Hartland Eagles Baseball

Game #1

Hartland 15   Waterford Kettering   0

Eagles win game 1 in 3 innings!!  Go Eagles

 

Game #2

Hartland 14    Waterford Kettering  5

Hartland sweeps Waterford Kettering with another win in the night cap!

Hartland 2, Waterford Mott 1 WATERFORD – R.J. Bortle’s two-run homer in the second inning was the difference for Hartland (13-5, 8-2). Nathan Lohmeier, Bortle and Gary Turnbull, all sophomores, combined to toss a 1-hitter with nine strikeouts.

BRIGHTON — No one knew it at the time, but the first game of the day in the Brighton bracket of the 40th Lee

Shelander Classic was a harbinger of things to come. As in the title game, the lopsidedness of Brighton’s 10-3

win over Hartland came as a surprise. The Bulldogs, who finished off a 5-1 win in a suspended game the day

before, scored six runs in the first inning and cruised from there. “They hit the ball where we weren’t,”

Hartland catcher Max Cadman said. “It’s as simple as that. They hit the ball, we didn’t. It happens.” Brighton

pitcher Justin Steele had a lot to do with that, too, holding the Eagles to three hits and one run over the first six

innings. Hartland hurt its cause, too, with four errors. The game started under dark gray skies after an all-night

rain forced a 30-minute delay in the start. Steele had one of Brighton’s six hits in the inning, a two-run single.

He held Hartland mostly in check until the Eagles took advantage of a pair of Brighton errors to score

twice. Hartland coach Brian Morrison was, as always, matter-of-fact about his team’s performance. “We

played a good team in the first game and we didn’t play very well against a good team, and that’s not a good

combination,” he said. The Eagles (12-5) got in sync against Ann Arbor Pioneer, scoring seven runs in the third

and four more in the sixth to finish off a 12-1 mercy-rule victory. Hartland third baseman Marcus Ziebold put

the game out of reach in the sixth, belting a 3-run homer to cap a four-run rally. “It was definitely a positive

way to end the weekend,” Cadman said. “We told the kids that we’ve gone 10-3 in our last 13 games, and all

three were to one team,” Morrison said, referring to a sweep of the Eagles by Brighton earlier in the week.

“We’re not better than Brighton right now, and we have to keep moving on and see where we end up at the

end of the year.” Brighton ripped Pioneer in its game, a 10-0 game shortened to five innings by the mercy

rule. Pioneer coach Gerry Holley, whose record of 5-14-1 includes seven games lost by a total of nine runs, was

unperturbed by the blowout losses. “One thing we like about this tournament is that we see good

competition,” he said. “Hartland is a good team. Brighton is a very good team. We have a lot of young kid

playing, and I saw some positives today. “We pick the ball up a couple of times, and we’re out of a couple

innings,” he continued. “Right now, we’re not good enough to overcome some of those things.” Brighton

pitcher Garrett Russell, who had a 1-2-3 first inning despite a walk and a single due to two pickoffs, threw the

shutout. “I was real pleased with the way Justin and Garrett threw,” Brighton coach Charlie Christner said.

“They did a nice job. We got some good opportunities to see some guys and get more at-bats from other

guys. “The more we can be out here to get at-bats and get situation stuff, the better,” he added. “And the

better it’s going to be for us in the league and in districts and hopefully

beyond.”

 http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20140504/SPORTS/305040030/Something-all-three-teams-Brighton-takes-bracket-home 

 

Game #1

Hartland 10   Grand Blanc  2

Great win for the Eagles in game 1!

Game #2

Hartland 5   Grand Blanc 8

The Bobcats rebound and pull off a win in the nightcap!

HARTLAND — Despite going scoreless on the day and getting just two base runners to third, there was a ray of hope for the Hartland baseball team on Wednesday. The second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader was suspended because of rain with one out in the bottom of the fifth with Hartland trailing 4-0. Instead of looking at a sweep had Brighton gotten the final two outs of the fifth, the game will resume at the point it was suspended at 4 p.m. Friday. “At least we get to finish that game,” Hartland third baseman Marcus Ziebold said. “Hopefully, we can get that split.” Brighton, meanwhile, rode strong pitching to a 5-0 win in the opener and that 4-0 lead in the nightcap. “We got some really good pitching today,” Brighton coach Charlie Christner said. In the opener, Alexx Zielinski allowed just two hits, a leadoff single by Brett Oliver in the fourth and a two-out hit by Gary Turnbull in the seventh. Colin McClelland allowed six hits in the nightcap, but the Eagles threatened to score only in the fifth, when they had runners on second and third as a shower turned into a downpour. Brighton catcher Blake Pokorski, who had two hits and a walk in the opener, had the perfect vantage point. “They pitched unbelievable,” he said, referring to both hurlers. “We gave up eight hits all day, and that’s pretty impressive, especially for high school baseball. That’s not a bad squad over there. They’ve been winning with hitting and pitching and we shut them down.” Pokorski got things started for Brighton in the second, when he walked. Courtesy runner Jerad Dokey went to third on Alex Dixon’s double, and both scored when Ziebold’s throw to first on Jake Steslicki’s grounder went astray. Pokorski doubled in another run in the third and Brighton added two more in the fourth on Zielinski’s double and a double play. In the nightcap, Brighton got a run in the second on Justin Steele’s sacrifice fly and three more in the third on a single by Pokorski (who had four hits on the day) a groundout by Alex Dixon and an error. They did a nice job challenging us,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said. “When we hit the ball, they made plays. That’s the game. We’ll see what happens when we finish the second (game), because it’s not over yet.” Brighton (10-1 overall, 6-1 KLAA West) went into the game needing at least one win to keep the first-place Eagles (11-3, 7-1) in range. They got that, and their week continues with a makeup game at Northville today, the continuation game against Hartland Friday, and at least three games in the Shelander Classic on Friday. Christner was pleased with his team’s effort at the plate. “I thought we had better swings today than we might have much of the season,” he said. “Even some of the outs were hit relatively hard. That was good to see.” “Nobody likes to see a division game get called because it’s too dark or because of weather,” Morrison said. “So it’s unfortunate that any game gets called short and you have to come back and make it up.” Ziebold, on the other hand, saw the bright side. “At least we get to finish that game,” he said. “Hopefully we can get that split.”