Senior leaders, clean baseball pivotal for Mackinaw City in NLC championship pursuit
MACKINAW CITY – The goal always remains the same with Elijah May’s Mackinaw City baseball program.
That’s to win the Northern Lakes Conference title.
With what the Comets have returning this spring, they believe they have what it takes to surpass NLC powers Ellsworth and Harbor Light, who shared the crown a season ago.
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“Both of those programs (Harbor Light and Ellsworth) do things the right way, they both have nice pitching, and they pair that with solid defense,” May said. “Two good, solid Division 4 baseball programs in Northern Michigan. Competing in the league with them the last few years has been a great time for our kids, and we look forward to those games.
“Those are rivalries.”
The Comets also know it’s going to take leadership from their upperclassmen to do the job.
Keying the Comets is the four-player senior class of Sabastian Pierce, Lucas Bergstrom, Trystan Swanson and Nick Vieau. All four can hit, all four are solid fielders, and many of the four will be counted on to deliver on the mound.
“They are the primary focus of our lineup, not only offensively but defensively as well,” May said of his seniors. “Not that our underclassmen haven’t stepped up, because they’ve stepped up, too. I have a bunch of sophomores playing well right now, and no juniors in the program. Hopefully our sophomores can take the leap next year and replace those guys, but until then, it’s their show.”
Through the early stretch of the campaign, the Comets have had success. However, May’s noticed a few cracks in his squad, especially when it comes to playing clean baseball. So, improving defensively will be a necessity if Mackinaw City wants to earn a trophy.
“We’ve got to cut down on our mistakes in the field and we’ve got to run produce,” May said.
What else might it take for the Comets to reach the top of the NLC mountain?
Pierce knows.
“It will take a lot of grit, a lot of grit,” Pierce said. “We have to weather the storm and we have to have some gut checks. Harbor Light is good, Alanson’s good, Ellsworth’s good. A lot of these teams are great, so we just have to take the gut shots.”
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Comets start NLC campaign strong, sweep Boyne Falls
It was a bright start to the conference season for the Comets (5-1, 2-0 NLC), who swept Boyne Falls with 12-1 and 6-3 victories on Tuesday.
Pierce earned the win on the mound, striking out six and allowing no hits over three innings. Tyler Hingston pitched two relief innings, striking out four.
Offensively, Bergstrom went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored, while Braylon Currie (two RBIs, run) and Pierce (RBI, run) registered a hit apiece. Others scoring runs were Swanson (three), Knox Wilson, Ben Strittmatter, Wes House and Hingston.
Currie was Mackinaw City’s winning pitcher in the nightcap, striking out five and allowing one hit in 2 2/3 innings of work. Vieau tossed the last 2 1/3 innings, striking out four and allowing three hits.
Currie (RBI), Pierce (double) and Bergstrom each finished with a hit. Tanyon Pierce, Swanson, Vieau, Strittmatter, Wilson and Hingston scored a run apiece.
Mackinaw City hosts Wolverine on Thursday.
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: Solid senior class hopes to lift Mackinaw City baseball to NLC crown
