St. Mary had to start Cherryland Conference play to end a 2-game losing streak. Then again, the Cherryland has been good to the Eagles, who have captured seven straight conference titles.

Leland Baseball players gather around coach
Hank Burch during the Comets' doubleheader
against St. Mary Monday. The Eagles beat Leland
twice in the Cherryland Conference opener.

Chances of that streak continuing improved Monday, when St. Mary disposed of Leland twice, 9-5 and 9-2. The Eagles moved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference; the Comets slipped to 1-7.

Matt Pasch was the hero in the opening win, delivering a 2-run single in the third inning and scattering 6 hits on the mound. But perhaps his biggest statistic was in the "walk" column — he allowed just one free pass.

"That was huge," said St. Mary coach Steve Plamondon. "And they had some errors that helped us. We didn't have a lot of hits like we did over the weekend (at the St. Francis all-Catholic tournament), but we had some timely hits."

Also credit Kienan Sutton with 2 singles and 2 RBI.

Leland took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning, but the host Eagles came back to tie the game with their trip to the plate. Leland scored one in the third, then St. Mary erupted for 5 runs to take the lead for good.

It looked like the Comets might regain some momentum heading into the sixth inning after a diving catch by centerfielder Adam Nedow. He laid out flat to snag the liner, rolled twice and ended the inning by picking off a runner trying to advance to third base.

"That play Adam Nedow made was the best all-around finishing play I've seen in 20 years of coaching baseball," said Leland coach Hank Burch.

A lack of walks helped the St. Mary defense, and helped the Eagles offense as Leland pitchers yielded five bases on balls in one inning in the opener, and 12 over 2 innings in the nightcap.

Colin Korson collected the second win, yielding 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking 4. Leland scored 2 runs in the first inning, a lead that was erased by four St. Mary markers in the second inning and another 5 in the third inning. Michael Kolarik's 2-run single provided the big blow, as Leland pitcher Matt Lichty yielded just four hits.

Ryan Paulton paced the Leland offense with a double, single and RBI. Burch credited Alex Gulow with fine play at third base and shortstop, and collecting 3 hits on the day.

St. Mary dropped two games at the all-Catholic tournament, which featured the first high school baseball games to be played at Wuerfel Field.

Host St. Francis set back the Eagles in the opener, 9-6, despite the hitting performance of Pasch who singled, doubled and tripled while driving in 2 runs. Ray Platts singled and doubled, driving in one run, whole Korson singled twice, scored once and also knocked in a run.

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart prevailed in the second game, 11-9, rallying for four runs in the top of the fifth inning to end all scoring. Pasch's bat was again hot, accounting for three singles and 2 RBI, as the Eagles pounded out 12 hits. He and Korson were named to the all-tournament team.

A St. Mary-Buckley game scheduled for Monday was rained out and has been rescheduled for May 23. The Eagles were scheduled to host Manistee Catholic Central last night, and travel to Mesick Monday.

Leland will travel to Traverse City Christian Friday, take on Glen Lake Monday, and continue Cherryland play with Buckley next Thursday, May 10.