Clarkston Baseball Coach Phil Price preached all season about playing solid defense and his team picked the right time to deliver it.
Wolves? pitchers Mike Kittle and Josh Hall each threw a complete game on June 1 to help their team defeat Pontiac Northern 2-0 and Waterford Kettering 7-1 to capture the district championship.
Kittle allowed just one hit, struck out 11 and walked two in his complete game shutout of the Huskies. Hall allowed three hits and had five strikeouts in the district championship game against Kettering.
‘What I want out of a baseball team is good pitching and good defense, and that’s what we got today,? Price said after the Wolves? victory over Kettering. ‘Yeah, the Pontiac Northern game was 2-0 and this one was close too, but throughout the whole game I felt comfortable. Our pitchers weren’t walking anybody and were always throwing strikes, and our defense was playing solid. For me, I’ll take pitching and defense over scoring a bunch of runs.?
Clarkston took an early 1-0 lead against Pontiac Northern when Steve McIsaac scored on a passed ball in the top of the second.
Both teams combined for just three hits in the next four innings before Clarkston added another run in the top of the seventh. Steve Harvey hit a single with two outs and Eric Ogg knocked him with a RBI double.
The Huskies had the tying run at the plate with one man on in the bottom of the seventh, but Clarkston converted a double play to end the game.
The Wolves wasted no time building a lead against the Captains in the district championship game. Dave Brelinski hit a two-run double in the top of the first to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead.
Kettering cut the lead to one when Ryan Ranguette hit a sacrifice that scored Aaron Mann in the bottom of the fourth.
Ogg singled in the fifth and Steve Vanderheyden knocked him to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead.
Clarkston’s offense put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh. Cody Noel led off with a single and two batters later Ogg hit a two-run homer.
Vanderheyden then walked, Kittle hit a single and Brelinski walked to load the bases. McIsaac hit a sacrifice to knock in Vanderheyden and Kittle scored on a pass ball before Kettering was able to get out of the inning.
The Wolves prevented the Captains from getting anything going in the bottom of the seventh to capture the district championship.
Ogg led Clarkston offensively during the two district games going 4-for-8 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
‘Eric Ogg does such a good job for us,? Price said. ‘He can bunt for a hit then hit a two-run homer. There is a wide range of things he can do. He’s playing some top-notch baseball right now.?
Clarkston faces Lakeland on June 10 in the Birmingham Groves regional. Price said he is excited to have a whole week of practice before the game.
‘We are going to work on the little things,? Price said. ‘Things like our pick-off moves and our bunt coverage and some situational hitting. Just some of the things we haven’t had time to work on. We take ground balls before games, but we haven’t had time to break down a ground ball or hitting. We can bring the tees out and slow down and work on some of the fundamentals of baseball.?