WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT - May 12, 2008 - There are a handful of players on Ogemaw Heights baseball roster that have had a hand in all three North East Michigan Conference titles the Falcons have claimed the past three seasons, the most recent of which they nailed down with a 13-3, 12-2 sweep of Whittemore-Prescott on Monday.

It took the contributions of a number of players winning their first to ensure Ogemaw earned its first-ever trifecta.

Sophomore Jarritt Orlando clubbed two home runs and a double and matched a school record with seven RBIs in the second game to help his team catch Pinconning atop the NEMC and force a tie for the championship. Alex Jennings, another sophomore, added three hits as Ogemaw wrapped things up in five innings.

"Jarritt was the story for us," said Ogemaw coach Jeremiah Peace. "He and Alex are making us better right now. They are hitting the ball hard, and the other guys need to step it up in practice to make their case for more time."

The Falcons weren't seriously threatened in the second game after scoring three runs in the first and second innings. They added three more in the fourth and another three in the fifth.

Anthony Betancourt earned the win, pitching the first three innings and giving up one run on two hits. Aaron Kihn and Tyson Dantzer closed the game out.

In the opener, the Falcons struggled through the opening innings despite the presence of Rick Dodridge on the mound. The Cards scored a pair of unearned runs in the third inning to cut the Ogemaw lead to 4-3. And after Dodridge had given up his first earned run in league play in the first inning, the last-place Cardinals weren't going down easily.

It was an error in the fourth that gave the Falcons life. Dodridge's fly ball to the outfield was dropped, and it led to a four-run fourth that gave Ogemaw an 8-3 lead.

"That play gave us life," Peace said. "We took control from there."

Dodridge struck out 11 in five innings and walked one while giving up five hits. Kelvin Page pitched a hitless inning of relief.

Michael Noffsinger , Anthony Betancourt and Blaine Powley each had two hits for the Falcons.

Ogemaw wrapped up its NEMC slate at 10-2, splitting with co-champion Pinconning early in the season and dropping a game to John Glenn on May 8.

W-P finished at 0-12 in league play.

"In the NEMC 10-2 was not easy," Peace said. "This is as strong as the league has been in awhile. I'm very proud of the kids; there was a lot of talk this year that without Matt Faiman we'd fall apart and have no chance at the conference. We played well as a team more often than not, and that was the difference.

"Now it's time to get ourselves focused on districts."

The Falcons, who host the tournament, got a by from the Tuesday pre-district game, but must open Saturday with Standish-Sterling, which may have developed the deepest pitching in the league as the season progressed. The will in all likelihood face Pinconning, which will play either Houghton Lake or Gladwin, neither of which figures to beat the Spartans.

"These next two weeks are preparation for that," Peace said. "Our draw couldn't be any tougher. We have to get some guys hitting and get our defense shored up. We still have a lot of work to do."