Alpena baseball travels to Comerica Park, experiencing the feel of a Detroit Tiger | News, sports, jobs

Although the Wildcats ended the game with a 7-1 loss to Chippewa Valley, the overall feeling of playing on a professional field couldn’t be beat, players said.

Taking the first base dugout, each Alpena player had the opportunity to play in the field and hit in the Major League batter’s box.

“The feeling of playing on a Major League baseball field can’t be beat,” Alpena coach Eric Mackenzie said. “We came here to have fun and play on the field where our city’s professional team plays. These guys grew up watching the Tigers, so to have the opportunity to play here is just unbeatable.”

Alpena completely altered position changes every inning, meaning every player had a chance to experience the grass and dirt of MLB.

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena High School’s Kaleb Donajkowski arrives for a field Friday during the Wildcats’ exhibition game against Chippewa Valley at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Kaleb Donajkowski was the first Wildcat to suffer the collision. He entered the game and dominated, shutting down the Big Reds.

Donajkowski even reached base in the bottom of the inning and hit a base hit. He got stuck, but that would be Alpena’s only hit for most of the game.

In the top of the second inning, Caleb McEwen took the mound and gave up two runs during the inning. Those runs came on a big shot to right-center field, scoring two runners.

Now down 2-0, Alpena’s offense needed to heat up, but each new Big Red pitcher brought into the game proved to be more problematic for the Wildcat hitters.

Jake Zann was the third pitcher signed for Alpena and threw a flawless pitch.

Striking out two batters, both on splitters, Zann put Chippewa Valley in order.

Although the Wildcats had pitched well up to that point, the top of the fourth inning derailed the game, opening up the momentum.

Alpena sent in Jase Kollen, who struggled mightily, not even managing to record an out. He was replaced by Michael Kries, who limited the damage to five runs, while Kollen accounted for every run lost.

For the remainder of the game, Landen Gagnon and Owen Kaiser came on in relief, and both provided shutout innings to keep the score at 7-0.

Each offense remained silent until the last shift.

The Wildcats put on their rally caps hoping for a miracle comeback when Hunter Cohoon started the inning.

He approached the base and hit a deep double into left field, a hit that could have been a home run on most high school fields.

He came up to score after McEwen hit a hard fly ball to left field for the RBI.

Unfortunately for Alpena, this run would be the only one allowed, leading to a 7-1 final.

“All year we’ve been waiting for this opportunity and I don’t think we’ve ever had so much fun playing baseball,” Mackenzie said. “We’ve built some strong relationships with Chippewa Valley and may even have them back on the schedule next year. They’re a tough team, but at the end of the day, that’s what baseball is all about: fun.”

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