Sunset Showdown 18U tourney bringing in some of state's best travel teams

Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review
·3 min read
Petoskey's Kolton Horn has kept up a strong year at the plate this summer and will take on some good competition this weekend in a home tourney.
Petoskey's Kolton Horn has kept up a strong year at the plate this summer and will take on some good competition this weekend in a home tourney.

PETOSKEY — Area baseball fans are in for a treat this weekend with the annual 18U Sunset Showdown coming to Petoskey.

Hosted by the Petoskey Youth Baseball Association, the 18U tournament will bring in some of the top travel baseball teams from across the state of Michigan, including the Petoskey Royals and Gaylord Baseball Club.

The tournament will begin Friday, July 15 and run through Sunday, July 17 with a 10 a.m. championship taking place at Turcott Field in Petoskey. Games will also take place at the Petoskey junior varsity field behind the middle school.

Teams will be placed into two five-team pools, with the Royals joined by the Mount Pleasant Drillers, LCB Legends, Michigan’s Premier and Motor City Mayhem.

Joining Gaylord in the other pool will be Michigan’s Premier West, USA Prime Hollis, Westside Rattlers and Midland Berryhill, one of the top travel team’s in the state.

Berryhill put together a 33-4-1 record last summer and is off to a hot start once again.

Petoskey will open against the MP Drillers at Noon Friday at the JV field, then meet LCB Legends at 2 p.m., also at the JV field.

On Saturday, Petoskey will then get in a pair of late games, first meeting Michigan’s Premier at 6 p.m. at Turcott Field, then follow that with an 8 p.m. game under the lights at Turcott Field against Motor City Mayhem.

Gavin Freeman is one of a number of Gaylord area players with the Gaylord Baseball Club this summer and they'll look to leave a mark this weekend in Petoskey.
Gavin Freeman is one of a number of Gaylord area players with the Gaylord Baseball Club this summer and they'll look to leave a mark this weekend in Petoskey.

The winners of each pool will then play in the championship game Sunday.

Petoskey is off to a 4-8 start to the summer, though they’ve met some pretty tough competition around the midwest, having traveled throughout downstate and even Indianapolis last week, where they split with a 2-2 mark.

Petoskey’s team is made up fully of Petoskey High School players, with a few carrying over strong spring seasons into the summer.

Kolton Horn, who recently played in the state’s All-Star game at Comerica Park, has kept a hot bat with a .414 average and team-high eight RBIs, Stephen McGeehan leads the team with a .480 average and Trevor Swiss has found a groove with a .382 average and team-high 13 hits through the 12 games.

Gaylord is made up of players from throughout Otsego County, including Preston Marlatt of Johannesburg-Lewiston, Drew Koenig and a host of others out of Gaylord St. Mary and Gavin Freeman and others from Gaylord High.

Gaylord is off to a 7-7-1 start this summer, led by Sam Sircely’s .474 average and 14 RBIs at the plate.

Gaylord will meet Midland Berryhill at Noon Friday at Turcott Field to begin the tourney, then take on Michigan’s Premier West at 2 p.m. Friday, also at Turcott.

They’ll then begin Saturday with a 10 a.m. matchup with USA Prime Hollis at the JV field, then finish pool play at Noon against Westside Rattlers at the JV field.

Games can be followed on the Tourney Machine app throughout the weekend by searching Petoskey Sunset Showdown 18U.

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Sunset Showdown 18U tourney bringing in some of state's best travel teams