Glen Lake baseball came out on top as district champions after a double-header against Lake Leelanau St. Mary and Frankfort Saturday to capture its 13th district championship in-a-row.
Glen Lake beat Lake Leelanau St. Mary in the first game of the tournament 2-1.
Laker senior Isaac Hlavka searned the win on the mound. St. Mary sophomore Josh Bunek pitched six innings, earning seven strikeouts, giving up two runs on two hits and five walks.
Hlavka pitched 6.2 innings, striking out 13, allowing zero runs and four hits.
Peter Gelsinger closed the game out for the Lakers giving up the lone run for the Eagles.
The Lakers’ offense was led by Wade Daniels, who had two hits during the game.
“St. Mary consistently improved all year long, and we knew that we were going to be in for a fight against a really good, well-coached team,” said Glen Lake head coach Kris Herman. “They were fundamentally sound and strategically on point, and we were fortunate to get out of that one alive, because they outplayed us. Hats off to them.”
Glen Lake won the two games during the regular season against St. Mary, both of which were called in the fifth inning.
Coach Herman was happy with how his team met the challenge in the first game.
“To my guys’ credit, they stayed steady and got it done. They were met with a fight and didn’t blink,” he said. “ A lot of teams in that situation would have.”
Frankfort played Suttons Bay on the other side of the district bracket, which resulted in Frankfort winning 11-1.
Frankfort and Glen Lake faced off for the championship, and Glen Lake won 10-1.
Tristin Boze was the winning pitcher, making it through six innings, earning 12 strikeouts and not giving up a hit.
Boze led the Lakers’ offense with three hits and two runs batted in.
These go along with Hlavka’s two hits for a single and double, Daniels adding a single, a double, and Colton Newman’s two hits.
“We got a great game out of Tristin, both on the hill and at the plate, and that was the difference in the game,” said Herman.
Herman is happy for his seniors as they are putting together a nice collection of memories to finish out their careers.
Glen Lake advances to the Regional Semifinal to play Marion on Wednesday, June 4 at 4pm. The game will be held at Lockhart Field in Frankfort with a trip to play in the Regional Final on the line.
GL SOFTBALL
Glen Lake softball took the district title this weekend after wins over Brethren and Onekema for the first district title in 11 years.
The first game of the day against Brethren ran for only three innings with the Lakers winning 16-1. Game two against Onekama ran the full seven innings ending in another Lakers win 8-5.
“I’m incredibly proud of the girls. They’ve put in a lot of hard work this season and this was a team goal that they said they wanted to achieve way back in March when we first started practicing. They started to play the best softball of the season these past few weeks, and I know a big part of what motivates them is that they just don’t want it to be over yet. No one wants to say goodbye to our seniors,” said coach Lauryn Pleva who is in her third year with the Lakers.
One of those seniors, centerfielder Jessie Pugh said, “when we saw that both Frankfort and Onekama were overlooking us, we knew that we wouldn’t be going down without a fight. Which is what I love most about this team, everybody puts everything they have into each game.”
Pugh scored a total of four runs for the Lakers between the two games.
Glen Lake is now 17-11 and will be hosting Buckley High School for the first game in regionals Saturday, June 7.
“We’ve all just been pulling for each other the past couple weeks - taking every practice as an opportunity to better not only ourselves but each other and it’s translated to our game as a whole, allowing us to succeed. The grit and determination we have as a team truly sets us apart, we all share this “her success is my success” mentality, and I’m confident that we’re ready to leave everything out on the field this week no matter what. Winning a district title has been a goal for us since the very beginning of the season, and getting to watch the hard work of our team pay off in accomplishing that goal is truly something I’ll never forget,” Glen Lake junior Grace Noonan said.
First baseman Tila Shimak had a similar sentiment saying, “We aren’t just a team, but we are a family and we’ve worked hard to get a well deserved win.”
Glen Lake senior Wade Daniels slides into second base during a district championship against Frankfort Saturday. Photo courtesy of Avalon Davidson.
