SPORTS

VARSITY BASEBALL
Elk swept by Stags in NSC Twinbill

Nathan Barton (8) is safe at home plate with Collin McCormack (11) watching the action. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Elks varsity baseball team dropped a pair of conference home games to Kingsley on Monday falling 5-0 in the opener and 12-8 in the nightcap. The two losses dropped the Elks to 4-6 in the conference standings and all but ended their chances of repeating as Northern Shores Conference (NSC) champions.
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Nathan Barton pitched a complete game one, surrendering 11 hits and five runs (two unearned) with three walks and three strikeouts. Kingsley scored three runs in the third and added singles runs in the fourth and fifth innings in the 5-0 shutout. The Elks had three hits in the game, two from Braden Fluty with a double and a single by Collin McCormack. The Elks threatened to score in the first inning after Fluty led off with a single and Jayden Hresko drew a one out walk, but the Stags turned a double play to end the inning. In the sixth inning McCormack drew a lead off walk, but any chance of a rally ended with a Stag double play.

In game two Ethan Draper started on the mound and lasted 4.1 innings, giving up 10 hits and 12 runs (eight unearned) with two walks and two strikeouts. Matthew Barton threw 2.1 innings in relief, allowing three hits with a walk. The Stags scored eight runs in the first inning courtesy of five singles, a walk, one error and two hit batsmen. The Elks scored three runs in the first, trimming the deficit to 8-3, trailed 11-6 after four innings and 12-8 after five but could not overcome the Stag eight-run first inning. The Elks had nine hits led by Draper with two and two RBIs.

Elk Rapids (8-14, 4-6 NSC) played a non-conference doubleheader at Leelanau St. Mary on Wednesday, then will close out the NSC schedule with a pair of conference twinbills at home beginning with Grayling on Thursday and followed with Charlevoix on Monday. The Elks will be on the road for two games against Traverse City Central on Tuesday.

Elks repeat as Aaron Coleman Invitational Champions
The Elks hosted the Second Annual Aaron Coleman Invitational on Saturday with the Reed City Coyotes and the Benzie Central Huskies in attendance. The invite honors longtime Elk varsity baseball coach Aaron Coleman, who passed away last year at age 86. Coach Coleman led Elk baseball for 23 years and was an Elk player during his years at ERHS.

The Elks won the first-place hardware for the second year after edging past Reed City 10-9 in extra innings, then rolling over Benzie 25-7.

The Elks used Matthew Barton, Luciano Fortuna and Draper on the mound against Reed City, the trio combined for 11 hits, nine runs (two unearned) two walks and four Ks. The lead went back and forth in the game, Reed City led 2-0 after two innings, the Elks scored four runs in the top of the third for a 4-2 lead. The Coyotes tied the score with a pair of third inning runs, then scored once in the fourth to regain the lead at 5-4. The game would be tied at 9-9 after six innings of play sending the teams into extra innings. 

Luke Otto started the seventh on second base as per the extra innings rules, he took third on a single by Matthew Barton and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Fortuna for a 10-9 Elk lead. The Coyotes placed a runner on second base to start the extra inning. The first Coyote batter struck out looking, the next Coyote hit into a double play ending the game and securing the Elk win. The Elks had seven hits, Matthew Barton had two singles and an RBI, Hresko and Nathan Barton both doubled. The Elks drew 10 walks in the game.

Fluty and Fortuna pitched a combined three innings against Benzie, giving up eight hits, seven runs (one unearned) with three walks and six strikeouts. The Elks led 12-3 after one and 25-7 after two in the mercy win. The Elks pounded out 16 hits. Fluty had three hits with a double and four RBIs, Brody Turner tallied three hits with a double and two RBIs, Hresko had two hits with four RBIs, McCormack had two hits and stacked up six RBIs.

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VARSITY SOFTBALL
Wins thriller in final at bat

Peyton Friess (6) concentrates on the throw to first and gets the out. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

​Yogi Berra, baseball legend and Hall of Fame player, is credited for the phrase “It ain’t over til it’s over.” More than likely none of the Elk Rapids varsity softball players know who Yogi Berra is, but they lived up to his immortal words on Monday by scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to get a 6-3 win over Kingsley, followed by a 3-0 victory in the nightcap for a sweep of the Stags.

Elk Rapids found themselves trailing 3-1 as they headed into their final at bat against Kinglsey in game one of a conference home twinbill. The Elks were riding a 10-game winning streak, the last nine games won by the mercy rule and they needed to win to keep their hopes of a second straight Northern Shores Conference (NSC) title alive.

