Ogemaw's Aaron Kihn awaits a pitch during Tuesday's doubleheader at Standish-Sterling
Linda Eyer
SSC's Joel LaPan slides safely into second base.

STANDISH-STERLING - Apr. 16, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights' bats came alive at Standish-Sterling on Tuesday, earning the Falcons a key North East Michigan Conference sweep, 12-4 and 10-6.

Getting those runs were important as Falcon ace Rick Dodridge was still not at 100 percent after coming off a slight hamstring injury. For Dodridge that still meant 13 strikeouts in five innings.

"Rick was still working through his hamstring, but he pitched well," said Ogemaw coach Jeremiah Peace. "He wasn't sharp, but he battled through it and settled in nicely."

Dodridge gave up three hits but walked six before giving way to Ryan Bragg in the sixth after the Falcons broke open what had been a close game. Ogemaw took a 4-1 lead but saw the Panthers score single runs in the fourth and fifth to get to within 4-3.

But then the Falcons exploded for seven runs in the sixth to put it away.

"We had one 'big mistake inning' in each game," said SSC coach Steve Stodolak. "They put the ball in play and we booted it around like we were playing soccer. You can't give good teams four or five outs in an inning and expect to win."

"We executed like we want and the results were great," Peace said. "We got bunts down, (Kyle Weber) squeezed in a run, Faiman had a sac fly, we hit behind runners ... it was great to see it work the way it's supposed to."

Kyle Wangler had three hits, including a double, while Faiman had three RBIs. Weber, Kyle Wangler and Rob Goulette each had doubles.

The Panthers took their shot at a repeat of last year's split by taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning of the second game, aided by two walks and errors that led to two unearned runs.

The lead didn't last long. Mike Pacella doubled to lead off the Ogemaw second and got the Falcons rolling. Ogemaw took a 6-4 lead with the big inning and extended it to 10-4 before SSC closed out with two runs in the bottom of the fifth (and final, due to darkness) inning.

Faiman had three hits and three RBIs; Goulette had a pair of doubles and drove in three runs; Pacella and Wangler each had two hits and Scott Kimball had two RBIs.

"Aaron Kihn was back in the lineup and had some real good swings," Peace said of his catcher, who also was coming off an injury. "Today was the day that a lot of the kids' hard work showed. It was great to get out and take two league games."

Jason Kandal had two doubles and Bialobrzeski had one hit for SSC.

The Falcons (6-2, 2-0 NEMC) travel to Oscoda on Thursday, while SSC (1-5, 1-3) hosts Gladwin.