CHEBOYGAN – July 23, 2005 – The West Branch Senior League baseball team became the fourth West Branch squad this season to advance to a state finals tournament with a 12-0 and 13-1 sweep of Cheboygan on Saturday.

The Senior Leaguers join the Little League baseball, 11-year-old softball and Minor League softball teams as state qualifiers.

“They were a younger team,” West Branch coach Dr. Mark Weber said of Cheboygan. “They were kind of like we were last year, with mostly 15-year-olds.

“But we hit well and pitched well. They hadn’t seen anything like our pitching.”

In the opener, Chris Lambert threw a one-hit shutout, striking out 10 without walking a batter. Matt Faiman hit a 400-foot home run to center field and added a pair of stand-up triples to pace the West Branch offense.

“Lambert’s game was just a work of art,” Weber said. “He was a lot of fun to watch.”

In the second game, Ricke Dodridge allowed just three hits and struck out 12 while walking one, and added a three-run home run that put West Branch over the 10-run mercy-rule threshold.

“Dodridge has really improved his control,” Weber said. “He is really tough to hit when he throws like that.”

Curtis Lyons hit the ball to the fence three times in the game.

West Branch advances to the state tournament in Dowagiac, playing its first game of the double-elimination tournament on Friday, July 29.

“We’ll see a lot tougher competition down there,” Weber said. “The kids need to face that to get to the next level, and they’re looking forward to it. They’ve been looking forward to this since we made the state tournament (as junior leaguers) and played Midland a couple years ago.”