Four Cheboygan softball players homer in sweep over Sault Ste. Marie; baseball gets swept
CHEBOYGAN – The Cheboygan softball team is closing in on another Straits Area Conference championship.
Taking on perhaps the toughest SAC competition they’ll face in Sault Ste. Marie, the Chiefs unloaded on offense once again, combining for four home runs over two games and rolling to a doubleheader sweep with 10-0 and 20-5 victories over the Blue Devils on Thursday.
“The girls played well tonight, and they really came out and hit the ball hard,” Cheboygan coach Mike LaLonde said. “Jordan (Ashley) almost had three home runs tonight, as two went off the fence. The girls were hitting it hard, they were putting the ball in play, and they got a lot of clutch two-out hits that were huge for us.”
Ashley, who had two hits in game one, smacked a solo homer and scored two runs, while Emerson Eustice (triple, two RBIs), Emily Clark (double, two RBIs, three runs) and Presley Chamberlain (double, two RBIs, run) tallied two hits apiece. Adding a hit each were Marley Couture (RBI), Amelia Johnson (double, run) and Tessa Lake (run). Libby VanFleet had two RBIs and Ella Kosanke scored two runs.
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VanFleet was the winning pitcher, striking out five and allowing one hit in six innings.
The Chiefs (17-9, 6-0 SAC) saw three players homer in the second game, including Johnson, who finished with four total hits, four RBIs and two runs scored, Eustice, who had three hits, three RBIs and four runs scored, and Hannah Whippo, who recorded two hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Chamberlain (double, three RBIs, four runs) and VanFleet (two RBIs, two runs) each finished with three hits, Ashley (double, two RBIs, run) and Couture (RBI, two runs) added two hits apiece, and Clark (two RBIs, two runs) and Lake (run) chipped in with a hit each.
Eustice picked up the pitching win, striking out eight and allowing eight hits in five innings.
“The defense was great tonight,” LaLonde said. “We might’ve had one or two errors over the two games. I give credit to (the Sault). They’re a good team, they swung the bats well. They made some good plays on us, they did the little things, but all in all, it was a good night for us.”
Cheboygan will host Brimley on Thursday, May 9.
Errors costly for Chiefs in doubleheader losses to Sault
CHEBOYGAN – All it takes is a few key mistakes for everything to fall apart.
Unfortunately for the Cheboygan baseball team, it struggled to limit its errors against Sault Ste. Marie, which swept the Chiefs with 8-5 and 8-3 victories in a doubleheader on Thursday.
“The mistakes hurt us, we have to be better, and I think we are. It was just a few games where things just didn’t go our way,” Cheboygan coach Kevin Baller said. “We had opportunities to capitalize, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Falling behind 3-0 to start game one, the Chiefs (8-13, 3-3 Straits Area Conference) battled back with a five-run bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 advantage. However, errors came back to haunt them against the Blue Devils, who used a five-run top of the sixth to take back control and earn the win.
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Dylan Balazovic’s two hits and an RBI led the Chiefs in the opener, while Nolan Schley doubled and had an RBI, Luke Munger added a hit and scored a run, and Sean Postula doubled. Jacob Seaman (RBI, run) and Blake Blaskowski (RBI) also contributed.
Postula took the loss on the mound, striking out seven, allowing five hits and walking five in six innings.
In the nightcap, Chase Swanson doubled and knocked in three runs for the Chiefs, who received a hit from Brennan Bradley and two runs scored from Blaskowski.
Balazovic was the losing pitcher, striking out two, allowing eight hits and walking two in 2 1/3 innings. Charlie Godfrey pitched 1 2/3 innings, striking out three. Swanson tossed one inning, striking out one.
“I think they’re close to turning a corner and I think this group of kids can have a lot of success,” Baller said of his team. “Their bats haven’t really heated up, so I’ve got to believe we’re better hitters than we are or what we’ve been showing. I think once those bats hit up and we start to solidify our defense, I think these kids are going to compete with a lot of teams.”
Cheboygan returns to action with a home doubleheader against Brimley on Thursday, May 9.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan softball sweeps Sault in SAC doubleheader, baseball falls to Blue Devils
