How a 3:45 p.m. phone call helped JoBurg baseball beat Gaylord St. Mary

GAYLORD — As final preparations were being made to the field and the last warmups were taking place before Tuesday's scheduled doubleheader between Johannesburg-Lewiston and Gaylord St. Mary, the JoBurg lineup was still waiting to be finalized.

Head coach Cody Proctor had to wait as long as he could because his catcher, top hitter and one of the team's most important leaders, Collin Lake, didn't know if he would be cleared to play. A collision at home plate during last week's doubleheader against Manton left Lake with an injured shoulder and, late Tuesday morning, he had to tell his coach the bad news; a doctor had told him he wasn't cleared to play.

Thankfully, a phone call just before the first pitch changed the outlook of Lake and JoBurg's day.

"If you knew how up and down I've been today," Proctor said. "My catcher told me at 11:45 a.m. that a doctor told him he couldn't play. He went and got x-rays and I get another call at 3:45 p.m. telling me he's cleared to play."

Lake, JoBurg's batting average leader and main man behind the plate, ended up being one of the biggest factors in JoBurg's 7-5 road win, the team's first over GSM since 2022, as he finished with three hits, two runs scored and one run batted in.

His biggest impact may have come on the defensive side of the ball, however; with a two-run lead and GSM's tying run on first base in the bottom of the final inning, Lake completed a Tanner Basinski strikeout before throwing out the Snowbird runner trying to steal third base for a game-ending 'strike him out, throw him out' double-play.

It was one of two runners Lake caught stealing during a big rivalry victory for JoBurg.

"He was pivotal today," said Proctor.

JoBurg's Rylan Rosso also had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in. Thomas Fox picked up the win on the mound after giving up one earned run in three innings, while Tanner Basinski got credit for a three-inning save in relief. GSM was limited to just four hits, highlighted by Dillon Croff's RBI triple.

This result provides another shake-up to the Ski Valley Conference standings as the Snowbirds (10-5, 8-1 SVC) suffer their first conference loss of the season, bringing them back even atop the conference with the defending champions Inland Lakes. JoBurg (13-6, 6-5), meanwhile, will hope to add another SVC win to their resume once the second game with GSM (postponed due to weather) is eventually played.

JoBurg softball rolls on

JoBurg softball, meanwhile, did not need much time to keep their winning streak going, winning back-to-back mercy-shortened games, both 16-0 final scores, over a young, overmatched GSM softball team for wins 17 and 18 of the season.

Pitchers Jayden Marlatt and Chloe Ferguson held GSM to just one hit in seven innings of work, while the Cardinals put up 32 runs on 29 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. Reagan SIdes had three doubles throughout the two games, while Shyla Rahn was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI in the game one victory.

JoBurg has proven they are one of the toughest teams in all of MHSAA Division 4, now ranked No. 2 in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association D4 top ten.

Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: How a 3:45 p.m. phone call helped JoBurg baseball beat Gaylord St. Mary