This season’s ACC baseball team — the school’s first baseball team since the early 1970s — hosts Bay College for five games over three days starting with a scheduled doubleheader today at 2 and 4 p.m. at Veterans Field in Ossineke on U.S.-23 South by Sanborn Elementary School.

ACC is also scheduled to play Bay College at 1 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The Lumberjacks (1-18) earned the program’s first victory in decades last month and they’re eager to get a winning streak going as they play in front of excited hometown fans.

“We’ve got a great group and we have a lot of fun with this program,” ACC coach Rob Enslen said. “It’s an exciting time for the baseball and softball community in Alpena. A lot of people are ready to watch and we hope a lot of baseball and softball fans come out and support us.”

News File Photo The 1973 ACC baseball team included manager Dick Miles, assistant manager Erv Momrik, Ken Robinson, Thad Kaiser, Larry Yachcik, Bob Russell, Ken Gast, Dave Ruth, Ken Wozniak, Ken Stohs, Mike Grulke, Ernie Nahgahgwon, Bob Ferguson, Bill Snell, Steve Burnison, Gary King, John Peters, Mike LaLonde, Bill Chroninger, Tom Wissner, Dick Hoffman, Tom Olsen, and Ron Berndt.

ACC’s softball team will also host Bay College at an adjacent field at the same game times all three days.

According to a news release, this weekend’s games will be ACC’s first home baseball games in 50 years. During the 1973 season, ACC went 14-13 and played its home games at the Alpena County Fairgrounds against teams like Siena, Macomb, and Monroe.

The roster consisted of manager Dick Miles, assistant manager Erv Momrik, Ken Robinson, Thad Kaiser, Larry Yachcik, Bob Russell, Ken Gast, Dave Ruth, Ken Wozniak, Ken Stohs, Mike Grulke, Ernie Nahgahgwon, Bob Ferguson, Bill Snell, Steve Burnison, Gary King, John Peters, Mike LaLonde, Bill Chroninger, Tom Wissner, Dick Hoffman, Tom Olsen, and Ron Berndt.

Twenty three players are suiting up for the Lumberjacks this season with a roster composed of players from all over the state.

Fans will recognize some local names including Alpena’s Matt Thompson, Onaway’s Spencer Nash and Rogers City’s Nik Tulgestka, but ACC’s roster also includes players from Cheboygan, Hale, Lansing, Utica, Ludington and Brimley.

ACC’s team is almost entirely freshmen with Nash and Owen Hopkins listed as the only two sophomores on the team. The rest of the roster includes infielders Luke Mervyn, and Corey Victor; pitchers Luke Gifford, Aaron Guitar, Justin Abel, Caleb Lipponen, and Logan Geitman; infielder/pitchers Mason Blumke, Tyler Balazovic, Gage Kangas, Nathan Valdivia and Wyatt Crawford, outfielder/pitchers Kaleb Blaskowski, Brandon Maddox, Reece Goodrich and Beau Vizina, utility player Caleb Stuck, catcher Eric Rogers and pitcher/utility player Jake Griffis.

Enslen said ACC has played a tough schedule so far, but has been improving even if the Lumberjacks’ record doesn’t show it just yet.

“We’ve played good teams and that was eye-opening for us,” Enslen said. “We’re getting better day in and day out. I think the boys are ready to go and hopefully we get something going this weekend.”

Thompson has been a standout at the plate for ACC thus far, with a team-best 18 hits, including four doubles. Nash has 13 hits with three doubles and Griffis has 12 hits with a pair of doubles and a pair of triples.

On the mound, ACC has seen most of its roster make at least one appearance so far with Guitar, Abel, Crawford, Nash, Gifford and Griffis making one start apiece. Guitar leads the team in innings pitched with 22.2 and Abel and Crawford have each pitched 16.2 innings. Guitar also has a team best 12 strikeouts and Crawford and Griffis have 10 each.

“Our starting pitching has been one of our biggest improvements,” Enslen said. “We’re attacking the strike zone and throwing strikes. Our hitting has picked up too.”

Bay College enters this weekend with a 5-21 record and a 2-13 mark in conference play. ACC is current 0-10 in conference play so a successful weekend could allow them to make up some ground in its division.

Regardless of this weekend’s results, the return of college baseball to Alpena is something Enslen has been excited about since he was hired last summer.

“We’re taking it one day at a time to build the culture we want to build,” Enslen said. “This is something the entire team has been looking forward to for a long time.”