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Alpena Blue wins 11U title, finishes 2nd in 12U

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena Blue won the 11U title during the 2017 Cal Ripken Michigan State Tournament in Alpena and finished runner-up in the 12U division. Team members include Anden Marceau, Anthony Thompson, Caleb McEwen, Cam Stevens, Easton Srebnik, Gabe Glowe, Hunter Cohoon, Jack Steinke, Kaleb Donajkowski, Landen Spomer, Lucas Weir, Tucker Bright, manager Gary Stevens and coaches Josh Cohoon, Scott Spomer and Larry Donajkowski.

Win or lose, the Alpena Blue baseball team was going to walk away a champion this weekend.

But even with hardware in hand, the team earned something much more valuable and worthwhile.

Alpena Blue fell in the final of the 12U Cal Ripken Michigan State Tournament Sunday, losing to Alpena Green 9-0.

Even with the loss, it didn’t take away from an impressive weekend. Alpena Blue is actually an 11U team that won the 11U state championship by default and moved up a division to compete in the 12U state tournament.

Alpena Blue proved it belonged there, going 3-0 in pool play and defeating Howard Township 16-8 in the semifinals to earn a matchup against Alpena Green.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with how they performed,” Alpena Blue manager Gary Stevens said. “To be runners-up, gave me an opportunity to tell the boys ‘You earned it.’ You had a default title as 11U state champion, now you can feel like you earned something and they certainly did that.”

With the cancellation of the 11U tournament, Alpena Blue had several options on the table including not playing at all. Instead the team chose to play and came out better for it. Alpena scored 31 runs in pool play including 13 in its first game and proved to be a tough opponent all weekend.

“When they found out there was no (11U) competition coming, the kids and the parents were pretty down. I had to reach back out to everyone to say we have options here,” Stevens said. “Their confidence is high. They play together all year long and I’ve coached these boys the last two years on their all-star teams as an assistant.”

Alpena managed just two hits in the final–a single each by Jack Steinke and Anden Marceau–but all weekend, the team proved age was just a number. Alpena made contact at the plate in the final and turned some impressive defensive plays.

In the bottom of the third inning, shortstop Cal McEwen and first baseman Kaleb Donajkowski converted three consecutive ground balls into outs, holding a powerful lineup at bay for a short time.

Against Howard Township in the semifinal, Alpena Blue fell briefly behind 5-3 before taking the lead for good.

A passed ball and a wild pitch allowed Alpena to score the tying runs in the top of the fourth inning and knot the game 5-5.

In the top of the fifth, Alpena scored seven runs and never trailed again. Steinke had a two-run double, Easton Srebnik had a two-run single and Donajkowski and Tucker Bright each had RBI singles.

Donajkowski and Srebnik each scored a run in the inning as well, scoring on a balk and stolen base respectively.

Hunter Suddon had bases-clearing single to cut the lead to 13-8 in the bottom of the fifth, but Alpena tacked on three more runs in its final turn at the plate.

Alpena led 3-0 early after an RBI single by Steinke and two passed balls allowed runs to score in the first inning, but Howard Township rallied back.

After scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning, Trevor Ashley hit a grand slam to center field with two outs to give Howard Township a 5-3 lead.

Stevens said the experience his team gained this year will prove valuable going forward as the team continues to play together in future seasons.

“They know they’re going to spend a lot of time together again in the coming year, they’re going to grow,” Stevens said. “I think all of them are looking at that 12-year-old team saying, ‘We’re going to get a little bit taller, we’re going to get a little bit stronger and we’re going to continue to grow as players.'”

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.

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