Considering where the Leland baseball team started the past week of play, things are looking up.

The Comets swatted Traverse City Christian twice last week, were the recipients of a double forfeit from Bear Lake Monday that avoided a long road trip, and recorded their first no-hitter in recent memory.

“All of a sudden, we went from 0-8 to 4-8,” said coach Scott Stoerck, and then to 5-9 after splitting a doubleheader Tuesday with Buckley.

Leland, in fact, was the only Northwest team from Leelanau County to gain a conference win Tuesday, with Glen Lake and Suttons Bay dropping both ends of doubleheaders.

Credit Alex Gulow with pitching the no-hit gem, striking out 8 and issuing just 2 walks in the Comets’ 6-0 win over Buckley.

“He threw a lot of pitches early, but pretty much just mowed through them in the last 3 innings,” said Stoerck.

Phil Matro provided most of the offense with a grand slam in the third inning, and the Comet defense was solid. Third baseman Jason Schlueter was outstanding, said Stoerck.

But Leland looked like a different team in the nightcap, a 14-2 loss. Gulow walked twice and singled once — and that was about it for the offense.

There was plenty of offense in the Comets’ 28-3 and 18-3 wins last Thursday over Traverse City Christian, thanks largely to the 18 walks handed out by Sabres pitchers.

That was just in the opener.

Comet pitcher Dylan Schaub allowed 2 hits and no earned runs in the three-inning affair, cut short by the mercy rule. Matt Rinehart went 4-for-4, while Mike Priest collected 2 hits and scored 4 runs.

Rinehart struck out 9 and yielded just 2 hits in winning the 4-inning nightcap. He also pounded out 3 hits, while Jeremiah Wakeman’s line shot in the first inning sent a runner home to start the Comet offense.

Leland moved to 1-5 in the Northwest, while Suttons Bay fell to 3-3 in the conference and 8-7 overall with 7-5 and 6-0 losses to Frankfort.

It appeared that the Norsemen had the opener wrapped up with a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth and two Panther outs, but an error allowed the visitors to knot the score and added 3 more runs in the seventh. Suttons Bay left the bases loaded after scoring once during their extra-inning at-bat.

Anthony Stewart took the loss despite striking out 8 and yielding just 3 earned runs. He was also 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a RBI. Kody Herman and Ryan Manning each went 2-for-4, with Herman knocking in a run and Manning doubling.

The night cap went fast, as Suttons Bay was held to singles by Stewart and Manning.

The Norsemen split Friday with Elk Rapids, with Stewart’s bases-loaded liner ending the game at 6-5. Stewart went 2-for-4 with a double, while Manning went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.

Danny Holmes struck out 3 and didn’t give up a walk for the win.

The Elks prevailed in the nightcap, 6-3, with Herman doubling in a run and Luke Baumann going 2-for-2 including a double.

Stewart was outstanding in tossing a 2-hitter to beat Lake City last Thursday, 1-0. He also drove in the winning run in the first inning with a single after Herman singled and stole second.
Stewart and Herman finished with 2 hits apiece.

Manning also gave up just 2 hits in the nightcap, a 14-1 blowout called after 4 innings. On offense, Manning knocked in a pair of runs, while Bryan Belanger went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and Bauman doubled.

Glen Lake, meanwhile, suffered through 14-1 and 12-1 losses Tuesday to conference leader Benzie Central, due largely to a pair of big third innings. The Huskies scored 9 runs in the third of the first game as Laker Sean Griffard collected his squad’s only hit.

Benzie Central followed with 7 runs after two were out in the second game. Joe Galla and Josh Jacklin each had 2 hits, as the Lakers fell to 9-5 overall and 2-4 in the Northwest.

Northwest Conference
baseball standings
Benzie Central 5-0-1
Mesick 5-1
Frankfort 4-2
Suttons Bay 3-3
Glen Lake 2-4
Kingsley 2-4
Buckley 1-4-1
Leland 1-5