Preview: What to know for district baseball, softball tourneys ahead
NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Bring a chair, grab the cooler and definitely don’t forget the water bottle, Saturday is going to be a long day.
District tournament Saturday always is.
It’s also a great day to be a fan of both baseball and softball and there’s plenty of opportunity to catch some local action in the surrounding area.
Some teams have already exited their 2023 season, including Petoskey and Charlevoix softball and Boyne City baseball, who all fell in pre-district openers Tuesday.
For others, Saturday is the start of all those big goals from the beginning of the year.
Here’s some of the local districts to catch the action:
BASEBALL DISTRICTS
DIVISION 2
District 34
Saturday, June 3
At Gaylord
Gaylord (18-16-1) vs. Petoskey (17-15), 11 a.m.
Ogemaw Heights (15-12) vs. Cheboygan (15-14-1), 1 p.m.
District Championship, 3 p.m.
Regional site: Petoskey
Breakdown: All these teams know each other so well that anything could really happen here. It’ll be interesting to see what order Petoskey goes with their top two pitchers here. Obvisouly, they’ve got to get through Gaylord first, but do they start with Max Ferrin and then hope to use Grant Slater for the final? Both have been steady late. Petoskey and Gaylord split during the regular season, then the Northmen took a 10-2 game in Big Rapids in May. It’ll be interesting to see how this one goes for the rivals.
DIVISION 3
District 67
Tuesday
Elk Rapids 9, Boyne City 1
Saturday, June 3
At Charlevoix
Elk Rapids (17-17-1) vs. Kalkaska (9-18-1), 10 a.m.
(#9) Charlevoix (27-5-1) vs. Mancelona (10-20), Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional Site: Traverse City Central
Breakdown: No. 9 ranked Charlevoix has few weaknesses on the field, though anyone can get hot or pitch the best game of their career at any moment, so they can’t lean on that favorite tag alone. Charlevoix’s AJ Speigl has been hitting like he’s seeing a beach ball come across the plate and Bryce Johnson and Owen Waha have been two of the best arms in northern Michigan throughout the year, combining for 140 strikeouts in 75 innings. Watch out for Elk, as their record is deceiving. They swept TC St. Francis, split with Petoskey and have seen Gaylord and D4 No. 1 ranked Inland Lakes over the last couple weeks.
DIVISION 4
District 101
Saturday, June 3
At Central Lake
Ellsworth vs. (#5) East Jordan (22-5), 10 a.m.
Bellaire vs. Central Lake, Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional site: Inland Lakes
Breakdown: The Red Devils have already taken a pair from Ellsworth this season, including an 18-run victory. A lot of this district for EJ will be about them not looking too far ahead. They’ve got the talent to roll through, but leaning on talent alone and forgetting the routine things of the game is how you get into trouble this time of year.
District 99
Tuesday
Pickford 11, Brimley 0
Friday, June 2
At Rudyard
Pickford vs. Mackinaw City (29-6), 10 a.m.
Rudyard (10-15) vs. Pellston (7-17-1), Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional site: Inland Lakes
Breakdown: The first matchup between the Comets and Panthers couldn’t have been any closer this season, with Mackinaw winning on a seventh inning walk-off, 12-11. Expect the same kind of dramatics again. The other two, Rudyard and Pellston, have played some challenging schedules, which always helps this time of year. The Hornets most recently met up with No. 5 East Jordan, while Rudyard welcomed in Petoskey.
District 100
Tuesday
Harbor Light 12, Burt Lake 2
Saturday, June 3
Harbor Light vs. Harbor Springs (6-16-1), 10 a.m.
Alanson vs. (#1) Inland Lakes (29-1), Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional Site: Inland Lakes
Breakdown: The No. 1 ranked Bulldogs have been smashing the ball this season with seven guys within their lineup hitting over .330 for the year, all playing at least 28 games. Connor Wallace has been just as lights out on the mound, with 100 strikeouts in 11 starts. It’s been a tough year for Harbor Springs, but perhaps some hosting magic can be pulled out of Saturday?
SOFTBALL DISTRICTS
DIVISION 3
District 67
Tuesday
Kalkaska 8, Charlevoix 0
Saturday, June 3
At Elk Rapids
Boyne City (17-14) vs. Kalkaska , 10 a.m.
Mancelona (23-7) vs. Elk Rapids (25-8), Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional Site: Elk Rapids
Breakdown: This one’s a tossup. Boyne City – if you couldn’t tell by the record – has been a hot and cold team this season and when they’re hot, they’re hot. The good news is that the regular season closed with a dominant two-game sweep over one of the district teams, Mancelona. They’ve also split with both Elk Rapids and Kalkaska. The Ramblers can certainly hit. They’ve got a plethora of batters over .400 for the season and have hit 45 doubles, a lot will just ride on defense and pitching here.
DIVISION 4
District 105
Tuesday
Ellsworth 15, Boyne Falls 0
Saturday, June 3
At Central Lake
Ellsworth vs. East Jordan (9-21), 10 a.m.
Central Lake (5-23) vs. Bellaire (10-15), Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional site: Onekama
Breakdown: After such a tough 2022 spring, East Jordan has been much more competitive in 2023 and the Red Devils have a great shot of coming out with a title here. They certainly know how to put runs on the board and they've shown that already against district foes. They’ve already swept Ellsworth in games of 17 and 16 runs and they also put 24 runs up on Bellaire.
District 101
Tuesday
Mackinaw City 13, St. Ignace 3
Friday, June 2
At Rudyard
Mackinaw City (25-3) vs. Pickford, 10 a.m.
Brimley vs. Rudyard, Noon
District Championship, 2 p.m.
Regional site: Rudyard
Breakdown: Mackinaw City has a great shot to come out of this district behind the arm of Marlie Postula. Bats have run hot or cold this season, but Postula has been on every step of the way. The Comets have swept Brimley and fell to Pickford in just a 12-11 final in which Postula didn’t start. The opening momentum for the Comets from Tuesday helps.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: What to know for district baseball, softball tourneys ahead
