Kings of the Ski Valley: Inland Lakes sweeps Snowbirds, wins third straight baseball title

Jared Greenleaf, Cheboygan Daily Tribune

INDIAN RIVER – Winning a conference title is never easy, even if you’ve been as good as the Inland Lakes baseball team has been the past three seasons.

But for a third straight year – in a must-win situation – the Bulldogs delivered, this time in front of their home fans, and celebrated by holding up another trophy on Wednesday.

Paced by powerful pitching and clutch hitting, the Bulldogs sealed a third consecutive Ski Valley Conference crown by sweeping Gaylord St. Mary with 6-2 and 6-1 victories at Cooperation Park.

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“This one means a lot, especially to beat St. Mary’s again,” Inland Lakes coach Josh Vieau said. “I’ve learned a lot from Matt (Nowicki), St. Mary’s coach. I can’t say enough about those guys. They’re well coached, he’s a great coach.

"He kicked our butt for a long time, and it kind of feels good to be on the other side a little bit.”

The Inland Lakes baseball team celebrates a third consecutive outright Ski Valley title after sweeping Gaylord St. Mary at Cooperation Park in Indian River on Wednesday.
The Inland Lakes baseball team celebrates a third consecutive outright Ski Valley title after sweeping Gaylord St. Mary at Cooperation Park in Indian River on Wednesday.

Fast start establishes early momentum

The Bulldogs (23-3, 13-1 Ski Valley) have been on the winning side a lot again this spring, but their offense has struggled at times. However, Inland Lakes got off to a fantastic start by taking a 4-0 lead after two innings and building momentum in the process.

While the Snowbirds sliced the deficit to 4-2 later in the game, Inland Lakes senior pitcher Connor Wallace was good enough to shut the door, tossing a six-inning complete game with four strikeouts, two hits allowed and one walk.

Wallace also had a stellar offensive game, finishing with a team-high three hits, including a double, knocking in a run and scoring once. Others adding hits were Payton Teuthorn (two RBIs), Aidan Fenstermaker (run), Logan McMullen (run), Andre Bradford (run) and Wyatt Hanel (run). Jake Willey had an RBI and scored a run.

Inland Lakes junior Aidan Fenstermaker (1) gets congratulated by senior teammate Payton Teuthorn (24) after scoring a run during the first inning of game one against Gaylord St. Mary on Wednesday.
Inland Lakes junior Aidan Fenstermaker (1) gets congratulated by senior teammate Payton Teuthorn (24) after scoring a run during the first inning of game one against Gaylord St. Mary on Wednesday.

“Every game is important, but we needed a game that had a little more meaning than just a baseball game, and with these guys (St. Mary) more or less being our rivals just put a spark under our butts, and we got those bats going,” Fenstermaker said after game one. “We just started hitting.”

A monster bottom of the fifth

Despite winning game one, the Bulldogs still needed to top the Snowbirds in the nightcap to seal the championship outright. Gaylord St. Mary responded by taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. With Inland Lakes squandering chances, the Snowbirds appeared to be in control.

But then the Bulldogs exploded with a six-run bottom of the fifth to take the lead. Starting it all off was sophomore James Layman, who led off with a single, then Wallace ripped a double that put runners on second and third. Sophomore Ty Kolly tied the game by lacing an RBI single into right field. The big moment came from senior Jake Willey, who hammered a two-RBI hit to put the Bulldogs in front. Inland Lakes added three more runs to pull away.

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“Our dugout got going,” Vieau said of the rally. “Once one guy gets going, it seems like the hitting is contagious for everybody, and that’s what (Layman) did, he got a base hit and Connor (Wallace) obviously hits in the gap, and we started going from there."

Wallace and Hanel (RBI) led the Bulldogs with two hits apiece, Fenstermaker tripled and scored a run, and Andre Bradford (RBI, run) also added a hit.

Fenstermaker earned the win on the mound, striking out nine, walking five and scattering two hits in six innings.

Regular season nearly complete

Inland Lakes finishes its regular season when it heads to Pellston on Friday. The Bulldogs open their postseason with a 5 p.m. MHSAA Division 4 pre-district clash at Johannesburg-Lewiston on Tuesday, May 28.

Inland Lakes sophomore second baseman Ty Kolly fields a ground ball during game one against Gaylord St. Mary on Wednesday.
Inland Lakes sophomore second baseman Ty Kolly fields a ground ball during game one against Gaylord St. Mary on Wednesday.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes baseball sweeps Gaylord St. Mary, wins third straight Ski Valley title

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