MT. PLEASANT - Apr. 18, 2009 - Ogemaw Heights baseball coach suspected Saturday's Mt. Pleasant round-robin tournament would be a learning experience for his team.

He was right. Still, even though the Falcons lost all three games to a trio of top-10 teams, they were competitive in two of the games and gained experience against some top-flight competition.

And with a key NEMC doubleheader against Pinconning looming on Tuesday, Apr. 21, the Falcons needed to conserve their top pitchers.

"We threw a lot of young inexperienced kids out there (on the pitching mound)," Peace said. "Some of it was nerves, but the bottom line was we just didn't throw enough strikes. They're going to have to learn from it though, because we're going to have to be able to lean on those guys."

Ogemaw dropped its opening game 14-8 to Holland Christian, fell in the middle game 11-1 to Carleton Airport and dropped an 8-5 decision to Mt. Pleasant in the finale.

The Falcons led 5-3 in the opener, but a seven-run fourth inning did them in.

"We battled and scrapped to keep it close, but we didn't have enough to get all the way back," Peace said.

Earl Bennett was the first of five Ogemaw pitchers and took the loss, allowing six earned runs on three hits and two walks in 3-1/3 innings.

Nathan Noffsinger had three hits and two RBIs while Blaine Powley and Bennett each had two hits.

Against Airport, the Falcons fielded an even younger lineup.

"Airport was tough," Peace said. "We threw a lot of the young kids out there to get some experience and they battled against a very good club."

Jarritt Orlando started and took the loss for the Falcons but had an RBI double to drive in Sheldon Roberto with Ogemaw's lone run of the game.

Mt. Pleasant opened up an 8-1 lead in the final game of the day, then had to hold on as Ogemaw scored four runs in the fourth inning to get back in it.

Nick Thorson had a run-scoring triple while Wangler and Bennett each had two-run doubles for the Falcons.

John Hughes started and took the loss.

"We dug ourselves a seven-run hole between pitching and defense, but to the credit of our club, we hung around and battled and gave ourselves a chance."

In all, the Falcons used 12 pitchers on the day.

"We hit the ball well," Peace said. "Thorson, Jennings, Wangler, Powley and Noffsinger all really stepped up and led our offense...

"We need to be able to compete for seven innings because it only takes the one (bad) inning to put a game out of reach."