Ryan Bragg picked up two saves in the Falcons' opening doubleheader, including the final six outs of a combined no-hitter with Rick Dodridge.
Cold weather didn't slow down Aaron Kihn and the Falcons, who stole 10 bases on the day.
Brent Baker
Michael Noffsinger slides into third bas with one of his two stolen bases in Wednesday's nightcap.

BAY CITY ALL SAINTS - Mar. 28, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights will not be lacking in pitching this season, and the Falcons started off with a chilling demonstration of its mound prowess in Wednesday's season-opening doubleheader at Bay City All Saints.

A younger than usual All Saints squad had little luck against the Falcons' twin left-hand aces as Ogemaw took wins of 6-0 and 5-2 in 37-degree weather.

Rick Dodridge and Ryan Bragg combined to throw a no-hitter in the opener. Dodridge went the first five innings, striking out 11 of the 17 batters he faced and walking two. Bragg pitched the final two innings, walking one and striking out four.

Matt Faiman followed up with four innings of one-hit pitching in the second game, which went just five innings due to darkness.

"Pitching looked very good," said Ogemaw coach Jeremiah Peace. "All three guys seemed to have very good command, but this time in the year the pitchers should look better than the hitters."

Michael Noffsinger drove in the first run of the season with an RBI triple that drove in Bragg, who led off the third inning with a walk. Noffsinger scored on an error to make it 2-0.

Noffsinger added an RBI double and Faiman had a two-run single in the sixth.

"I was relatively happy offensively," Peace said. "We moved runners well and drove in runners in some clutch spots, but we also looked a little weak a the plate at times, especially on off-speed person."

The Falcons, who have had unparalleled success stealing bases the past two seasons, parlayed eight steals into five runs in the second game, with Faiman stealing three bases and Noffsinger two. Noffsinger had a double and triple to account for the Falcons' extra-base hits.

"All Saints is a good program and well-coached," Peace said. "It was a good test of how ready we may be. Overall I was really pleased with the outcome and the way we got there. Everybody got in and got a chance to play and get the butterflies out."

The Falcons play Monday at Arthur Hill.