Prep Baseball Report

Macomb Dakota Comes From Behind to Nip L'Anse Creuse North



By Chris Collias
Regional Scout 

Ahhh, playoff baseball, it's great to see you again!

Macomb Dakota edged L’Anse Creuse North with some big hits in big situations in Monday’s district final.  Both teams combined to bring the best out in each other and the result was a crisp game with good pitching, timely hitting and plays being made all over the field.

The final saw two senior southpaws square off.  Dakota’s Travis Perkola and LCN’s Shane Healy were strike throwing machines from the outset.  Each threw any pitch in any count and dared opposing hitters to match their intensity.

The game was scoreless through three with each pitcher fanning four and keeping hitters off balance with healthy doses of first pitch strikes and deception.

In the fourth LCN’s junior catcher Danny Kerr led off with a single and senior shortstop Mikey Michalski brought home the courtesy runner with a sharp double down the left field line. LCN up 1-0. 

LCN’s lead held until the bottom of sixth when Healy, who had been able to wiggle out of trouble in the fifth, found himself with bases loaded and junior third baseman Frank Maloney up to bat.  Maloney went on to hit a bloop single to left that scored one and tie it. 

Next was junior second sacker Brendan Mangan, he lined a single up the middle to score another. The final run of the inning came on a groundball up the middle by senior DH Daniel Herman with the infield drawn in.  Healy was lifted for Mikey Machalski who promptly recorded a strike out and groundball to short, ending the impending onslaught. Dakota left the inning on top 3-1.

Perkola went out for the seventh to finish what he started.  Mikey Macholski led off with a single but Perkola was able to shut the door, retiring the next three in a row and ending it with a strike out and a few emphatic fist pumps.

Both teams played with a lot of pride and guts and should be commended for giving the large Monday afternoon crowd a great show.  Dakota moves on to play Sterling Heights Stevenson in the regionals on Saturday.