Jacks Split at Delta
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The Alpena Community College baseball team closed out its road schedule Thursday with a split of a doubleheader against Delta College, rolling to an 11-3 victory in the opener before dropping the nightcap 8-4. ACC took four of five games from Delta for the season series. The Lumberjacks now stand 12-37 overall and 10-13 in conference play heading into Sunday's regular-season finale — a home doubleheader against Bay College.
Game 1: ACC 11, Delta College 3
Lane Gross made the most of his start, turning in a complete-game gem and holding Delta to three runs — two earned — on six hits while striking out three and walking just one. Efficient throughout at only 81 pitches, Gross got 16 ground ball and pop-up outs and earned the win to improve to 1-0 on the season.
The Lumberjacks wasted no time getting after it, plating two runs in the first inning and never looking back, adding two more in the second and scoring in every frame of the ballgame. Isaac Zocco was the offensive star, going 5-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, and three runs scored — one of the best individual performances of the season for any Lumberjack. Nate Gould was equally electric out of the nine hole, tripling and finishing with three runs scored while adding a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base. Marcus Castellon drove in two runs from the cleanup spot and Maxwell McCarty chipped in two RBI and two steals from the six hole.
The Lumberjacks ran wild on the bases, swiping six bags as a team and consistently putting pressure on Delta's battery. Delta compounded its troubles with five errors, helping ACC tack on four unearned runs to the total.
Game 2: Delta College 8, ACC 4
The nightcap told a different story. Delta's pitchers were sharp, holding ACC to just two hits and striking out six while surrendering four runs — none of them earned. The Lumberjacks generated most of their damage through wild pitches and passed balls rather than hard contact.
Charlie Best took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits over four innings. A pair of ACC errors in the third inning opened the floodgates for a two-run Delta frame, and the Pioneers kept adding on — three more in the fourth and three again in the fifth, taking advantage of three walks and a hit batsman.
The Lumberjacks showed some fight in the sixth, scratching across three runs without a single RBI — all three scored on a combination of passed balls and a Delta error. Zocco, Kaden Benaske and Miguel Salcedo each scored, but ACC couldn't generate the big hit needed to climb all the way back.
Jonny Rensberry and Maxwell McCarty had the Lumberjacks' only hits of the nightcap.
Looking Ahead
The Lumberjacks return home Sunday for their final two games of the 2026 season, closing out against Bay College in a home doubleheader. With a chance to finish on a high note in front of the home crowd — and with sophomores taking the field for the last time as Lumberjacks — the team will be looking to send the year out on a winning note.