Ogemaw Heights swept John Glenn in the showdown between NEMC co-leaders, with Rick Dodridge coming within two outs of throwing a perfect game at the Bobcats in the opener. Above, Dodridge (far left) was studiously ignored by his teammates, who did their best to honor the time-worn tradition of not speaking to a pitcher who was throwing a no-hitter.
Glenn's Jordan Snider makes a diving tag of an Ogemaw Heights baserunner trying to score in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader.
Brent Baker
Rick Dodridge turned in a sensational outing the Falcons' biggest game this season to date, not allowing a baserunner until an infield single with one out in the seventh inning against John Glenn.

JOHN GLENN - May 10, 2007 - A near-perfect performance by Ogemaw Heights' Rick Dodridge gave the Falcons everything they needed to steamroll John Glenn on Thursday in a long-awaited showdown between the North East Michigan Conference's top two teams.

Dodridge came within two outs of tossing a perfect game in the opener, which the Falcons won 7-0, and Matt Faiman hurled a two-hitter in the 10-1 nightcap. The sweep gives the Falcons a three-game lead atop the NEMC over Glenn and Pinconning with four league games to go.

"This was a big day," said Ogemaw coach Jeremiah Peace. "If we can win both Monday, it will be a nice feeling, because we'll be able to play some ball with no pressure on us for a few weeks.

"These kids have had a nice run over the past five or six years, but the expectations are so high and sometimes it eats at them a bit. So it'll be nice to be pressure-free for a change."

Dodridge seemed immune to any pressure in the opener. Coming off Monday's contest in which he struck out 18 batters, he was even sharper, if that was possible. Under the watchful eyes of college coaches and a Detroit Tigers scout, the junior southpaw not only retired the first 19 batters and struck out 12, he didn't allow a ball to be hit out of the infield and only one to the left side of second base. And he inflicted that kind of damage on a team that came into the doubleheader averaging more than nine runs per league game and only twice had scored as few as six runs.

"He was awesome," Peace said. "That was a real special game, and it was against one of the best-hitting teams we'll see. I don't think he was throwing as hard as he did Monday, but he had better command. His slider was better; that's a big out pitch for him, and his curve was nasty."

Dodridge said he had a no-hitter going, but until the seventh inning his teammates were avoiding him (as per baseball tradition), until one informed him he had a shot not only at a no-hitter, but a perfect game -- no baserunners.

"I felt the pressure a bit," Dodridge said. "I knew I had the no-hitter going, but I also knew the seventh inning is the hardest inning."

With the top of the Glenn batting order up, Dodridge stuck out Aaron Oleniacz looking on a 3-2 pitch for the first out. Phil Hartt had other ideas for Glenn, though, and got his bat on the ball enough to send a slow bouncer up the middle. Kyle Wangler made a diving stop behind second base, but had to try to make the throw from his knees and had no real chance.

"That was probably the best play Kyle's ever made," Peace said. "They wanted that (perfect game)."

Dodridge, unfazed, fanned the final two batters to finish with a one-hitter and 13 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Falcons chipped away at Bobcat ace Devin Craves after Craves escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first. Kyle Wangler led off the second with a walk, took second on Kyle Weber's sacrifice and scored on a two-base scoring error on Ryan bragg's ground ball. Bragg later scored on Rob Goulette's groundball out.

Michael Noffsinger's speed gave the Falcons their third run. With two outs in the fourth, Noffsinger singled, then made his way around the bases on two errant pickoff attempts.

Scott Kimball added an RBI single in the fifth to score Aaron Kihn; Faiman added an RBI single in the sixth and later scored on an error; and Wangler's squeeze bunt brought home another run in the seventh.

In the second game, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the first on Faiman's sacrifice fly in the first, but it was a five-run second that insured Ogemaw would return home with a sweep. Wangler reached base on an error, the consecutive singles from Anthony Betancourt, Bragg, and Mike Pacella, followed by NOffsinger and Faiman getting hit by pitches and a two-run error on Kihn's grounder gave Ogemaw a 6-0 lead. The Falcons added three more in the fourth and one in the sixth.

Oleniacz RBI double in the fifth gave the Bobcats (14-10, 7-3 NEMC) their only run in the two games. Craves' single in the second was Glenn's other hit in the game.

Faiman struck out 11 and walked two.

"These guys want more, and they want to continue to get better," Peace said. "They come in at 6 a.m. every day to work, then back after school for two to three hours of practice each night. usually at this time of year, kids are kind of burned out, but they really want a shot at getting to Battle Creek. They know if we could have executed a little better we could have been there last year."

For the Falcons (15-3, 8-0 NEMC), the benefits of all the attention success has brought have spread beyond Dodridge and Faiman.

"Rick and Matt (Faiman) said they want to know when there are scouts here; I think those guys walked away happy today with what they saw," Peace said. "The nice thing is, because of those two a lot of other kids are getting some looks that might not get noticed otherwise. We've talked with both those boys about the impact they have on the community as examples and leaders. This community has been all about football since (the state championship season of) '97, but there are little kids who stop these guys now and ask for their autographs (as baseball players)."

The Falcons host Whittemore-Prescott on Monday with a chance to wrap up the league title. If they can do that, their Thursday contest with Pinconning, while always interesting, will be little more than preparation for a likely district championship showdown.