The excitement around the diamond was high, the Elk players were chattering and looked confident, the fans could sense that this game was not over by a long shot. Peyton Friess drew a leadoff walk on four straight pitches and went to second on a centerfield single by Rhielynn Skrocki. The two Elks pulled off a double steal and now stood on second and third base. Jillian Moazeni was intentionally walked, loading the bases with no outs. Coraline Rainey stepped up to the plate and drilled a 1-1 pitch into leftfield for a double, scoring Friess and Skrocki to tie the game at 3-3 and sending Moazeni to third. Emily Vandergriff sent a ground ball to third base and a throw to the plate was in time to tag Moazeni out. Vandergriff was safe at first on the fielder’s choice, Rainey now stood at third base with one out. Kylee Bergquist strode to the plate, the freshman batter took ball one as Vandergriff easily stole second. Bergquist swung and missed at the next pitch for a 1-1 count, stepped back in and sent the next offering over the leftfield fence for a three-run homer and a 6-3 walk-off win for the Elks.

Skrocki pitched a complete game, allowing four hits, three earned runs with nine strikeouts and no walks. The Elks had six hits in the game, three coming in their final at bat, Skrocki led the team with two hits, Moazeni had a double and Allie Schlicker singled.

In game two Rainey pitched a six-inning no-hitter with a career-high 16 strikeouts and zero walks. The Elks took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Schlicker, scoring Vandergriff who singled to start the inning, then added two more runs in the fourth on a bases load single by Bergquist for a 3-0 lead that would be the final score. The Elks tallied six hits in the game and are on a 12-game winning streak.

Elk Rapids (21-7, 6-2 NSC) played a non-conference doubleheader at Leelanau St. Mary on Wednesday, then will host a pair of conference twinbills beginning with Grayling on Thursday and followed by Charlevoix on Monday. The Elks wrap up a busy week at Traverse City Central with a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday.

Elks win second straight Kelsey Anderson Tournament
The Second Annual Kelsey Anderson Memorial Tournament took place in Elk Rapids on Saturday with the Reed City Coyotes and the Benzie Central Huskies competing. The Elks repeated as the tournament champions defeating Reed City 14-4 and rolling over Benzie 12-2 to claim the first-place hardware.

Moazeni pitched all five innings against Reed City, allowing seven hits, four runs (one unearned) with a walk and seven strikeouts. The game was tied 1-1 after two innings, the Elks erupted for six runs in the third and seven more runs in the top of the fifth for a 14-2 lead. The Coyotes scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Elks the 14-4 mercy win. The Elks had 10 hits led by Brooke Fluty and Friess with two hits, both doubling with an RBI, Skrocki added two hits with an RBI and Moazeni belted a two-run homer.

Facing Benzie the Elks went with Rainey on the mound, the sophomore pitched a five-inning no-hitter, allowing two runs (one unearned) with five walks and fanned eight. The Elks scored three runs in the first and held a 10-2 lead after the Huskies batted in the top of the fifth inning.

Fluty led off with a single, took second on a passed ball, stole third base and came home on a triple by Skrocki. The next batter was Moazeni who grounded out to third base, scoring Skrocki and ending the game with a 12-2 mercy win. The Elks cranked out 12 hits, Skrocki had three hits with two triples, Rainey had two hits with a double, Schlicker and Moazeni both doubled in the game. 

A memorial service before the final game was held at home plate for Kelsey Anderson, who will always be number 4 on the Elk Rapids roster. Anderson was three-year varsity player and 2018 graduate who passed away suddenly last year after contracting an illness.

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VARSITY GOLF
Golfers look to repeat as conference champions

The Elks finished in fourth place at the Grayling Invitational on Monday, shooting a 357 in a meet that featured all eight teams of the Northern Shores Conference (NSC). The meet, played at the Grayling Country Club, was won by Harbor Springs with a 320, followed by Charlevoix in second place with a 326 and Grayling finishing third scoring a 353. The invite was rounded out with Kalkaska in fifth place (366) followed by Boyne City (385), Cheboygan (393) and Kingsley (404). 

The Elk top four were Blake Springstead, with the individual first-place score of 68, Jack Morton, turning in a ninth place 85, Maddux Koch (101) and Luke Schulte (103). The fifth Elk golfer was Henry Veith with a 104.

The Elks divided into two squads last Wednesday, giving the younger players on the team a chance to compete in a varsity meet. The Elks played in the Elk Rapids Golf Invite, held at Antrim Dells, and also competed in the TC West Big North Conference (BNC) Invitational, taking place at the Grand Traverse Resort.

The Elk Invitational had nine teams in attendance. Boyne City finished in first place (337); taking second was Central Lake (369) and in third place was Cheboygan (375). The Elks finished in seventh place shooting a 449, tallied by the top four finishers in Schulte (100), Koch (105), Jacob Raddatz (113), Jonah Britton (131) and joined by fifth man Pierce McCarty (152).

