Hot start for baseball team in the cold weather

As cold as the weather has been, the Huron bats have been just the opposite. Playing in the freezing cold at the Rogers City Little League field along the lakeshore Tuesday, the Hurons took two games in convincing fashion over St. Ignace Tuesday. The games were moved from St. Ignace because of unplayable conditions on the Saints? home field, then moved to the Little League field, since the Steven Schalk Memorial Field was a bit soggy as well.

With the stiff breeze blowing out to right field, the Hurons won mercy-rule games 15-0 and 23-0 in a lopsided doubleheader. Each game went just three innings, but the games were not finished until after 8 p.m., with the games starting around 4:45 p.m.

IN GAME ONE, winning pitcher Judd Vekaryasz helped his own cause by blasting a homer to dead centerfield in the second inning, one of his two hits in the game. He went all three innings, not allowing a hit while striking out three. The Hurons scored four in the first inning, one in the second and 10 in the third. Second baseman Justin Kelley had three of his team?s 13 hits.

Cody Hurst had a home run and a triple in three trips to the plate. Cody Wenzel had a home run and a single while Brandon Gorlewski and Adam Florip had two hits each.

THE SECOND GAME went even worse for the visitors from across the bridge. Rogers City banged out 20 hits, scoring 23 times with three in the first, 10 in the second, and 10 more in the third. Florip had four hits while Adam LaLonde and Nathan Darga had three hits each. Hurst, Kelley, and Wenzel had two hits each while catcher Tim Cercone nailed a home run.

LaLonde worked all three innings, allowing the only Saint hit of the day on a third inning single. He struck out three and walked two.

LAST WEEK in Posen, the temperatures were only slightly warmer than at the chilly lakeshore. Rogers City defeated the Vikings by scores of 4-2 and 11-2. In the first game, coach Howard Madsen?s team jumped out with four runs off Posen ace Matt Ponik, but the bats went silent after that. The Hurons managed just six hits, but bunched them effec

tively. Cercone went two-for-three with two RBI. Kelley and Hurst added the other RBI. Vekaryasz went all the way, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out three in six innings of work. Posen?s two runs were earned off the junior right-hander.

Each team scored a run in the first inning, then the Hurons scored one in the second, two in the third, and five in the fourth to break the game open. Florip went five innings for the win. The senior surrendered seven hits and walked three while striking out six Vikings. He added three hits. Vekaryasz, hitting leadoff, walked four times and scored three runs.

The Hurons (7-0) were set to host Gaylord Wednesday, then play in a tournament in Boyne City on Saturday.

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