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    TC CENTRAL AT TC WEST BASEBALL

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    TC CENTRAL AT TC WEST BASEBALL
May 6, 2009

Titans sweep Trojans twinbill

Wins keep West alive in BNC race

BY MIKE ECKERT

TRAVERSE CITY -- The Murchie Memorial Baseball Trophy has a new home.

After spending the last three years at Traverse City Central, host TC West re-claimed the rivalry trophy Tuesday with a Big North Conference sweep of the Trojans.

The Titans opened with a 5-2 win in the opener and finished the sweep with a 7-2 victory in the nightcap.

"They've had that trophy over there for a while," West senior David Coors said. "To be a senior and take it back was just incredible. It gives us a chance to win the conference. That's what we had to do."

The win keeps the Titans (16-6) alive in the Big North race with a 7-1 record.

"Every conference game is big, and it just puts the cherry on top when it's Central," West coach Matt Bocian said. "Now we have to go down and play Cadillac at their place next Tuesday. Those are just as big as today. But that trophy is special."

Central fell to 12-8 on the season and 3-5 in the Big North.

"They made the plays and we didn't," Trojans coach Mike Gle said. "Baseball's a pretty simple game that way. They came out, put the bat on the ball and they made more plays than we did."

In the first game, Central committed four errors to help West's cause.

"I'm not going to take anything away from them, but when you don't make routine plays, you're not going to win the game," Gle said. "We didn't do that today, so you can't expect to beat a good team."

The first game was 2-2 in the fifth inning when Matt Beem walked and Scott Witkop brought him home with an RBI double. The Titans then scored two more in the sixth when Luke Hessler brought home Josh Kloosterman and Joe Kniss on a two-run single.

Hessler started the game for West while Kloosterman earned the win in relief.

Chris Roop had three hits for Central with a double while Alex Fancy had two singles and scored both runs.

Jason Winowiecki pitched the loss with seven strikeouts.

In the nightcap, the Titans worked late into the innings, scoring three runs in the first and two more in the fourth all with two outs.

"It's always big to score runs at any period, especially against a good ballclub like Central," Bocian said.

Coors pitched the win, going six innings with one earned run, six hits, six strikeouts and a walk.

"Mostly my fastball was working for me," Coors said. "The curveball would come in every once in a while. I don't know, I just felt good."

He benefitted from holding a 3-0 lead before he took the mound. Kevin Kreta scored on a Kloosterman RBI while Coors helped his own cause by bringing home two more with a slap up the middle in the first inning.

"It gives me a little confidence," Coors said of the early lead. "They did their part, then I had to go do mine."

Brett Kenny also had a two-run double to highlight the Titan offense.

Roop again led the Trojans with a single and a double. Winowiecki belted a solo home run in the seventh.

Ryan Truschke pitched 3 and 2/3 innings and took the loss for Central with a pair of strikeouts.

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