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The postseason has arrived

After exceeding expectations early in the season, the Alpena High baseball team has come back down to earth in the last few weeks.

Alpena (18-9-1) dropped its final three conference games of the season, falling apart against Traverse City Central at home and took a beating on the road against eventual Big North champion Traverse City West.

The challenge that awaits this year’s Alpena team will be the same challenge that the Wildcats have faced for the past six years: bringing home a district title.

The team standing in the way of that goal? TC West.

“We know we have to play our best to have a chance. We have already seen West and know that they are a stellar ball club. We’re hoping to cut down on the mistakes and play our best game. It’s one of those where if we can keep the game close, maybe we can steal it,” Alpena coach Phil Schultz said.

The Wildcats were mercied twice in a doubleheader against West just a few weeks ago. It was one of the only times all season that Alpena had been blown out as the team has been in close, competitive ball games much of the season.

The Wildcats were able to come away victorious in many of the close games they played in this season and it is something that could benefit them in the postseason.

“We are scrappers and if you let us hang around, we might steal one from you. This team knows the close games, they’ve been in them, they know what it takes to win those close ones, so if we can give ourselves a chance, I think we have the confidence to play loose,” Schultz said.

After winning a district title just a year ago, the Hillman baseball team will look to repeat this year in front of a home crowd.

The Tigers will play host to the district playoffs on Saturday and will have a tough task ahead of them as they do battle with a Rogers City team who also won a district championship last season.

Despite a team made up of several underclassmen, the Tigers finished with a 21-10-1 overall record, behind solid pitching from sophomores Kyler Moir and Jared Juergens.

Moir was the teams ace and threw just over 57 innings during the regular season and finished with a 7-5 record. He also had an outstanding 1.21 ERA and struck out 89 batters.

Juergens finished with a 6-2 record and finished the regular season with a 1.36 ERA and struck out 44 batters in 41 innings of work.

“Rogers City is a good team. They are a senior heavy team and they are good from top to bottom. We are playing good ball right now. We feel confident heading in and I think with the pitching we have, we will have a shot. It is going to be a good game,” Hillman coach Rick Firman said.

The Tigers are going to rely heavily on the play of their senior leader Dylan Steinke. The senior catcher will hope to continue his stellar play atop the Hillman order. Steinke’s .560 OBP has been crucial for the Tigers offensive turnaround throughout the season.

Early in the year, Hillman struggled to get things going offensively and relied heavily on pitching, defense and small ball. In the first month of the season, the Tigers scored just 63 runs, but lately have picked it up, scoring 133 runs in the month of May.

“It has been nice to see the progress of all of our sophomores. We knew Dylan would be a leader and he has been great. The question coming in was our pitching, but both Kyler and Jared have done a great job on the mound and hitting two and three in the lineup. Andrew Funk and Caine Hunt have also been a big reason why our offense has picked up,” Firman said.

Hillman was able to get to the district semifinal matchup against Rogers City after defeating Atlanta in a predistrict game on Tuesday by a score of 13-3.

The Tigers and Hurons split two meetings during the regular season as Rogers City took the first matchup by a score of 13-2 back in April, but Hillman was able to rebound a few weeks later and won 7-2. Steinke led the way going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in that matchup and Moir tossed a complete game, allowing just two runs on three hits.

The expectation for Rogers City is to not just repeat as district champion, but to make a deep run into the playoffs with the senior laden team that they have.

“This team has high expectations to go deep into the playoffs. We feel as if we are getting hot and playing our best ball at the right time and all of our hard work that we have put in all season long is paying off,” Rogers City coach Matt Bredow said.

The Hurons are definitely hitting their stride at the right time as the team has won eight out of their last nine game entering Saturday’s district semifinal matchup.

Rogers City has several players returning from a team that captured a district title just a year ago and they hope that the senior leadership this years team has will propel them to even greater heights.

Both Casey Szatkowski and Quintin Kelly will be two key players for the Hurons during their quest for a second consecutive district crown.

“Casey and Quintin are both great leaders, but we have a lot of varsity experience on this team. We are so deep with experience and it really makes it comforting as a coach knowing we have all of this leadership and experience,” Bredow said.

The Hurons also realize they will be tested early on being in such a tough district. If Rogers City is able to get past Hillman in the semifinal game, the winner of Onaway and Posen will await them in the finals.

“It is always a tough district to win. There are a lot of good teams and I feel the competition that we have played throughout the year has gotten us ready for this point in the season. We just need to keep our eye on the prize and continue playing Huron baseball,” Bredow said.

The Hurons will meet up with a Hillman team that is similar to them. Both teams possess solid pitching, a balanced lineup, quality senior leadership along with two teams playing their best baseball at the right time in the season, heading into the district playoffs.

“Hillman is a really good baseball team. We split with them in the regular season and it is going to be an interesting game. As long as we play the way we know how, I think we will be alright,” Bredow said.

The Alcona baseball team was able to keep its season alive with a predistrict blowout victory over Fairview on Tuesday, 18-3.

The Tigers now move on to a district semifinal matchup with Hale today with the winner advancing to play either Whittemore-Prescott or Au Gres in the district championship later today.

“It is our goal to win some tournament games and get to regionals. We are taking it one game at a time and know we have to be playing our best ball during this important time of the year,” Alcona coach Terry Franklin said.

The Tigers took care of Hale in the only two meetings of the regular season, sweeping a doubleheader earlier in the year, winning by scores of 11-0 and 16-1. Despite the two lopsided victories, Alcona knows it cannot overlook anyone at this time of the year.

“We are taking nothing for granted. We know Hale is a good team and we can’t look past anyone. We need to play our very best each game,” Franklin said.

From top to bottom, Alcona features a potent lineup and has the potential to make it out of district play and achieve their goal of advancing to regionals. The team will hope for much of the same offensive production it got in the predistrict game.

“Everyone needs to step up. I feel we have a team full of good players and everyone is important. This time of the year is just great for high school baseball. It’s an exciting time for all teams and we’re looking forward to some good district baseball,” Franklin said.

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.

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