Petoskey soccer keeps BNC lead; Boyne City, Petoskey earn softball and baseball sweeps

PETOSKEY — There won’t be any movement at the top of the Big North Conference girls’ soccer standings as the week concludes.

Petoskey made sure of that Thursday night.

But, it’s certainly still been a season that’s been anyone’s game within the league.

Welcoming Gaylord to Northmen Stadium Thursday, Petoskey kept some of the dramatics out of their second matchup after a last second game-winner previously, this time earning a 3-1 win to stay atop a competitive league race.

“They were right behind us, we were on 13 points, they were on 11, so that was big,” Petoskey coach Zach Jonker said. “(Gaylord Coach) Chris (Adams) and I were talking before the game that it’s kind of fun that on any given night, anyone can knock someone else off.”

Petoskey (9-1-1) has been holding the lead throughout the year at 6-1-1 and 19 points (three points for a win, one for a tie), while Traverse City West (3-0-4) has yet to lose and sits in second with 13 points. Both teams have three games left to play.

“That’s what’s exciting,” Jonker said on the race. “There are a lot of years when it might not be as competitive as the others. Thankfully, we’re home the rest of the way in league play. We’ve got to keep stacking results on top of each other.”

Petoskey stacked first half goals by Annika Gandhi and Lily Premo to take a 2-0 lead on Gaylord, before Gaylord’s Ella Cherwinski tightened things up in the second half with a strong finish.

Petoskey then added the dagger late on a Brynn Jonker to Clara Mailloux header.

After having Tuesday’s game moved due to weather, Jonker was excited to come out of some good practice time with some solid production.

“I’m happy for the girls to bring those sessions in, especially in the first half,” he said. “(Adams) made a couple nice adjustments at halftime and we got a little discombobulated. We were probably fortunate to get out of there when it was 2-1, then Clara had one of the goals of the year.”

Brynn Jonker’s assist to Mailloux in the second half was actually one of two on the day, with the first half Premo goal coming off a beautiful cross as well.

“She’s good with both feet and when she can get her foot into it, she’s got a really nice left footed cross,” said Coach Jonker. “Both of those crosses were dangerous and led to our second and third goals.”

The league race will come down to the final couple weeks left of the regular season, with Petoskey next meeting TC West at home on Tuesday, May 14.

First up, however, will be their annual hosted tournament beginning at 10 a.m. this Saturday, May 11. Petoskey will meet Marquette at the Click Road Soccer Complex to begin play.

BASEBALL

Petoskey takes two from Boyne City

PETOSKEY — After their first two league losses of the season Tuesday in Alpena, the Petoskey baseball team changed up the pace Thursday.

Welcoming Boyne City for a pair of non-conference games, the Ramblers didn’t exactly give them away, but Petoskey was back on the right side of a sweep in the end with wins of 3-2 and 11-3.

The sweep helped bring Petoskey to 15-7 overall on the season, while Boyne City dropped to 3-11.

The night also gave the Northmen an opportunity to get a number of different arms in the mix on the mound, with five different players tossing to home.

Jordan Beigle earned the win in the opener for Petoskey behind three inning with just two hits allowed and four strikeouts. Kam Horn and Haden Janes then closed out the final three innings.

Hits came at a minimum in the opener, though Tyler Goeldel led with a 2 for 3 game and an RBI.

Brandon Joyce led with an RBI single for Boyne, with Eric Mansfield going the full five innings in the opener on the mound.

Game 2 came with some better production at the plate, with Drew Olson doubling in a pair of runs, while Goeldel and Brendan Swiss each went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Ben Lansing earned the pitching win over 3 2/3, not allowing a hit, though walked six.

For Boyne, both Mansfield and Ryder Peck each had an RBI, while Kacey Gray and Brady Bearss each pitched in the loss.

SOFTBALL

Boyne City spoils Petoskey senior night

PETOSKEY — On Tuesday night, much of the Petoskey softball team’s night came spoiled by the weather when they welcomed Alpena.

On Thursday, it was Boyne City doing the spoiling.

The Ramblers made the short trip up to Petoskey and returned home with a pair of victories after games of 6-3 and 12-10.

The opener came behind a victory for Delaney Vollmer, with six innings and five strikeouts. Lucy Uy and Ellie Clausen each pulled in a pair of singles as well, while Sadie Kroondyk had an RBI.

Petoskey committed seven errors in the game, though Avery Leist put together a solid three innings, not allowing a hit, while striking out six. Kristen Shaw led at the plate with a pair of RBIs off a single.

The Game 2 win actually came as a comeback victory for the Ramblers, with five runs in the top of the sixth.

Uy went 4 for 4 with four RBIs, a triple and three runs scored. Vollmer was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Kroondyk doubled and Sidney Bush went 2 for 3 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Bush earned the win and Vollmer also pitched another 2 2/3 innings.

For Petoskey, a better night came behind Jaidyn Ecker going 3 for 3 with a double and two runs, Alexis Cadarette went 3 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored and Sammy Wodek was 2 for 2 with two RBIs.

Katie Hansen took the loss pitching, while Leist and Wodek also took to the circle.

Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey soccer tops Gaylord; baseball, softball welcome Boyne City