Opinions on five current Leelanau and Northern Michigan sports topics from yours truly…

1. Leelanau Enterprise Sports - The Leelanau Enterprise has revamped their website and now will be posting more stories online, including sports! Check out their sports department! I of course will be linking to them often as they provide another way to follow our favorite Leelanau teams.

2. Leelanau Classic - I only wish this event would have been around when I was coaching! Lake Leelanau St. Mary defeated Suttons Bay 4-1 to capture the baseball title and Glen Lake cruised to the softball title with a 17-0 win over Suttons Bay in the championship game.

Read Korson sparks Eagles to title in the Record Eagle

3. Beach Bums ready for 2007 - Opening Day for the Beach Bums is one month from today (at Kalamazoo Kings on May 23rd) and plenty of new things are on tap as they start their second summer in Traverse City. Lots of new faces, including a new manager, should make for another exciting season in the Frontier League. See what the Beach Bums have in store for 2007!

4. NHL & NBA Playoffs - It’s never hard to get a prediction in Leelanau County for the Pistons and Red Wings. The Pistons are a popular choice to be crowned NBA Champions this summer, and the Wings well who knows. The Wings did get out of the first round, and did play pretty well, in 4 out of the 6 games. If the Dominator can hold up, they have an excellent chance in my opinion. Whatever happens Hockey Town North is buzzing with playoff excitement right now!

5. The Season Switch - Nick Edson of the Leelanau Enterprise reported last week that longtime volleyball coach Laurie Glass will be stepping down, at least for the time being, as she can’t coach and follow her daughter Alisha at Penn State because of the girls volleyball season being moved. My opinion is that it’s a shame that a few people can ruin a good thing for many. The seasons seemed to be working just fine for 99.9% of the athletes, but a couple of parents couldn’t handle their kid’s not getting scholarships.

If you want to let the me know what you think, you can always send me an email at leelanausportsguy@sportspig.com or post a comment!

Sorry, a little late with this…

St. Mary’s senior Krystal Lingaur was named to the first team Division IV All-State girls softball team. Lingaur plays first base. She also was selected to participate in the annual girls high school All-Star softball game July 22 at Michigan State University.

Glen Lake’s Lauryn Pleva was named honorable mention.

View the entire team at MHSSCA.com

In boys baseball, Glen Lake’s Wes Buchan was named to the Division IV All-State second team.

View the entire team at MHSBCA.org

The Record Eagle has the lowdown on the upcoming area softball/baseball regionals, plus an article about Lake Leelanau St. Mary capturing the Cherryland Softball Crown.

Area Softball Regional Preview
Lake Leelanau St. Mary squares off against Frankfort in the opening game of the Division 4 regional at Frankfort…

Area Baseball Regional Preview
Glen Lake goes up against Frankfort in the second game of the Division 4 regional at Frankfort…

Angie Schlueter finished 5-5 including a double in the ninth inning that scored 2 runs to give Lake Leelanau St. Mary the lead for good as the Eagles defeated the Glen Lake Lakers 9-4 to capture the Division 4 Softball District title at Leland. St. Mary had advanced to the final with a 17-1 win over the host Comets.

Read Eagles fly past Glen Lake in nine in the Record Eagle

Girls Soccer: Lady Norsemen blank opponents to capture own tourney
3-0 over Ludington. 2-0 over Lansing Christian. 4-0 over Elk Rapids. Suttons Bay played great defense and got timely offense to capture the Suttons Bay Invitational on Saturday. Holly Orban scored four goals on the day and Kelsey Wick earned the wins in goal. It was the first start for Wick in goal.

Read Suttons Bay shuts down, shuts out foes in the Record Eagle

Boys Baseball: Buchan’s bat helps Lakers to tourney title
Glen Lake improved to 16-9 on the season as they captured their own tourney with a 7-1 win over Central Lake. That win followed a 4-3 win over T.C. St. Francis.

Read Glen Lake wins own tourney with 2-0 mark in the Record Eagle [you have to scroll down]

Girls Softball: Lakers go 1-1 at own tourney
Allen Park Cabrini was too much for the Lakers in the opening game of the tourney as they defeated Glen Lake 10-0, but the Lady Lakers came back to defeat T.C. West 2-0 in the consolation game.

Read Allen Park Cabrini wins Glen Lake Invitational in the Record Eagle [you have to scroll down]

Haley Korson had 4 hits in Game 1 and Mary Lingaur had 3 hits in Game 2 as Lake Leelanau St. Mary posted a doubleheader sweep of Manistee Catholic 10-0 and 13-5.

Glen Lake swept Benzie Central 13-3 and 16-6 behind the pitching of Danielle Noonan who picked up both wins. Noonan struck out seven in the first game. Leading the Lakers offense was Chelsea Klumpp and Jessica Odziana.

Sarah Allington hit a grand slam, among her three hits to help Leland defeat Forest Area 24-14. Ashley Maleski picked up the win for the Comets.

Read Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s sweeps softball twinbill in the Record Eagle

Northport has announced that it will not field a baseball or softball team this spring, but will offer a co-ed tennis team. The Cherryland Conference is now left with just three teams - Leland, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, and Traverse City Christian.

Read Ball teams are shut out in the Enterprise

Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association 2003 - Two St. Mary softball players were awarded All-State selections for the 2003 season. Chantelle Korson at third base and Amy Robbins at pitcher. Congrats Ladies on a terrific season!