TRAVERSE CITY — In the first meeting between Alpena and Traverse City West, the two teams competed in a back and forth battle, but it was the Titans coming out on top after scoring a goal with 2:24 left to steal a win at Wildcat Stadium.

On Thursday, a similar result occurred as the Wildcats and Titans played an entertaining, back and forth matchup, but once again it was West prevailing, this time scoring a goal with 1:30 left in the game on a long shot that found its way into the back of the net.

“To have this kind of situation happen to us once is unbelievable and for it to happen twice is unthinkable,” Alpena coach Tim Storch said. “West is always just very fortunate when they play us. It was a back and forth battle, I’m proud of the way the girls played, but we’re past the point of accepting moral victories.”

Alpena finishes the regular season with a 12-10-3 overall record and 3-5-2 in the Big North Conference which results in a fourth place finish.

The Wildcats competed throughout the regular season and were either tied or had the lead at halftime in all but one of their conference games.

“It was a regular season of a lot of firsts and many of those firsts were good. It was a first time for us beating a lot of the teams that we played, we were competitive in every league game even though we had a couple games get away from us,” Storch said. “I just hope the girls are prepared now for the state tournament.”

The Wildcats will open district play next Friday against Petoskey.

BASEBALL

Hillman splits

doubleheader with Hale

HILLMAN–The Hillman baseball team split a pair of North Star League games with Hale on Thursday, winning the opener 14-5 and dropping the nightcap 8-6 in seven innings.

Kory Henigan earned the win for Hillman in the opener, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in six innings. At the plate, he was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and four RBI.

Nash Steinke was 3-for-3 with four runs scored, a double and an RBI; Gage Steinke was 3-for-3 with three doubles, three runs scored and five RBI; Cam Koenig was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI; Nic Taratuta and Fisher Linseman each had a double; Owen Moulton was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a double; Jaden Dove was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Taratuta took the loss for Hillman in the nightcap, allowing eight runs (three earned) on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Nash Steinke had a single and an RBI and scored once; Gage Steinke had a double; Koenig had a single and scored twice; Moulton was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI; Brady Firman and Aden Sobeck each a single; Henigan had a single and an RBI and scored a run and Isaac Morrison had a single and an RBI.

Alcona takes two

from Cardinals

LINCOLN–The Alcona baseball team got back on a winning track on Thursday, sweeping Whittemore-Prescott in a North Star League doubleheader.

The Tigers won the opener 2-1 and triumphed in the nightcap 7-3.

Gavin Walker scored on a single from Zach Stephenson in the bottom of the fourth inning for the game-winning run.

Alcona (9-10) scored a run in the second inning and Whittemore answered with a run in the top of the third inning. Alcona won after tallying two runs on four hits. The Cardinals were limited to a run on three hits.

Jon Surgener pitched Alcona to a win, going six innings while allowing a run on three hits with seven strikeouts.

Jacob Sytek and Stephenson all managed multiple hits for Alcona.

“That was a tight game, not many mistakes made by either team,” Alcona coach Nathan Walker said. “Jon pitched another great game, he really took control tonight.”

Alcona’s bats got hot late in the nightcap as it scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Whittemore scored three in the top of the third inning on a home run for an early 3-0 lead.

Alcona was down 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Sytek singled on a 2-1 count, scoring two runs.

Stephenson earned the victory on the hill for the Tigers. He surrendered zero runs on zero hits over three innings, striking out two.

Alcona finished with eight hits in the game. Antavius Mikazes and Surgener both had three hits to lead Alcona. The Tigers also stole 10 bases in the win and Walker had four of the 10.

“It was good to see us fight back after being down late in the game,” Walker said. “Our bats came to life and we played great defense all night.”

SOFTBALL

Atlanta drops twinbill to Au Gres

AU GRES — The Atlanta softball team dropped a pair of games on Thursday, falling to Au Gres by scores of 9-0 and 14-1.

Hailee Brown led the Huskies offense with two hits, Katrina Wilson added a hit and Chace Hooper stole two bases in the losing effort.

Atlanta will return to action on Monday when they host Hillman.