No. 7 Lakeview wins baseball district, prepares for regionals
The reality of the MHSAA district baseball tournament is, if you lose, you pack up your equipment and your season is over.
If you win, you get to go to practice .
Lakeview is practicing this week.
No. 7-ranked Lakeview defeated Jackson Northwest, 13-2, in six innings in a Division 1 district championship game at Jackson High School on Saturday.
The Spartans (33-6) repeat as district champs and get ready to face Okemos (23-5-1) in a Division 1 regional semifinal at DeWitt on Wednesday.
"This feels great. I think we are definitely getting hot again and we are looking to get as far, if not further, than we did last year," said Lakeview starting pitcher Malachi Goss. "Just looking forward to keep practicing. Keep going back to Lakeview and keep practicing and keep the season going."
Lakeview went on a roll in the postseason last year and advanced all the way to the state semifinals. But that doesn't mean winning a district title this year is less meaningful.
"It's very important to appreciate a district when you win it," Lakeview coach Kyle Kracht said "They don't come around that often. We know what happened last year, but you have to enjoy every moment. Because you never know when it might stop."
Lakeview opened Saturday with a 15-2 win over Jackson in the district semifinal. Jackson Northwest beat Battle Creek Central, 11-1, in the other side of the bracket.
Once the district final started, the Spartans jumped out early to set the tone.
Lakeview scored six runs in the opening inning of the championship game and led 6-2 after the first frame.
"It was funny, I lost both tosses today, but both times we scored in the first inning," Kracht said, regarding losing the coin toss to decide home vs. visitors and who would bat first. "I wasn't expecting to get six, but that's huge to score early. Anytime you can put yourself up like that, it puts the other team down a little bit. They did come back to score two, but six is different than two."
Lakeview's Jake Kuchaczyk opened the scoring with a two-run single after the first two Spartan batters reached. Travis Neal followed with an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. A bases-loaded walk and a base-loaded hit by pitch, followed by a bases-loaded wild pitch, finished the inning at 6-0.
Jake Kucharczyk then opened the second inning with a leadoff triple and came home on a sacrifice fly by Goss for the 7-2 lead.
A RBI single by the Spartans' Jackson Haywood in the fourth made it 8-2.
Lakeview added three runs in the fifth, as Kucharczyk drove in another run. Then an RBI single by Cade Oxley and an RBI by Keegan Hutchinson scored the last two runs in the sixth to put Lakeview up 13-2.
Goss finished the game and the mercy-rule victory by closing down Jackson Northwest in the bottom of the sixth. Goss earned the win, scatting four hits and striking out three.
Kucharczyk and Bryce Plane led the offense with three hits each.
Division 2 at Coldwater
The finals for the Division 2 district at Coldwater were moved to Monday due to poor weather. Coldwater will see Marshall in the district championship game at 5 p.m.
On Saturday, Coldwater advanced with a 4-2 win over Harper Creek, despite a solid outing on the mound by the Beavers' Tyler Wolfersberger, who scattered nine hits over seven innings, striking out five.
Marshall edged Parma Western in the other district semifinal in 10 innings. Redhawks starting pitcher Luke Holbrook went six innings, allowing just one run. Coltin Chany went the final four innings, striking out six. Owen Valentine had three hits and scored a run for Marshall.
Division 2 at Wayland
Gull Lake came away with a Division 2 district title with a 12-2 win over Otsego in five innings at Wayland High School. Gull Lake advanced to the title game with a 6-0 win over host Wayland in the semifinals. Gull Lake will see Hamilton in a Division 2 regional semifinal on Wednesday at Hamilton High School.
Division 2 at Lakewood
No. 11-ranked Olivet won a district title with a 2-0 win over host Lake Odessa Lakewood in the finals on Saturday. The Eagles improve to 33-3-1 and advances to a regional at Lake Odessa on Wednesday against the winner of the Marshall vs. Coldwater.
Division 3 at Galesburg-Augusta
No. 6-ranked Parchment defeated Climax-Scotts/St. Philip, 6-1, in the Division 3 district final at Galesburg-Augusta. Climax-Scotts/St. Philip advanced to the district final with a 15-0 win over Comstock in five innings.
Parchment advances to a Division 3 regional at Watervliet.
Division 3 at Schoolcraft
Union City saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss in eight innings to Centreville in the district semifinals at Schoolcraft. In the other side of the bracket, Constantine defeated Bronson, 5-0.
Division 4 at Colon
Tekonsha defeated Bellevue, 13-3, in six innings to win this district championship at Colon. Tekonsha advanced to the district final with a 16-1 win over Athens. Bellevue knocked out Colon, 7-1, to get to the finals.
Tekonsha advances to see Concord in a regional semifinal at Colon on Wednesday.
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: No. 7 Lakeview wins baseball district, gets ready for regionals