The TC West Invite had a field of 16 teams competing, the Elks finished in fourth place with a 334, just seven strokes behind TC Central in third place with a 327. The invite was won by TC West with a 296, in second place was Gaylord shooting a 315. The Elk top four were Springstead, scoring an individual fifth-place 75, Jacob Garrow (82), Mason Hilley (86) and Morton (91). Rounding out the team was Bryce Reid (92) and Veith (99). 

Elk Rapids played in the Northern Shores Conference Championship at the Cheboygan Golf and Country Club on Wednesday. The Elks are the defending NSC champions after winning the conference title last year in a thrilling tie-breaker by three strokes.

The Elks are scheduled to compete in the TC Central BNC Invite on Thursday at the A-Ga-Ming Golf Resort followed by the Jim Glynn Rayder Classic on Monday at the Belvedere Golf Course in Charlevoix.

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VARSITY SOCCER
Elks win pair of conference games

Carlee Bingham (2) speeds ahead of an Oxford defender in the Cherry Blossom title game played on Saturday. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Elks racked up a win and season sweeps over Northern Shores Conference (NSC) rivals Kalkaska and Charlevoix with the final games of the regular season schedule coming up this week. 

Last Thursday on the home pitch the Elks defeated Kalkaska 8-0. Natasha Beebe was in the Elk net with zero saves in the shutout victory. The Elk scoring was spread out over seven players, led by Sierra Boilore with two goals along with solo goals from Carlee Bingham, Claire Godden, Holland Reinhardt, Molly Plum, Piper Smith and Estelle Bellner. Assists went to Godden and Bingham with two each, and recording one assist were Smith, Boilore and Caitlin White.

The Elks were in Charlevoix on Monday and left with a 3-1 win. The Rayders led 1-0 at halftime, the goal was just the fourth scored against the Elks in 12 conference games. The Elks tied the game with a goal by Smith at the 35-minute mark of the second half and took the lead for good 10 minutes later on a goal by Godden. A final score came from Bingham with a rifle kick from the right side that bounced off the hands of the Rayder keeper into the net for the 3-1 final score. Beebe had one save in the Elk net, Godden tallied two assists, and one assist was earned by Reinhardt. 

Elk Rapids (11-4-1, 10-1-1 NSC) will close out the regular season schedule with two NSC games, beginning with a road trip to Boyne City on Thursday. The Elks return home against Cheboygan on Friday and will celebrate “Senior Night” in the regular season finale.

Elks finish second in Cherry Blossom Tournament
The Third Annual Cherry Blossom Tournament was held on Saturday at the Dean & Gene Veliquette Soccer Complex, with the Elks making the championship game for the third straight year but suffered a 4-0 loss to the Oxford Wildcats to claim second place. Oxford scored three times in the first 11 minutes of play, then added a final goal with five minutes left in the game. Beebe finished with five saves in the Elk net.

“We were caught flat footed and ball watching,” said Elk girls soccer coach Andrea Krakow.

The Elks opened tournament play with a 1-0 win in a shootout over the Midland Calvary Baptist Kings and advanced to the title game. The Elks chose Boilore, Godden, Melia Maris, Reinhardt and Bingham to take the shootout penalty kicks, but would notch the win with just the first four players shooting.

“We practice pks every day at the end of practice,” said Coach Krakow. “Our first four shooters all made their kicks. Beebe saved one of the Midland shots and they shot one over the goal, giving us the win.” Beebe was in net for the shutout.

Oxford advanced to the championship game with a 6-0 win over the Alpena Wildcats. In the consolation game Midland earned a 1-0 victory over Alpena. The Elks won the inaugural Cherry Blossom Tournament back in 2024 and finished in second place last year.

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VARSITY TENNIS
Prepares for regionals and NSC championship

The Elk varsity girls tennis team went nearly two weeks without a match due to illness and weather cancellations but have returned to the courts with a flurry of activity in preparation for the regional meet coming on Thursday.

The Elks traveled to Harbor Springs last Tuesday and played hard but appeared rusty in a 7-1 loss to the Rams. The Elks avoided being swept with a come-from-behind win in a battle from the third seed doubles tandem of Claire Burch and Caris Bush (2-6,6-4,13-11).
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“We did not have the results we were hoping for. The time off we had because of illness and matches canceled, that rest did not work in our favor. We go up from here!” said Elk head coach Kelly Croftchik.

The Elks regrouped and were in Charlevoix two days later and came away with a 6-2 victory. In singles the wins came from first seed Remy Croftchik (6-3,6-2) and second seed Braelyn Nelson in a hard-fought match (6-7,6-1,10-4). The Elks easily swept the doubles competition with wins by first seed Leilani Sigrah and Maggie Best (6-3,6-2), second seed Myah Pescatello and Gabby Johns (6-1,6-2), third seed Burch and Bush (6-1,6-0) and fourth seeded Olivia Ducharm and Mabel Clausen (6-0,6-2).

