Alpena Baseball Team Visits Comerica Park to Experience the Feel of a Detroit Tiger | News, Sports, Jobs

The Wildcats ended the game with a 7-1 loss against Chippewa Valley, but the players said the overall feel of playing on a professional field could not have been better.

Once in the first base dugout, each Alpena player was given the opportunity to play on the field and take a turn at bat in the Major League batter's box.

“There's nothing like the feeling of playing in a major league ballpark,” Alpena coach Eric McKenzie said. “We came here to have fun and play on the field where our local professional teams play. They grew up watching the Tigers, so to have the opportunity to play here is really unbeatable.”

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

News photo by Owen Kinsey Alpena High School's Caleb Donakowski takes the field Friday during the Wildcats' exhibition game against Chippewa Valley at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Caleb Donakowski got his first bump with the Wildcats. When he entered the game, he dominated, shutting out the Big Reds.

Donakowski also came to the plate in the bottom of the inning and hit a base hit. He was stuck, but this would be Alpena's only hit for most of the match.

Caleb McEwen took the mound in the top of the second inning and scored two runs during that inning. Those scores came from big gap shots to right-center field that got two runners on.

Now down 2-0, Alpena's offense needed to heat up even more, but the Big Red's new pitchers brought into the game proved to be even more of a problem for the Wildcat hitters.

Jake Zahn was the third pitcher taken by Alpena and pitched flawlessly.

Zahn struck out both batters with a splitter and held Chippewa Valley in order.

The Wildcats had been pitching well up to that point, but the game went awry in the top of the fourth inning, cutting off their momentum.

Alpena sent out Jace Collen, but he struggled quite a bit and couldn't even record an out. Coach Michael Kreis saved the game by limiting the damage to just five goals, but Koren was responsible for the goals conceded.

Landen Gagnon and Owen Kaiser came in relief for the remainder of the game, with both players pitching shutout innings to keep the score at 7-0.

Each attack remained silent until the final round.

When Hunter Cohoon led off the inning, the Wildcats all tightened the rally cap hoping for a miraculous comeback.

He stepped up to the plate and hit a deep double into the left field seats. He hit a ball that could have been a home run in most high school ballparks.

He reversed and scored after McEwen hit a hard ball into the left field seats for an RBI.

Unfortunately for Alpena, this goal was the only goal allowed, sending the score to 7-1 in the final.

“We've been waiting for this opportunity all year. I don't think I've ever had more fun playing baseball,” McKenzie said. “We've built a strong relationship with the Chippewa Valley, so we might even be able to get them back on the schedule next year. They're a tough team, but at the end of the day, baseball is about having fun.”