BARK RIVER — Bark River-Harris Broncos fans were treated to four home field wins Friday afternoon as the Broncos’ baseball and softball teams both earned doubleheader sweeps in Bark River.

On the baseball diamond, BR-H defeated the upstart Forest Park Trojans 11-0 in four innings in both games. Just a short walk away, the Broncos girls defeated the youthful Rapid River Rockets 16-5 and 20-5 in the fifth and third innings, respectively. All four games were decided early via the mercy rule.

BASEBALL — BRONCOS VS. TROJANS

After four innings in the baseball opener, Travis Mack earned the win throwing a near-perfect game with a walk and a Broncos’ error keeping that achievement out of reach. Mack did, however, finish with a no-hitter with nine strikeouts.

Of course, happy with the wins, Broncos coach Al Botwright was maybe even happier to be playing in sunny weather after cold, dreary, conditions through much of the early season. He was also complimentary of the first-year Trojans program.

“It was a beautiful night for a ballgame,” said Botwright. “This is the type of weather the game is meant to be played in… (Forest Park is) a very young program. I was impressed quite a bit with their effort and enthusiasm for sure. They definitely have some promising talent.”

Botwright noted the games might be the best the Broncos have played thus far in 2022.

“We got some excellent starting pitching and we really hit the ball well today,” he said. “This is really the first time we swung the bats well. We got ourselves into some good hitter’s counts, and we put some very good swings on the ball and hit them hard.”

Mason Bower pitched game two for BR-H and finished with four strikeouts allowing two hits.

All told, Bark River collected 17 hits in the three innings they batted before things came to a close after the top of the fourth in both games.

Payton Woolard and Sam McKissack split duties on the mound in the first game for the Trojans while Adrian Brutte, Felix Quevodo and McKissack, again, pitched in game two.

As a first-year program, Forest Park is well aware of the challenges they will be facing as they build a new tradition of baseball at their school.

So far, they have been improving day to day and been having fun while doing it, said coach Mike Larson.

“When we started the year my message to them was I wanted to get better every day,” Larson said. “I told them if we take care of the little things, the rest of the game will come to us. We’re still struggling on some of the little things but I’m seeing improvement every time we go out there.

As the Trojans start to face familiar opponents into the second half of their season, Larson is hopeful the little things start to come together.

Above all, Larson is happy with his team’s attitude.

“I’m proud of them,” he said. “They’re working hard every day in practice and they’re listening… Our goal, sure we would like to win a few games, but our goal is to get better every year, develop the program and be ready next year.”

SOFTBALL — BRONCOS VS. ROCKETS

Nina Bower was the star of the day for the Bark River-Harris softball team in their doubleheader sweep over the Rapid River Rockets.

In addition to earning the win pitching — with 12 strikeouts, three walks and nine hits for five earned runs — in the first game, Bower was a weapon inside the batter’s box going 6-6 with five RBIs in the two games including two triples and a double.

Bark River coach Rob Arndt was happy with his team as they earned their first two wins of the season.

“First two wins of the year,” Arndt said. “It’s kind of nice to finally get on under your belt and then get another one under your belt.”

From the moment the Broncos stepped out of the dugout, Bower was focused, said Arndt.

“Her whole approach today when she came in, she was ready to play,” he said. “It’s tough to do when you think about it. Not only was she pitching that first game, but she went 4-4, that’s a pretty tough feat.

To be in the zone that much and then carry it on over into the second game after a break where you can finally breathe and go another 2-2 (was great).”

Abbie Ingersol pitched the second game for BR-H and gave up 10 hits for five earned runs. She had one strikeout but kept her pitching under control to not allow any walks.

The Broncos finished with 22 hits on the day.

The young Rapid River Rockets continue to grow in both skill and numbers — with the roster growing to now 13 players since the start of the year — as the season continues.

After some defensive trouble against Superior Central in their opening games, The Rockets focused on fixing those issues, said coach Shelby Hardwick.

“This week we heavily focused on defense, and I could tell with the few catches on the plays that we had, that our defense is stronger,” Hardwick commented. “But, we just got to keep working on our

bats.”

Creighton Smith and Carrigan Flath pitched for the Rockets, each pitching the whole way in their respective games. Rapid collected 19 hits between the two games as well.

Hardwick was also happy with how the Rockets competed before the Broncos pulled away.

“We were in it, too, so it’s hard that the scores don’t reflect how we’re playing as a team,” Hardwick said. “We were in it 10-5 and even 9-5. The girls, they’re just learning as the season goes, and I’m really looking to what we can see against Manistique on the road Wednesday.”