Centreville rallies with two outs to secure district championship

The Centreville baseball team is moving on to the regional round.

That’s because the Bulldogs won a district championship on Saturday, beating Constantine 7-6. Centreville trailed 6-2 entering the top of the seventh inning and scored five runs with two outs to claim the lead.

Constantine led 3-2 after one inning and 6-2 after six.

In the seventh, with two outs, Jacob Sikanas Jr. Hit a single that scored A Hasbrouck. Two hitters later, following a walk to Vinny Jines, Matt Swanwick hit a single that scored Sikanas, making the game 6-4.

After a single from Harrison Gregory to load the bases, Centreville got a double from Kobe Carpenter, this unloaded the bases and brought Centreville ahead in the game.

Constantine had a chance to tie the game in the bottom half of the seventh, but was unable to.

The Falcons connected for six hits in the game, they were all singles.

Caleb Bontrager, Brenden Presswood and Alex Brossman each drove in one with their base hit. Dom Jacobs, Brayden Clark and Dathan Smith each had a base hit as well, Cooper Juday was credited with an RBI.

Brayden Clark and Jacobs pitched the seven innings, striking out eight.

Centreville got two hits from Swanwick, he drove in one. Carpenter drove in three with his double while Sikanas drove in one with his hit. Brady Miller, Gregory and Peyton Balle all had a base hit.

Tristan Smeltzer struck out one for Centreville in six innings of work.

To reach the finals, Constantine beat Bronson 5-0. The Falcons scored all five runs in the sixth inning.

There were five hits from Constantine, all singles. Jacobs, Juday and Austin Forrester each had a base hit. Both Brossman and Smith drove in one with their hit.

Gavin Lewis pitched all seven innings, he struck out nine hitters.

Bronson got two hits in the game, a single each from Seth Withington and Ashton Wells.

Centreville beat Union City, 2-1, to reach the finals. Union City scored a single run in the first inning and that 1-0 lead held up until the bottom of the seventh. There, Centreville finally crossed the plate.

This, like the championship game, saw Centreville score with two outs in the seventh. Sikanas had a base hit here that scored Miller to tie the game.

Then, in the eighth, Carpenter singled home Swanwick to give Centreville the 2-1 win.

Sikanas and Swanwick both had two hits in the game while Balle and Jines also singled as well.

Sikanas pitched seven innings with five strikeouts, Smeltzer also pitched the eighth.

Centreville, with the district win, advances to take on Bridgman in the regional semifinal on Wednesday afternoon. The two teams will play at Bridgman High School on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

Vicksburg district 

The Vicksburg Bulldogs won a district championship on Saturday, beating Three Rivers 8-3 in the finals.

Three Rivers led the contest, 2-0, after two innings and 3-0 after three. That lead held up until the top of the sixth inning when Vicksburg put up five runs. After leading 5-3, Vicksburg put up three more runs in the seventh inning.

The Wildcats clubbed eight hits in the game, they were all singles. Drew McClain connected for two of those hits and drove in one run, Louis Smith added a base hit and an RBI as well.

Connor Penny, Luis Warmack, Kaleb Williams, Brady Penny and Maddox Hagen each connected for a base hit.

Williams pitched five innings in the game without allowing a run.

To get there, Three Rivers beat Paw Paw 6-2 in the first game.

The game was tied 0-0 after four innings. There, Three Rivers put up three runs before scoring two more in the sixth and one in the seventh. Paw Paw’s two runs came in the home half of the seventh.

Warmack connected for a base hit and two RBI, Brady Penny added an RBI hit as well.

Jace Gray, Peyton Hradsky, Hagen and Smith each had a hit. McClain, Connor Penny and Mason Awe were all credited with an RBI.

Williams and Brady Penny combined to pitch all six innings.

Sturgis was also in that district, but played in the play-in game on Tuesday. The Trojans took on Vicksburg and dropped the contest, 8-4.

Vicksburg led the game, 3-0, after three innings of play. Sturgis then plated four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead.

Hunter Kosmerick hit an RBI single to start the scoring, scoring Ian Smith. Sturgis then scored three runs with two outs. Gavyn Moore hit a single that scored Gibson Cary, Taner Patrick then hit a single behind him that scored both Kosmerick and Wyatt Dudek.

Unfortunately for Sturgis, it would be all the runs scored in the game.

Cary pitched the opening five innings for Sturgis, Kosmerick pitched the sixth.

“Gibby did a great job for us on the mound tonight,” Sturgis coach Drew Rutenbar said. “He was able to minimize the damage and worked out of some tough situations early in the game.”

Cary logged three hits in the game, Patrick, Kosmerick and Moore each had a hit that scored at least one. Smith, Dudek and Gavin PeDue each had a base hit as well.

“We’ve struggled all season with closing the doors on teams. Once we put up the 4-spot we had them on their heels,” Rutenbar said. “We had a big chance to pull away with bases loaded and we weren’t able to produce.”

Mendon ends season 

The Mendon Hornets ended the baseball season on Friday evening. The loss came in the district championship to Kalamazoo Hackett, 12-2.

Hackett scored runs in each of the first four innings and added three more in the sixth as well.

Mendon scored a single run in the first and third innings.

Brayden Crites totaled a pair of hits and drove in both runs for Mendon. Bryan Burlew hit a double in the game, both Evan Lukeman and Luke Schinker connected for a single.

Jackson Kindig struck out three hitters in five innings of work. Lukeman also pitched.

To reach the finals, Mendon beat White Pigeon 10-0.

The Hornets logged nine hits in that game, including two each from Lukeman, Crites and Burlew. Crites drove in one run.

Schinker drove in three runs with a base hit for Mendon. Kindig had an RBI hit and Grant Crotser added a single as well. Both Gabe Haigh and Cam Bingaman had an RBI.

Crites struck out 12 White Pigeon batters in six innings of work. Lukeman also pitched.

White Pigeon got two hits from Brody Block. Both Dace Kochel and Clayton Grandstaff each had a base hit.

Grandstaff pitched four innings, Block tossed three innings. They each struck out three batters.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Centreville rallies with two outs to secure district championship