MACKINAW CITY The Northern Lakes Conference baseball title looks like it's up for grabs this spring.

For head coach Elijah May and the Mackinaw City Comets, they believe theyre right in the mix.

And even after a 5-0 defeat to Ellsworth in game one of a crucial NLC doubleheader on Thursday, the Comets bounced back and kept themselves alive for a championship they crave.

Sparked by the pitching of senior Lars Huffman, the Cometsavenged the early setback by capturing a hard-fought 1-0 victory in game two and earning a split at home.

Were happy with a split tonight. That keeps us alive and in the drivers seat for the league, said May. Well see what Ellsworth and Harbor Light do with each other. Wed love to come away with at least a share of the league. Ellsworths tough."

The only run of game two came in the first inning, when Huffman avoided being caught in a rundown and made it into home plate safely, giving Mackinaw City a 1-0 lead. On the mound, Huffman delivered a strong performance, tossing five shutout innings with six strikeouts, three hits allowed and one walk. Huffmans pitching record is now 7-0 this season.

Huffman finished with a hit and two stolen bases for the Comets (13-4, 3-1 NLC), who received a hit and a stolen base apiece from Trystan Swanson and Lucas Bergstrom. Myran Thompson stole two bases.

The one bad inning for the Comets came in the first of game one, when they allowed five runs to the Lancers.

Despite taking the loss on the mound, junior pitcher Sabastian Pierce was solid, striking out five, allowing four hits and walking three in five innings of work.

Huffman finished 2-for-3 with two stolen bases to lead the Mackinaw City offense, while Tyler Hingston stole a base.

Ellsworth swept their way through our league on their way to a first-place finish last year, and one of our goals coming into this season was to beat them at our place this year, May said. Our guys stepped up defensively tonight and made a ton of plays. Both Sabastian Pierce and Lars Huffman pitched well tonight. Even in the loss in game one after a tough first inning, Sabastian Pierce was able to settle in and pitch fourstraight scoreless innings.

Tonight was great baseball all around. Both teams played clean baseball and were solid defensively."

On Wednesday, the Comets captured a 12-5 victory over Alanson in a non-conference game.

Eighth grader Jacob Sroka was the winning pitcher, striking out four and allowing no hits in three innings of work. Throwing an inning apiece were Swanson, Hingston and Nick Vieau, who tallied two strikeouts each. Thompson struck out a batter in 1/3 innings pitched and Braylon Currie added a strikeout in 2/3 innings pitched.

Vieau led the Comets at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a run scored, whileHuffman, who hit an inside-the-park home run, was 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored. Adding two hits apiece were Currie (four RBI), Thompson (triple, RBI) and Connor Robertson (RBI, run). Bergstrom added a hit and scored twice. Swanson scored two runs.

Bad innings hurt softball Comets in losses to Ellsworth

MACKINAW CITY All it takes is a bad inning or two to hurt your chances.

Unfortunately for the Mackinaw City softball team, it had a rough inning in each of its contests against the Ellsworth Lancers, who captured a sweep by earning 12-5 and 9-4 victories in a Northern Lakes doubleheaderon Thursday.

They (Ellsworth) are a good team, said Mackinaw City coach Bianca Thompson. They have some really good pitchers. Our batters werent coming (up with big hits) tonight. We had a few difficulties there. We have a younger team, and unfortunately, part of it showed tonight. Half of our lineup is seventh or eighth grade. Going up against some of those older girls is sometimes hard.

In the opener, the Comets (10-3, 2-2 NLC) were led by two singles and a stolen base from Madison Smith, while Julia Sullivan singled and stole three bases. Poppy Wallace scored a run and stole a base. Marlie Postula scored a run.

Postula took the loss on the mound, striking out seven, allowing 12 hits and walking two in six innings pitched.

After falling behind 5-0 early, the Comets fought back to cut the Ellsworth lead to 6-3 in game two. However, the Lancers responded with three runs and pulled away for the win.

Postula doubled, singled, had two RBI and stole a base to lead Mackinaw City, while Vanessa Groenewoud tallied two singles, Kenzlie Currie doubled, scored two runs and stole a base, Rian Esper singled and added three stolen bases, Wallace scored a run and stole a base, and Smith stole a base.

Postula was the losing pitcher, striking out 11, allowing eight hits and walking three in six innings of work.

I have to give credit where creditis due. (Ellsworth's) pitcher can throw, Thompson said. She has one heck of a changeup. We had a hard time getting around on her.We had one bad inning in both games. If you took that one inning away, the score would have looked a whole lot different. I toldthese ladies we are just going to move on to the next game and keep their chins up and keep having fun. You can't change the last play, we have to look forward to the next one.

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Mackinaw City baseball fights back to earn split with Ellsworth - Cheboygan Daily Tribune