By Colin McCaw
Schoolcraft High School’s varsity baseball team recently won its first conference championship in school history.
In a tight race for the top spot in the conference, the Eagles, coached by Larry Phelps, clinched the KVA title outright, sweeping a talented17-12 Battle Creek Pennfield squad.
Going into the game, the Eagles knew they had a chance to win the league outright. However, to do so, the Eagles needed a complete sweep of the Panthers; a split would merely give them a share of the conference championship.
Schoolcraft clinched its first KVA conference title mainly due to the performances of their pitchers, Nick Cackmacki and Caleb Proksch. In game one, Cackmacki pitched all seven innings, stifling the Panthers’ bats with six strikeouts, and only one walk and two hits allowed. The Eagles cruised to an easy 8-1 finish.
Then came the crucial game two to decide if the Eagles would win the title outright, or tie with Hackett, giving the Irish their third straight conference title.
The Eagles prevailed behind the arm of Proksch, and the bats of Caleb Anspaugh and Cackmacki. While Proksch gave up seven hits, he also struck out six, and only gave up one run in seven innings.
Cackmacki, fresh off of his stellar pitching performance in game one, added some much needed offense with three hits and one run scored. Anspaugh, had two hits, including a triple. He also scored for the Eagles. Schoolcraft topped the Panthers 4-1 in game two, officially giving them the conference title.
“Just a culmination of a lot of hard work for this group of players, especially the seniors,” he said. “Great group of kids. “
Schoolcraft’s next contest will be a tough battle as they travel to Hackett for the first round of the district tournament. This matchup will be vigorous as Hackett will surely be out for blood against a Schoolcraft squad that just ended their conference title streak.
However, with their first conference title under their belt, the Eagles seem poised to make a run deep into the state tournament.