Baseball: Union City, Tekonsha and Bronson all fall in district tune-up

UNION CITY, MI. - The Union City Charger varsity baseball team dropped a pair of non-conference games to Concord Tuesday night in a district tune up doubleheader.

Union City fell in the twin bill, losing by scores of 7-4 and 5-4.

Game one saw Concord use a four run fourth inning to pull away for the 7-4 win.

Union City scored first with two runs in the first inning and added a single run in the third and one in the fifth. Concord meanwhile got on the board with a run in the third inning, four runs in the fourth, and a run each in the sixth and seventh innings to find the final score of 7-4.

Ryan Zweng took the loss on the mound for Union City, throwing three innings and a third in the start, allowing three hits and five runs, three earned, with two walks and five strikeouts. Eli Payne threw two and two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing one hit and one run with two walks and a strikeout. Phoenix Elkins finished the game on the mound for the Chargers, throwing one inning while allowing three hits and one run with a strikeout.

Phoenix Elkins brought the big bat to lead the Charger offense, going 3 for 3 with a solo home run, two singles, one walk, three RBis and a run scored.

Also adding to the Charger offensive output was Owen Jackson with a double, a walk and a run scored; Ryan Zweng with a single, a walk and two runs scored; Tyler Wagley with a single and a double with an RBI; Aidan Decker with a walk; Luke Watson with two walks; and Ethan Neveraski with a walk.

Game two saw Union City actually out hit Concord 7-6 but still fall short, as the Yellow Jackets took the 5-4 win.

Concord did all of their scoring early with two runs in the first inning and one each in the second, third and fourth while Union City countered with three runs in the second inning and one in the fifth to find the final score of 5-4.

Luke Watson took the loss on the mound for Union City after throwing three innings, giving up four hits and four runs, three earned, with two walks and three strikeouts. Rick Austin finished out the game on the mound, throwing three innings while allowing two hits and one run with a strikeout.

Owen Jackson led the Union City offense with a double, two walks and two RBIs while Tyler Wagley added a single and a double with one walk, one RBI and a run scored.

Also adding to the Union City effort was Rick Austin with a single, a walk and a run scored; Aidan Decker with a single and a run scored; Jakob Fosmore with a single; and Luke Watson with a single, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

With the pair of losses Union City’s record drops to 23-11 on the season. The Chargers will next see action on Saturday when they travel to Schoolcraft for the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) Division Three District 82 tournament. The Chargers will face off with Centreville in their half of the semifinals after the Bulldogs defeated Schoolcraft 7-3 in eight innings in Tuesday’s first round match up. The two teams will play Saturday at 10 a.m. at Schoolcraft High School, followed by the other semifinal which will pit Constantine versus Bronson. The winner of each semifinal will face off at Schoolcraft High School at roughly 2 p.m. for the District crown.

Tekonsha comes up just short versus Reading 

TEKONSHA, MI. - The Tekonsha Indians fell a little short versus Reading Tuesday night in a district tune up, dropping the 10-7 decision to the Rangers.

Tekonsha managed to build a small 6-4 lead after three innings, only to see Reading score two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to race to the 10-6 advantage. Tekonsha added a run in the seventh, but it was not enough as the Rangers took the 10-7 win.

Tekonsha trotted four pitchers out to the mound for their final tune up before the MHSAA postseason, with Bo Veenkant taking the tough loss after throwing two and two-thirds of an inning in relief. Veenkant allowed four hits and five runs, two earned, with six strikeouts and two walks.

Blake Griffith made the start on the mound, throwing two innings while allowing no hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Isaac Henry took over in relief, throwing an inning and a third, allowing one hit and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Dylan Griffith finished out the game on the mound, throwing one inning, allowing no hits or runs with one walk and two strikeouts.

Bo Veenkant led the Tekonsha offense, finishing 2 for 3 with two singles, one RBI and two runs scored.

Also adding to the Tekonsha effort was Isaac Henry with a walk and a run scored; Wyatt Blashfield with two walks and two runs scored; Blake Griffith with a single, an RBI and a run scored; Dylan Griffith with two RBIs; Emmitt Blashfield with a single and an RBI; Jake Boring with a walk; Collin Newland with a walk; and Claude Wart with a walk and a run scored.

With the loss Tekonsha’s record falls to 14-8 on the season. The Indians will next see action in the semifinals of the Division Four District tournament this Friday when they travel to Colon High School to face Athens, beginning at 12 p.m.

Bronson drops two versus Maple Valley 

BRONSON, MI. - The Bronson Vikings dropped a pair of games Tuesday night in a primer for the MHSAA postseason, falling by scores of 10-0 and 5-0.

Stats for the games were not made available by press time.   The Vikings fall to 8-20 on the season with the two losses and will next see the diamond Saturday when they face off with Constantine in the semifinals of the Division Three District 82 tournament. The two teams will play at Schoolcraft High School on Saturday at 12 p.m., with the winner moving on to face either Union City or Centreville in the district title game at roughly 2 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Baseball: Union City, Tekonsha and Bronson all fall in district tune-up