPER, the toughest opponent Rogers City could face Saturday is the one they?ll be matched up against in the regional semifinal contest at 10 a.m. Gaylord St. Mary is 31-5 and ranked third in Division IV. The other teams competing in the district are Pellston and Bellaire. The Snowbirds have two senior pitchers they can use, left-hander John Spyhalski, who has thrown three no-hitters this season, and righty Aaron Davis. Both stand about 6? 4?, but Madsen has confidence in his hitters. ?We can hit either one of them,? said Madsen. The Huron team batting average is about .420 for the season.

Gaylord St. Mary and Rogers City have a common opponent — Rudyard — which will be competing in the Division III regional tournament at Traverse City St. Francis. Both the Hurons and Snowbirds split with the Bulldogs. St. Mary?s best hitter is speedster Troy Blasius. He has a .470 average with 41 stolen bases. Madsen said Bellaire and Pellston have one good pitcher each, which they may use in their semifinal game, to reach the regional championship game. ?The kids are playing well together,? said Madsen. ?It started in our pre-district game.? The coach believes the tough schedule during the regular season and the lessons learned during their 11 losses will now pay off.

IN THE DISTRICT title game against their neighbors from the west, the Huron hitters tattooed Onaway senior Taylor Beswick. Cody Wenzel opened with a hit, stole second, and came home on a double by Tim Cercone. LaLonde brought Cercone in on an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch. RC added another run on an error and led 4-0. In the bottom of the first, Eric Bentley doubled off the fence to get one back, and another run came in on a fielder?s choice, cutting the Huron lead to two. Justin Kelley in the top of the second ripped a two-out solo homer, a few yards inside the left field foul pole, about 325 feet away, to give Rogers City a 5-2 lead. Vekaryasz held Onaway in check in the bottom of the second. LaLonde opened the third with a double and later scored on a RBI single by Dylan Centala. Vekaryasz legged out an infield hit and scored on a sacrifice by Nathan Darga.

Wenzel then laced a two-RBI single to bring in Centala and Ben Basel, and Rogers City was well on its way. The Hurons chalked up three runs in the top of the fourth. Centala added another RBI hit and scored another run. The lead was 12-2 and Onaway never got close again. Vekaryasz got on a roll, setting down seven in a row, before Johnny Palmer doubled in the sixth. Juddallowed six hits and two walks, while striking out three. ?We?re trying for state, but it?s one game at a time,? said Vekaryasz. ?You can?t be thinking it?s going to be easy. They played good, but we played better today.?

IN THE EARLY game, the Rogers City sluggers didn?t get going until the second inning. Atlanta pitcher Eric Ball hit two out of the three batters he faced in the inning. An error by the first baseman loaded the bases for Basel who hit a line shot to right to knock in two. Darga would score on a passed ball, upping the lead to three, and Kelley came through with a sacrifice bunt to bring in Basel. Another four-run inning was in the books. LaLonde opened the third with a walk and scored on a RBI

double by Vekaryasz. Judd later came home on another RBI by Basel and the lead was six. The Huskies continued to make mistakes in the field and on the basepaths. The best scoring threat was snuffed out by a runner not paying attention at third base. LaLonde motioned with the ball for Wenzel to cover the bag for the runner slowly walking back to third. He threw over and Wenzel made the easy tag. The Hurons added two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and a passed ball brought in the final run in the bottom of the fifth, invoking the mercy rule. LaLonde allowed two hits, struck out four, and gave up only three walks.

?They played two excellent defensive games today,? said Madsen. ?I?ve been getting excellent pitching. We made some really nice plays today. Some of the double plays we made were really impressive.? Rogers City is looking for its first regional title since 2002.