MANTON — Pitching and defense made the difference.
Pine River struggled at the plate but made up for it in other areas as it took two from Manton, 5-0 and 3-1, in a pair of Highland Conference softball games Friday.
“Some nights, our bats just do not get going. We struggled to hit their pitching tonight,” Pine River coach Mike Nelson said. “Our defense was just outstanding and both pitchers threw extremely well, too.
“Between the Mumby girls’ pitching and our defense, that was huge because Manton can really hit the ball.”
Kylee Mumby got the win in game one, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out 12.
Lanie Sparks, Kylee Mumby and Sadler Mumby had a hit and an RBI each while Sabrina Cutler, Miriam Johnson and Emma Burns each had a hit.
Aliyah Geary took the loss for Manton, allowing two earned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out four.
Adriana Sackett paced the Rangers at the plate with two hits while Morgan Shepler and Kaya Jenkins each had one.
Sadler Mumby got the win in game two, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Kylee Mumby, Sadler Mumby and Mary Nichols each had a hit.
Maggie Powers took the loss in game two, allowing one earned run on three hits and four walks while striking out nine.
Shepler doubled while Sackett had a hit and an RBI. Kayleigh Niehardt had a hit, as well.
Pine River (17-7 overall, 8-4 Highland) hosts McBain on Monday.
EVART — Evart picked up a pair of Highland wins over McBain, 10-0 and 16-0.
Kyrah Gray got the win in game one for the Wildcats, allowing no runs on no hits and a walk while striking out 10.
At the plate, Gray had a double, triple and an RBI; Ally Theunick three hits; Kate Gostlin an RBI; Mattie Tiedt two hits and an RBI; Kayanne Tiedt a double; Kiera Elder a hit and an RBI; Liv VanAssche a double and two RBIs; and Brooklyn Decker two hits.
Vanassche got the win in game two, allowing no runs on two hits and no walks while striking out four in three innings of work.
At the plate, Gray had a triple and an RBI; Theunick a hit; Gostlin an RBI; Mattie Tiedt a hit; Calli Duncan a hit and two RBIs; Vanassche a hit and an RBI; Emily Miller a hit; and Decker a hit and two RBIs.
Shannon Maloney, Emerson Tossey and Karsyn Meyering each had a hit for McBain.
Evart (24-2, 11-1) faces Ravenna at Ferris State today.
MANTON — Pine River picked up a pair of Highland wins, beating Manton 9-0 and 13-0.
“Xander (Martin) and Braeden (Larr) were both dominant on the mound with very good control,” Pine River coach Shawn Ruppert said. “We didn’t hit the ball very well the first game but kind of broke out the second game with a grand slam by Cash Wheeler and good consistent hitting by Kaiden Hubble and Nate Marks.”
Martin got the win in game one for the Bucks, allowing no runs on no hits and no walks while striking out seven.
At the plate, Marks had two hits and an RBI; Braeden Larr an RBI; Cash Wheeler two hits; Hubble two hits and three RBIs; JJ Dean a hit; and Jericho Holmes a hit and an RBI.
Larr got the win in game two, allowing no runs on one hit and a walk while striking out six.
At the plate, Marks had a hit and an RBI; Wheeler a hit and five RBIs; and Hubble a hit.
Pine River hosts McBain on Monday.
EVART — Evart won its fourth and fifth straight games as it beat McBain 10-4 and 7-2 in a pair of Highland contests.
Preston Wallace got the win in game one, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out seven.
At the plate, Wallace had an RBI; JJ Morgan a hit; Aidan Anderson two RBIs; Lucas Johnson two RBIs; Dryson Derscheid a two-run double; Logan Anderson a hit and two RBIs; Brandon Magnusson a hit; and Aaron Vanassache an RBI.
Trenton Brunink took the loss for McBain, allowing five earned runs on one hit and five walks while striking out two.
At the plate, Bryce Akom had two doubles and two RBIs; Brunink a hit; Colton Haverkamp a hit; Ben Tripp a hit; Kaden Abrahamson an RBI; Carson Murphy a hit and an RBI; Kasen Pollington a hit; and Blayn Hughston a hit.
Magnusson got the win in game two, allowing no earned runs on one hit and a walk while striking out five.
At the plate, Wallace had a hit; Derscheid a hit; Aidan Anderson two hits; Johnson a hit and an RBI; and Alex Retlewski an RBI.
Haverkamp doubled and Trey Boven singled for McBain in game two.
Evart (15-11, 10-2) is at Roscommon on Tuesday. McBain (12-11-1, 8-4) is at Pine River on Monday.
ROSCOMMON — Lake City split a pair of Highland games with Roscommon as it won the opener 17-6 and the Bucks won game two 7-6.
Job Rogers got the win in game one, allowing four earned runs on five htis and a walk while striking out five.
At the plate, Cole McGiness had two RBIs and two RBIs; Tyler Atkins two hits and an RBI; Rogers three hits and an RBI; Ethan Goodrich a hit and an RBI; Ian McLeod an RBI; Thomas Bisballe three hits and an RBI; Teague Helsel two hits; and Asheton Mathison two hits and three RBIs.
Atkins took the loss in game two, allowing two earned runs on three hits while striking out one in one inning of work.
At the plate, McGiness had a hit; Atkins a hit; Rogers a hit and an RBI; Jase Goodrich a hit; Ethan Goodrich an RBI; Kurtis Miles a hit and two RBIs; and Gabe Comp a hit and an RBI.
Lake City (9-15, 3-9) is at the Ogemaw Heights Invitational today.
CUSTER — Marion wrapped up an unbeaten run through the West Michigan D League as it swept Mason County Eastern, 13-3 and 12-8.
Cameron Prielipp got the win in relief in game two, allowing no runs on one hit and two walks while striking out five in three innings of work.
At the plate, Gavin Prielipp had three hits and two RBIs; Caden McCrimmon a hit and two RBIs; Collin McCrimmon a hit; Cole Meyer two hits; Hayden Ostrowski an RBI; Quinn Scott an RBI; Aaron Whitney a hit and an RBI; and Cameron Prielipp a hit and three RBIs.
Cole Meyer got the win in game two, allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out nine.
At the plate, Gavin Prielipp had a hit; Caden McCrimmon an RBI; Meyer a hit; Whitney a hit and an RBI; and Cameron Prielipp two hits and two RBIs.
Marion (20-5-2, 14-0) is at Frankfort on Monday.
OSCODA — Northern Michigan Christian set the table to compete for a conference title as it blanked Oscoda 8-0 in an NMSL contest.
The Comets (15-1-2, 13-1-2) won their fourth straight Southern Division title of the Northern Michigan Soccer League and will face host Ogemaw Heights for the title on Monday.
“We had a fun game tonight,” NMC coach Jen VanNoord said. “We moved players around to allow defenders a chance to score.
“We were to play quick and stay sharp and healthy for Monday’s game.”
Jada VanNoord paced NMC with four goals while Emerson Bosscher scored twice. Maria DeRuiter had a goal and two assists while Sofia Hernandez also scored. Kylee Winkle, Lydia Sprague, Melanie Bennett and Harper Tossey each had an assist.
Tossey and Ava Johns were in goal.