The Elks were in Petoskey on Saturday for a Quad Meet with Ada Forest Hills Eastern, St. Clair and the Northmen. The Elks fell 7-1 to Petoskey with Sigrah and Best winning at one doubles (6-4,6-3) and 7-1 against Ada Forest with second seed doubles Pescatello and Johns getting a win (6-3,6-3). The Elks won three matches in doubles play against St. Clair, from number one Sigrah and Best winning by default, number two Pescatello and Johns (6-4,6-2) and number three Birch and Bush (6-4.6-3). The Elks constantly battled against the bigger schools and played hard all day.

On Monday the Elks hung on for a 5-3 win over the Grayling Vikings on the road. The lone win in singles competition came from second seeded Nelson in a marathon battle (5-7,6-4,14-12). In doubles play the Elks came through with the sweep to wrap up the 5-3 victory. Doubles wins came from first seed Sigrah and Best (6-0,6-2), second seed Pescatello and Johns (6-4,3-6,10-5), third seed Burch and Bush (6-3,6-4) and fourth seed Ducharme and Clausen (6-0,6-0).

The match against TC West scheduled for Tuesday was canceled due to weather. The Elks will next play in the Division 4 Tennis Regionals on Thursday held at St Elizabeth. The regional winning team and the runner-up team automatically advance to the state finals, along with any team that scores 18 or more points at the regional meet. 

The Elks will play their season home finale against East Jordan on Monday followed by the Northern Shores Conference Championship on Tuesday in Boyne City.

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VARSITY TRACK AND FIELD
​Elks have strong showing at conference championship

Tabitha Pritchard and Isabelle Espinoza in a close 300m hurdle race. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Northern Shores Conference (NSC) Championship for track took place in Elk Rapids last Thursday, the first time the Elks have hosted a conference championship meet. The Elk boys finished in second place with 163.5 points, very close behind the meet champion Charlevoix Rayders with 174.5 points, Kingsley took third place tallying 120.5 points. In the girls meet Kingsley came in first place with 177 points, Harbor Springs took second place with 110.5 points, just squeaking past Elk Rapids in third place with 109.5 points. 
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The Charlevoix boys and the Kingsley girls squads were both repeating as conference champions. The first-place finisher in each event earns the title of “Conference Champion.”

On the boys side, the Elk conference champions were Garett Godden in the 100m (11.38), the 200m (22.28) and the 400m, with a new school record of 49.42, the 4x400 relay foursome of Noah Liggett, Miles Prabhaker, Gavin Hamilton and Gooden (3:30.35), the 4x800 relay quartet of Keegan Kiel, Trey Dennis, Bryce Reid and Qwynn Darnell (8:47.38) and Austin Tonn for the discus throw (127’4”). 

For the girls meet, the Elk conference champions were Anna Pray in the 800m (2:30.81) and Brooke Fluty in the 100m hurdles (16.92) and for the 300m hurdles (51.35). Medals were awarded to the top three places in each event. The Elks earned a total of 20 medals.

Kalkaska last chance meet
The Elk track team was in Kalkaska on Monday for the “Last Chance Meet,” originally established to give athletes a final chance to make any additional qualifying standards. 

The Elk boys ran away with first place scoring 165.5 points, Reed City finished a distant second place with 100 points, Mancelona came in third place with 79 points. In the girls meet Reed City came in first place scoring 102 points, Elk Rapids and Mancelona tied for second place with 95 points.

The Elk boys had first-place finishes by Godden in the 200m (22.83) Darnell for the 800m (2:02.76-PR), the 4x100 relay team of Peyton Hill, Liam Crimmins, Harlan Prabhaker and Austin Tonn (48.25), the 4x200 relay with Gavin Hamilton, Godden, Miles Prabhaker and Moah Liggett (1:31.83), the 4x400 relay burners of Dennis, Keil, Reid and Darnell (3:44.32) and Conner Carlisle for the long jump (20’3”). The Elk girls had a first-place finish by Isabelle Espinoza in the 300m hurdles (53.13) and Elsie Thomas for the shot put (32’8.5”) and the discus throw (107’6”).

Elk Rapids will next compete in the Division 3 Track Regionals on Thursday in Charlevoix. There are 15 teams scheduled to compete at the regional meet, all having a goal of advancing to the state finals. The Elk boys will enter the regional meet ranked number four in Division 3 Lower Peninsula. In order to qualify for the state final meet an athlete must finish first or second in their event, or they can advance by equaling or besting a State Qualifier (SQ) time that has been set for each event.

Elk track seniors were honored at the NSC Championship meet held in Elk Rapids: Lotte Schleicher, Brynne Schulte, Elle Lavely, Brooke Fluty, Trey Dennis, Joelle Swanson, Anna Pray, Qwynn Darnell and Conner Carlisle. (not pictured: Easton Butte, Zach Cadwell). Photos by Kim Eardley Photography

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