Northmen split with Blue Devils to snap skid, pull in some momentum
PETOSKEY — With games moved all around, trips cancelled and players out of the lineup early in the season with injures, it’s been tough for the Petoskey baseball team to find a groove so far in 2023.
But, a little groove might have been started in the nightcap against Big North Conference rival Gaylord Thursday night.
After falling in a tight 3-2 opener against the Blue Devils, Petoskey turned things around and snapped a four-game skid with a 9-2 victory.
It came as Petoskey’s first Big North matchup of the season, moving them to 1-1 within the league and 6-6 overall on the season.
In the victory, Petoskey leaned on an 11-strikeout performance from senior Max Ferrin, as he went six innings with just one hit allowed and three walks.
Stephen McGeehan then switched from behind the plate to the mound to close it out with an inning of work.
The Northmen got on the board in the first inning, then added five more runs in the second, picking up two runs on bases loaded walks and another on an error.
Along with his pitching performance, Ferrin had three RBIs and singled in the game, Lucas O’Donnell and Tyler Goeldel each singled and had two RBIs and Grant Slater singled twice and scored four runs.
In the opener against Gaylord, Petoskey picked up the lead first in the third inning on a sac fly by McGeehan, then Gaylord tied things up and later took a 3-1 advantage in the fifth.
A seventh inning comeback was put on by the Northmen, but only one run came out of it.
Goeldel doubled, O’Donnell singled three times and scored twice and McGeehan added a single to his RBI.
Grant Slater took the loss for Petoskey, though it came in another standout performance on the mound, one in which he went all seven innings with six hits and no walks allowed and all three Blue Devil runs were unearned. Slater also struck out six batters.
Petoskey can add to its momentum picked up Thursday night with a trip to Traverse City Central on Tuesday, May 2.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northmen split with Blue Devils to snap skid, pull in some momentum
