Traverse City Record-Eagle

Sports

June 16, 2012

Mancelona falls in semifinals

Ironmen finish their long playoff run with a 29-6 record

From staff reports ----

BATTLE CREEK — Lansing Catholic ended Mancelona's long playoff run with an 8-1 decision Friday in the Division 3 state semifinals.

The Ironmen finish the season 29-6, a year after reaching the quarterfinals.

Mancelona's lone run came in the sixth inning, when Wyatt Derrer singled up the middle, Kyle Schepperley singled to right field and Derrer came across on a Craig Conway ground ball.

Lansing Catholic scored once in the second and single runs in the fourth and sixth, sandwiched around a five-run fifth.

Conway took the loss, giving up eight hits and seven runs in 4.2 innings of work. He struck out two and walked two. Brandon Dingman came on to finish the fifth and ended up tosing 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, giving up one run and striking out two.

Schepperley had two hits for the Ironmen, while Cole VanWagner, Derrer and Logan Borst had the team's only other hits.

Lancing Catholic starter Mike DeClark gave up only five hits in a half dozen innings, walking none and striking out five. Eric Plaehn finished up with one hitless inning, fanning two.

The Cougars (31-6) move on to today's state championship game against Madison Heights Bishop Foley, which beat Saginaw Nouvel 6-2 in the other semifinal. The game is the last of the four title tilts, starting at 6:30 p.m.

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