State-ranked Lakeview tops Harper to defend All-City title
Lakeview has a lot of goals it wants to accomplish each season on the baseball diamond.
But the first on that list, every season, is to win the city title.
The Spartans checked off a major goal for 2023 with a second straight city championship on Saturday.
State-ranked Lakeview defeated Harper Creek, 6-1, in the final game of the annual All-City Baseball Tournament at Bailey Park.
"It's about winning it every year, we want to try and do that," Lakeview coach Kyle Kracht said. "Goal No. 1 is to win the city, goal No. 2 is to win the SMAC, and goal No. 3 is to win the district. If we can do those things, that will be a part of a pretty good season for us."
Lakeview starting pitcher Jake Kucharczyk was determined to help the No. 4 Spartans defend their city title as he earned the complete-game victory, holding the Beavers to just one unearned run.
"I've been throwing pretty good all year. So playing our crosstown rivals, I wanted to pitch in this game and make sure I pitched well enough to help us win and I did," Kucharczyk said. "This is a big win for us. It's two in a row. My freshman year, we lost the city and I didn't want that to happen again, especially since we are the team everybody wants to beat."
Both pitchers performed well to start the championship game. Runs were scarce as Harper Creek was able to tie it at 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Tyler Wieseler.
Harper Creek starting pitcher Tyler Wolfersberger only allowed one run through five, with that run coming in on a called balk.
"It wasn't easy," Kracht said about the hard-fought win. "It was an outstanding pitching performance by both guys. Tyler was awesome today. Jake was awesome today. Credit both pitchers. It would have been tough either way to lose that game if you were standing on the mound. They are both studs and did their thing."
After Wolfersberger came out of the game, Lakeview was able to rally for five runs in the sixth inning, using bunts and being aggressive on the basepaths.
The Spartans scored the go-ahead run on a bunt by Travis Neal, scoring Maddox Bishop for a 2-1 lead. Lakeview broke it open from there with a two-run single by Jayden Miller for a 4-1 advantage. Kucharczyk added a sacrifice fly to score a run and Malachi Goss added an RBI single for the 6-1 lead.
"We were able to do some of our, they're not little things, but smaller things. Like bunting and some of that stuff," Kracht said. "We talk about it all the time. It's not something we can do, it's something we have to do. It's a have-to for us. We have to play that way, to be playing the best way we can. Bunting, stealing bases, those are things we have to do."
Lakeview advanced to the championship game after beating Pennfield, 11-1, in the semifinals. The Spartans' Brayden Longenecker earned the win from the mound, scattering five hits over six innings.
Harper Creek beat St. Philip/Climax-Scotts, 10-0, in the other half of the bracket to advance. The Beavers' Brayden Bess earned the win with a two-hit shutout over five innings.
Despite the loss in the final, Harper Creek coach Davis Wuis was satisfied with the Beavers getting to the title game and playing Lakeview tough.
"For as young as we are, we are mostly sophomores, so for them to come out and play like they did today, I am very happy," Wuis said.
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: State-ranked Lakeview tops Harper to defend All-City title
