This game honored Alpena’s eight invaluable seniors, who have supplied leadership and maturity to the successful team.

Jake Zann, Grant Jarema, Jonny Rensberry, Hunter Cohoon, Tucker Bright, Caleb McEwen, Gabe Glawe, and Kaleb Donajkowski were the eight recognized as they all entered their final regular-season games as Wildcats.

In this series, Alpena defeated Rogers City in both games by scores of 11-5 and 5-1.

“We’ve had these guys on our team for two years, and even as juniors, they’ve demonstrated their leadership,” Alpena coach Eric Mackenzie said. “They set a level of maturity for our younger guys that ensures that we’re ready to compete night in and night out. Whether it’s practice, pregame, or during a game, our seniors know what to do and how to execute it.”

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Jake Zann hits the ball during Wednesday’s game in Alpena against Rogers City. Zann helped the team secure runs as they topped the Hurons 11-5 and 5-1 on Senior Night.

From the appearance of the first inning of game one, Rogers City got off to a hot start, jumping on Alpena’s starter, Michael Kries, for a quick 2-0 lead.

Although this start was far from ideal, Alpena extinguished the damage, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the first.

Led by Donajkowski’s single that scored one, Rensberry followed him up with a single that scored another two runners.

Bright stepped up to the plate, smashing a single for the inning’s fourth run.

Zann added another single, this time for three RBIs, and two more runners crossed the plate due to errors committed by the Hurons.

With a 9-2 lead, Rogers City fought back for another run, which was immediately answered by a run from Alpena based on another error.

Just an inning later, Alpena extended its lead on an RBI groundout off the bat of Lucas Weir.

The Wildcats coasted until the top of the sixth inning, when they had an 11-3 lead, and Rogers City made a last-ditch attempt to come back.

Two final runs were added in the sixth, but the Wildcats achieved the last three outs to close out the 11-5 victory.

Even though the offense went quiet for the majority of game one, the second game rediscovered Alpena’s early momentum.

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, where Donajkowski began with a double that scored a run.

Alpena accumulated four more runs, extending the lead to five, to take a 5-0 lead.

Senior Jarema scored on a single from Glawe. McEwen scored on an RBI groundout from Zann. Finally, Donajkowski singled to score Brady Chapman and Glawe.

The Hurons, now down 5-0, found success offensively in the top of the fifth but only produced one run.

Alpena’s pitching closed the rest of the game for a 5-1 win, highlighted by Donajkowski, who earned the win.

“Everything from here on out is in preparation for Saturday,” Mackenzie said. “There’s always a lot to work on, so these next few days of practice will be completely dedicated to cleaning up how we play. We’ve got a tough matchup, but if we play like we have at times this season, I have no doubt that we will find success.”

Alpena hosts the District Playoffs on Saturday.