MT. PLEASANT - Apr. 19, 2008 - Ogemaw Heights' baseball team has played with fire on a number of occasions early in the season.

On Saturday, against some top-flight competition, the Falcons got burned.

The Falcons made 14 errors, including 10 against top-ranked Mt. Pleasant, got no-hit and mercied in one game and fell behind by eight runs in another as they were swept in three tournament contests.

The 8-2 loss to Escanaba, 16-0 whitewash by Grosse Pointe South and 8-7 heartbreaker to Mt. Pleasant were the Falcons' first defeats of the season.

The Falcons seemed to break out of their funk for awhile, taking a 7-1 lead over the Oilers, but the errors caught up with them as the Oilers chipped away and finally scored two in the top of the sixth and final inning for a one-run victory.

Ogemaw had a chance to steal victory in the bottom of the sixth as Chris Bones hit a lead-off double and took third on a wild pitch. Patrick Roy, whose sacrifice bunt had set up the seven-run second inning, had what seemed to be he game-tying hit heading toward left field, but Mt. Pleasant shortstop William Arnold made a diving stop and nailed Bones at the plate.

Ogemaw Heights coach Jeremiah Peace said his former college coach John Leister -- whose son also plays for the Oilers -- told him there weren't any other shortstops that could make both that stop and that throw.

"It was a great play," Peace said.

"I think we saw both the best and worst of what we're capable of," he added. "I told the kids they needed to figure out for themselves what what wrong and to learn to play with the lead and ignore the pressure."

Michael Noffsinger, pitching his first varsity game, pitched the final four innings in relief of Rick Dodridge and took the loss despite allowing just three earned runs.

"We made too many mistakes to beat a team that is that good," Peace said.

Bones had two hits and Dodridge had three RBIs to pace the Ogemaw offense.

The Falcons couldn't get much going offensively in either of the first two games. After falling behind 8-0 in the first two innings of the opener against Escanaba, Ogemaw got on the board in the sixth inning on Roy's two-run single, his first varsity hit and RBIs.

Josh Gildner started and took the loss for the Falcons.

Peace said the Grosse Pointe South loss was an extension of the first game.

"We were done from the start," he said, as the Falcons were down 6-0 after the first inning and managed no hits and three walks. Anthony Zettel started and took the loss. Peace said that Bones and Chris Hebert, both freshman, pitched well in relief in the first two games.

The Falcons (6-3) face another big test Monday as they play at Pinconning.

"Now the challenge is to pick our heads up and get ready for Monday," Peace said. "We have to go and compete, and they won't be handing out free runs there. We know they'll be ready for us. We'll have to find it in ourselves to be intense and bring our best."