Outcome of twinbill may help determine who wins Cherryland

St. Mary and Leland feasted on Cherryland Conference opponents during the last week of play.

They'll decide tonight which team gets dessert.

That's when the Eagles (14-4 overall, 6-0 in conference play) and Comets (7-0, 5-3) will square off in a doubleheader that should go a long way in determining who wins the Cherryland title.

St. Mary's ace Colin Korson

"We had a good week — a real good week," said St. Mary coach Steve Plamondon, whose team went 6-0 including 9-3 and 12-0 wins Monday at Buckley.

Colin Korson was the winning pitcher in the opener, scattering 4 hits and striking out 10 while given plenty of offensive support. "Our bats came out," said Plamondon.

No Eagle had pushed a hit over the home run fence until Monday, when four were knocked out, including three in a row in the nightcap.

Ryan Korson connected in the opener with a 2-run shot. Also credit David O'Connor with a pair of singles and RBI.

Adam Peplinski earned the shutout in the night cap with a 2-hitter. He struck out 2 in the dominating performance.

If Colin Korson's 3-run homer broke the game open in the third inning, the solo shots by Matt Pasch and Kienan Sutton that followed ended any question about the outcome. Korson also singled; Jacob Plamondon and Joe Rexroat each singled twice.

On Friday, St. Mary dispatched of Suttons Bay for the second and third time this season, 14-0 and 14-4. Ray Platts struck out 6 and allowed 4 hits in the opener, which went just 5 innings. Suttons doubled and swatted a pair of singles, David O'Connor added two singles, Rexroat drove in three runs with a double and sacrifice fly, and Peplinski offered up a 2-RBI single.

Sutton was solid on the mound in the nightcap, allowing 3 hits. Ryan Couturier tripled twice and drove in a run, Plamondon tripled and singled, Sutton doubled and singled and Adam Peplinski singled twice.

For Suttons Bay, Dan Holmes and Jeff Ruthkowski each doubled.

St. Mary breezed by Christian last Thursday in the opener, 16-2, and easily prevailed 8-4 in the second game.

Pasch collected the first win, allowing 4 hits and striking out 4.

Chase Bonhag's bases-clearing triple helped the Eagles jump out to a 7-0 lead after one inning. He added a single while driving in 4 runs and scoring twice. Ryan Korson and Peplinski each doubled twice; Michael Kalchik tripled and singled.

Rexroat allowed 4 hits and struck out 3 in the first four innings of the nightcap. Ray Platts pitched the last two innings, striking out four batters.

Ryan Korson doubled and tripled; Plamondon singled twice.

Leland also picked up four Cherryland wins to stay in contention, including 6-2 and 14-12 decisions Monday over Christian.

Michael Nachazel pitched 4 perfect innings and struck out 12 to claim the first win, allowing just 2 hits. "He had a tremendous game," said coach Hank Burch.

Adam Nedow backed him at the plate, going 2-for-4.

Matt Lichty hung on in the nightcap to claim the win after allowing 6 runs in the first inning. But Leland came back with 2 runs in the first inning and 6 runs in the second.

The Comets proved they could win close wins last Thursday in 5-4, 10-9 decisions over Buckley.
Nachazel struck out 7 in the first game as his squad backed him defensively by committing just 2 errors. Wade Nedow's 2-run double in the fifth inning erased a 4-3 deficit, and proved to be the game winner. Adam Nedow went 3-for-4.

Alex Gulow scattered just 3 hits over four innings when Leland had built an 8-2 lead, but the Bears bounced back to take a 9-8 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Jason Schlueter responded with 2-run single, and Adam Nedow struck out all three Bears he faced in the sixth inning.