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Falcons lose for first time this season

By Andrew Selich

Sports Editor

OTISVILLE - Racked by injuries, North Branch baseball coach Chuck Jacobson only had 10 healthy players on Friday to play against undefeated LakeVille. So, Jacobson decided to bring up a few ballplayers from the Broncos J.V. team.

The new team responded, pulling off the 14-10 upset victory over the Falcons in non-conference play. The second game was called due to darkness.

With just 10 kids available to play against a powerhouse team like LakeVille, Jacobson knew some changes needed to be made.

"We only had ten healthy kids on our roster," Jacobson said. "So, we brought up two freshman from the J.V. team in case of another injury. Both Corry Reed and Dennis Natke developed tightness in their arms in the first inning, so we had to put in both freshman at that point.

"Both of those kids played very well."

Freshman Daniel Jacobson ended 2-for-2 with a walk, a sac fly and an RBI. Fellow freshman Uriah Horton was 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base while also playing, according to his coach, "flawless" in centerfield.

"We won our first game of the year out there," Jacobson said. "LakeVille was previously unbeaten.

"We had to comeback to win it, though."

LakeVille wasted little time taking the early lead on Friday. The Falcons pounded out eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, chasing North Branch starting pitcher Reed from the game.

North Branch scored three times in the top of the second to cut into the Falcons advantage, and from there, the comeback was on. The Broncos scored four more times in the top of the fourth, and relief pitcher Luke Bonner hurled the last six innings for the Broncos, allowing just two more runs to LakeVille's hitters.

North Branch added three more in the sixth to take the 10-8 lead before LakeVille made some noise in the bottom of the inning. The Falcons crossed homeplate two times to tie the game at 10-10.

North Branch scored four times in the top of the seventh to take the four run lead, and Bonner kept LakeVille from adding to their total in final inning for the win.

Bonner also had a big game at the plate. The junior was 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored. Will Orr was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs. Deane Baker, Paul Husted and Jack Libke each added two hits in the win for North Branch.

Around the horn - Saturday

Grand Blanc Tournament

Goodrich 2, Walled Lake 1

Goodrich 3, Alma 2

At the Grand Blanc Invitational baseball tournament on Saturday, Goodrich (9-0, 4-0 GAC) won the championship with an extra innings 3-2 victory over Alma.

In the title game, both teams scored early, as the game was tied 1-1 after the first.

Alma took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth, which is how it would stay until the sixth when Goodrich's Caleb Jones scored on a Brett Johnson ground ball.

The game would remain 2-2 until the eighth, when Goodrich took the lead for good. Jake Bourassa led off the inning with walk. He then stole second base. Bourassa advanced to third on a Jones groundout, getting in position to win the game. With the Alma infield pulled in, Johnson slapped a hit to the Alma shortstop, but Bourassa beat the throw home for the game-winning run.

"This was a very big day for the Martians," Goodrich coach Bob Foreback said. "This tournament was loaded with some very good teams.

"We feel very fortunate to come out with the trophy."

Johnson was named the tournament player of the day, as he accounted for all three RBIs in the championship game.

Around the horn - Friday

Imlay City 5, Yale 0: At Yale, the Spartans Justin Pitt threw seven innings, striking out 10 as Imlay City handled the Bulldogs on Friday in BWAC action.

Pitt allowed just two hits to the Yale batters. Pitt helped himself along at the plate, collecting two hits and an RBI. Steve Lesniak had two hits and an RBI, Kevin Ahrens had a double and an RBI and Blaine Goertler had a hit, scored a run and drove one in.

Imlay City is now 3-0 (2-0 BWAC) while Yale falls to 2-5.

Lapeer East 1-2, Grand Blanc 9-3: At Grand Blanc, the Eagles fell to 3-3 on the season in the doubleheader sweep on Friday.

East scored first in the opener, but the Bobcats scored all nine of their runs from the third to the fifth innings.

"Grand Blanc got some big hits," East coach Larry Grumley said. "They took advantage of some untimely walks.

"The score was not an indication of how close the game was."

The second game was closer in score. Grand Blanc scored twice in the first and once more in the third to take an early 3-0 lead. The Eagles responded with one in the third and one more in the fifth, but would get no closer.

Kris Pender hit a solo homer for East in Game 1.

In Game 2, Jamie Logan had a double and an RBI and Robert Tadazak also doubled with an RBI.

Dryden 7-2, Memphis 1-11: At Dryden, the Cardinals' Tom Ferrett struck out five over six innings in the opener, helping his team to the win over the Yellowjackets. Ferrett allowed just two hits. He also helped his team at the plate, getting two hits, one of which was a triple.

In Game 2, Ferrett threw another three innings, striking out one, but Memphis ended up taking the win.

Ferrett added three more hits for Dryden (4-1, 3-1 NCTL) in the nightcap.

ï Millington 3-2, Montrose 1-6: Jake Morningstar threw a four-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead Millington (1-5) past Montrose in the first game of a doubleheader.

Nick Percy pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding only one earned run and fanned six to pick up the win for Montrose (7-1) in the second game.