OGEMAW-HEIGHTS — The Alpena soccer team put together a strong weekend on the field and went a perfect 4-0 at the Ogemaw-Heights Invitational on Saturday.

The Wildcats posted four shut outs to and defeated Marquette for the first time in school history, defeating the Redettes 1-0 in the championship game.

Kennedy Kaiser scored the lone goal in the title game on an assist from Kameron Schultz. Edie Zann posted a shut out for the Wildcats and Zann’s play along with goalkeeper Alexandria Villarreal led Alpena to a tournament win as the two combined to shut out their first three opponents in the tournament.

The Wildcats opened play with a 7-0 win over Ogemaw, defeated Sault Ste. Marie 4-0 in game two and knocked off Tawas 2-0 before shutting out Marquette in the championship game.

SOFTBALL

LAKE ORION –For the first time in over 10 years, the Alpena JV softball team came home champions of the eight team Lake Orion tournament.

The Wildcats had traveled to compete against some of the top softball programs in the state at the JV level for over 10 years and Saturday marked the first time that Alpena claimed the title.

The Wildcats opened with a 4-3 victory over Swartz Creek. Allison Urlaub started in the circle and allowed just three hits and struck out a batter in the win.

Alpena lost a heartbreaker in game two, falling 10-9 to Oxford.

Despite trailing 9-4 in the fifth inning, the Wildcats stormed back to tie the game, but Oxford scored a run in of their own in the fifth to win the game.

Kyra Lucas led the way in game two going 2-for-4.

Alpena rebounded and topped Clarkston 10-3 in game three.

Urlaub picked up the win, scattering eight hits, walking a batter and striking out a pair.

Offensively in game three, Brianna Rieger-Cook went 3-for-4 and Alexis Ballard hit a double.

Alpena went 2-1 in Pool Play and advanced based on the Wildcats’ run differential being better than the other three teams in their Pool A.

The Wildcats advanced to play the winners of Pool B and host Lake Orion.

Alpena put together a gutsy performance and edged Lake Orion 9-8 to win the championship.

Elysa Kelley earned the win. Lucas went 3-for-4 at the plate, Ashlynne Bloom was 2-for-4 and Hailey Niedzwiecki and Kitaira Cohoon each added a hit.

Once again, Alpena showed no quit and erased a 6-3 deficit by scoring five runs in the sixth inning to take the lead and eventually win the title game.

“We stayed calm and our players just went out did their thing. It takes everyone and everyone contributed to the win. Everyone played a part and we just held it together,” Alpena coach Amy Timm said. “We knew going into the tournament it was going to be tough, this tournament always is. We like to challenge our kids and put them in tough pressure situations because we know that it will help them later on in their career. A shout out to coach (Paul) Marwede who always does a great job setting us up to play quality competition each year. It was just a really fun weekend.”

Alpena also split a doubleheader on Friday at Walled Lake Northern.

The Wildcats were originally supposed to play a doubleheader against Lake Orion, but the field conditions were deemed not playable Friday night and Alpena traveled to Walled Lake instead.

The Wildcats lost game on 7-5 and came back to win the nightcap on Friday 7-1.

SAGINAW HERITAGE — The Alpena varsity softball team traveled to Saginaw on Saturday and finished 1-2 at their weekend tournament.

The Wildcats opened with a huge 25-6 victory over Heritage after getting out to a big lead early and building on it the rest of the way.

Alpena suffered a tough loss in game two, coming up short against Freeland by a final score of 7-6.

The Wildcats struggled defensively in the first inning and Freeland took advantage, scoring four runs in the first.

Alpena battled back, scoring a run in the second and another in the third to cut the lead in half.

The Wildcats scored four in the top of the sixth to take the lead, but were unable to hold it as Freeland tied the game in the home half of the sixth and scored the game-winning run in the seventh.

“It was a difficult first inning defensively for us and it was our first time we had an inning like that this year,” Alpena coach Paul Marwede said. “I was proud of the girls for the way they chipped away and didn’t quit. We can learn a lot from a close game like this.”

Alpena finished the day against undefeated North Branch who defeated the Wildcats 7-4 and went on to win the tournament.

The game was back and forth early on as both teams scored a run in the first inning.

The Wildcats allowed two runs in the fourth a trailed 3-1 after four innings before scoring a pair of runs of their own to tie the game in the top of the fifth. North Branch then added two more in the fifth to take the lead and held on after adding a few insurance runs late.

Alpena will have a busy start to the week as they travel to Ogemaw-Heights today before returning home to host Big North Conference foe Cadillac on Tuesday.

BASEBALL

HILLMAN — After a tough beginning the season, the Hillman baseball team may have had the weekend it need to get going as the Tigers won their annual “Tiger Invitational” at home on Saturday.

Hillman opened the day with a big 13-2 win over Brimley to advance to the championship game.

Nic Taratuta started and picked up the win on the mound, tossing five innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out seven. Offensively, Hillman was led by senior Kory Henigan who collected a pair of hits, scored two runs and had three RBI. Taratuta helped his own cause with a hit, two walks an RBI and scoring two runs. Isaac Morrison had a hit, scored two runs, walked twice and collected an RBI. Nash Steinke scored twice while adding a hit, an RBI and a walk. Brady Firman had a double and two RBI. Gage Steinke added a hit, a run and an RBI and Jaden Dove chipped in with a hit and a run scored.

The Tigers advanced to the championship game and defeated Pickford 3-1 behind a solid pitching performance from Aden Sobeck.

Sobeck pitched all seven innings, allowed just one earned run while scattering four hits, walked a pair of batters and fanned seven.

At the plate, Firman had a double and an RBI. Fisher Linseman scored a run and walked twice. Taratuta and Cam Koenig each walked and scored a run and Morrison added a hit.