WEST BRANCH - July 2, 2005 – The West Branch Junior League all-star team bounced back from an opening game loss in pool play to defeat Huron Central North 13-3 on Saturday and advance to a District 8 semifinal on Sunday, July 10 in Alpena.

West Branch lost its opener 5-2 to a surprising Manistee team that won the pool despite being in its first year as a chartered Little League program.

Against Huron Central North, West Branch broke open a 2-0 game with a seven-run third inning. North contribed a pair of errors to the West Branch rally, but Eric Noble, Jarritt Orlando, Nathan Noffsinger, Kyle Scott, Andrew Funsch and Blaine Powley each had RBI singles in the inning. Scott’s hit drove in two runs.

West Branch took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Alex Jennings’ RBI double drove home Funsch with the game’s first run. Jennings later scored on an error on a ball hit by Noble.

Trailing 12-0, North rallied in the fifth as Tristan Kohloff drove home Derrick Morrison to break the shutout, and Josh Anderson added a two-run double.

Noble earned the victory for West Branch, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out two in five innings of work.

Manistee used a three-run sixth inning in the opening game to top West Branch 5-2. Manistee also defeated Huron Central North, 9-3.