STANDISH-STERLING -

Ogemaw Heights' Blaine Powley carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of Tuesday's first game at Standish-Sterling.
Brent Baker
SSC shortstop Jaron Trombley fields a grounder during Tuesday's doubleheader with Ogemaw Heights.

STANDISH-STERLING - Apr. 14, 2009 - It's tough to graduate a pair of Division 1 baseball players in two years and maintain the strength of your program.

Whether or not Ogemaw Heights can sustain its success of recent seasons remains to be seen, but the first two games of the post-Rick Dodridge / Matt Faiman era, which also included a host of other college-bound players, looked promising for the Falcons, who swept Standish-Sterling 10-2 and 4-0 in their season-opening doubleheader.

And for Ogemaw, it was that staple of recent seasons - pitching - that carried the day.

Seniors Blaine Powley and Eric Noble kept a revamped SSC lineup in check all day. Powley carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving way to Alex Jennings in the seventh, and Noble pitched a five-inning shutout before darkness ended the nightcap early.

"I thought our pitching was outstanding," said Ogemaw coach Jeremiah Peace. " It was great to see two seniors who have put so much work in go out and throw so well in their first starts of the year.  It'll do nothing but build confidence for Blaine and Eric and for the team as a whole."

Powley struck out 15 and didn't walk a batter in 6-2/3 innings.

The Panthers' Justin Wilga was equal to the task in the opener as the Falcons led just 2-0 heading into the sixth inning. But a number of defensive miscues did SSC in as Ogemaw put six on the board to take an 8-0 lead and put the game away.

"Blaine was really tough." Peace said. "He couldn't throw all of his stuff because of the wind, so to go out and throw like that without his whole arsenal was great.

"Kyle Scott did a tremendous job behind the plate . It gives us a real advantage to be able to put him out there and have him play like that when Blaine is on the mound."

Jake Wangler had three RBIs, and he, Andrew Funsch, Chris Bones and Nick Thorson accounted for all of the Falcons' four hits. Ogemaw forced the action with 10 stolen bases.

Jaron Trombley and Tanner Mitrzyk had the Panthers' hits, with Mitrzyk hitting a seventh-inning double.

Noble kept the Panthers off-balance in the second game, allowing three hits and not walking anyone while striking out seven.

The speed of Daichi Itabachi and Chris Bones helped the Falcons take an early 2-0 lead, and Ogemaw went on to add single runs in the third and fourth.

"Bones and Daichi really got us off to a good start," Peace said. "Those two are a nice combo at the top of the order ... Eric was smooth and really in control."

With darkness falling the Falcons rushed to get the required number of innings in for the game to be considered official, sacrificing three straight batters in the fourth before it got to dark to continue.

SSC loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but Noble was able to work out of the jam before the game was called.

Bones finished with two hits, with Itabachi, Thorson and Wangler each adding one.

Tony Thayer took the loss for the Panthers, with Kurtis Beleck finishing up in relief.

Mitrzyk had two hits with Beleck and Mark Lorence adding one each.

"We're happy to come out with two wins, especially when every NEMC win is big," Peace said.  "We're back to work today trying to improve ourselves and keep competing."

SSC dropped to 0-4 (0-2 NEMC) while Ogemaw is 2-0 (2-0).