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The first swing of the evening sent Landon Waller flying toward first where he had a brief layover en route to second base. A sacrifice bunt by Brian Cannon gave Waller his window of opportunity to take the base, and it was all over when Frank King stepped to the plate and smacked a double to send Waller home.

And just like that, Central Lake's offensive explosion was over.

As if to punish the Trojans for being so bold in the first inning of play, Mancelona grabbed their bats and went to work on a defense that struggled to fight back.

Starting on the mound was Zach Light, who saw added playing time with Central Lake's top two pitchers riding the bench for eight games for violating team rules.

Light walked Ironman Greg Blanco, who stole second on the next pitch. Anthony Derrer trotted to first after being tagged in the lower leg, and a single from Nick Lockman loaded the bases.

It was Cody Sehl who slipped a ball past the Trojan defense to send Blanco across home plate, reloading the bases with no outs. Runs were plentiful, and by the end of the first inning Mancelona led 9-1.

Central Lake saw a base hit by Adam Folsom but little else as Lockman's solid pitching sent his teammates back to offense.

The bottom of the second and top of the third saw a quieter exchange between the two teams, but heavy scoring continued for Mancelona in the bottom of the third as Sehl sent a bullet through the infield that skipped well into the grass to bring Blanco home.

Cannon was brought in to pitch for Central Lake, but momentum had already taken over.

Kodi Balhorn sent one over the left field fence with the bases loaded, followed with a triple by Mike Dalton to send Nick Bouchard in for a run.

Mancelona snuffed out any chance of Trojan retaliation as the game was called after the third inning with a score of 16-1.

For Central Lake, King had a double and one RBI while Waller hit a single and scored one.

The Ironmen did well to add to their stats with Lockman going 3-for-3, scoring twice and batting three runners in. Trenton Sweet went 2-for-2 with two runs and a pair of RBIs. Balhorn knocked three runners in with a grand slam and Lockman pitched four strike-outs, giving up only two hits.

"We made a lot of mistakes," Central Lake Coach Adam Grybauskas said after the first of two games. "We made walks and errors and that compounds things."

The nightcap began in a similar fashion to the game previous, giving Central Lake the look of a team that wasn't going down without a fight. As the Trojans came off the field after the first, Grybauskas yelled, "Get your heads up and keep going!"

They responded in their next at bat with signs of life, but the Ironmen crushed hopes of a split during five innings of offensive assault and a pitching effort by Blanco that held Central Lake to only a pair of hits and one run by Travis Rodgers and Folsom, respectively.

Mancelona won the nightcap 10-1 in five and a half innings.

"Central Lake is a very good team," Mancelona coach Jim Vanwagoner said. "They were missing a few key players, which hurts most teams at this level."

Vanwagoner was pleased with his Mancelona's offensive front, and he said the team is beginning to see healthy players return after battling injuries in the early season.

"We came out hitting the ball," he added. "When you put it in play good things happen."

Mike Dalton led Mancelona hitters, going 3-for-4, scoring two and batting in one. Balhorn hit during both attempts at bat, scored once and earned a pair of RBIs. Sweet connected on two out of three tries and crossed home plate after both. Pitching the entire game for the Ironmen was Blanco, who struck out eight, gave up one run and ended the game without any errors.

The Ironmen travel to Gaylord to take on St. Mary's and Central Lake invades Pellston on May 1.