Late-inning comeback not enough for Posen to keep season alive

An exciting comeback by the Viking baseball team fell short of victory in Saturday?s district semifinal game against an Atlanta team that didn?t go down as easy as the Vikings thought they might. Posen couldn?t get much going against Huskie starter Chris Porter, who threw four shutout innings, and his defense made the plays behind him. Atlanta also put the pressure on Posen, taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning. The score would stay that way when the top of the Posen batting order came up in the bottom of the inning. It?s when the Vikings came to life and the comeback was put into motion. It?s also where Porter and his defense got offtrack.

LEADOFF HITTER Nick Goupell was hit by a pitch, which was followed by a single by Brandon Hentkowski. Atlanta threw the ball around and Goupell came home for the first run of the game. That brought up Matt Szczerowski, who torched a Porter pitch into the wind over the left-center field fence, for a two-run homer. He came home to his jubilant teammates at home to make the score 4-3. With still nobody out, Posen needed another run to even the score at four.

Andy Styma got things going again with a single and then stole second, which played right into the hands of Mr. Sacrifice, Posen head coach Pat Kowalski. Kowalski didn?t need to play small ball, though, because Porter was uncorking wild pitches and his catcher was letting balls skip by him to the backstop. Styma came home on one of the miscues and the game was knotted at four. With runners still on board, Kowalski called for the double steal, giving Posen runners at second and third. Derek King tried to come home from third on another wild pitch, but was thrown out at the plate on a close play.

THE HUSKIES were disheartened heading into the dugout, but played some comeback ball themselves. They had some help, though, as the Vikings made some critical errors. Atlanta got its first runner on from a Viking error, which was followed by a hit

off Szczerowski, pitching in relief of starter Brandon Hentkowski. With runners at the corners, the Viking defense came apart. ?We threw the game away,? said Kowalski. The next two plays went as errors and two unearned runs scored, putting Atlanta on top, 6-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Styma would deliver a RBI single in his last at-bat in a Posen uniform, to make the final 6-5. Kowalski said it was a different Atlanta team that the one his club played the week before. ?Atlanta made some nice defensive plays in the field,? he said. Atlanta moved on to the district final and was throttled by Rogers City.

LEADING UP to the tournament, the Vikes split with Oscoda last Wednesday. They lost the first game, 9-3, but came back to win, 14-11. Nick Delekta was three-for-three in the first game and four-for-seven with four RBI in the doubleheader. Delekta had a two-run double in a six-run sixth to cap a comeback against the Owls. Nick Goupell was three-for-three with a double in his last game on the home field. Dave Karschnick came on in relief to pick up his fourth win of the season with no defeats. The victory also ensured the program another 20-win season. The final overall record was 20-13.