The Ford Falcons and Eisenhower Eagles weren’t playing for a league championship nor were they playing for their seasons on Thursday in Shelby Township.

But there was a whole lot of pride on the line: the winner of the game would secure their first Macomb Area Conference Red series victory of the season in their last chance to do so with both teams wrapping up league play while also avoiding finishing last in the division.

And thanks in part to a lights-out effort by Hunter Whitt and some standout defense behind him, the Falcons got it done, winning 2-0 over their UCS and MAC rivals.

“I mean, this is basically like a playoff district game, you know,” Whitt said. “Like, we got pride. We don’t want to be last in the MAC Red. We know we’re better, too, than we were, so it’s just good to finally get that first MAC Red series under our belt.”

Both teams emphasized knowing that they’re better than playing for the spot out of the basement, and it’s true — outside the slaughterhouse Red, Ford is 10-1 and Eisenhower is 8-6 with both teams playing state-caliber schedules.

And both teams deployed top pitchers to stay out of it, as Whitt — a lefty — dueled fellow southpaw Gavin Rutkowski.

Both pitchers faced some turbulence early. Ford got runners on second with nobody out in each of the first two innings, and Eisenhower put two men on with one out in the second and fourth — all to no avail.

The Falcons finally broke through in the fifth when, with the bases loaded and one out, Eli White scorched a ball up the middle that Rutkowski knocked down, killing its momentum to the point where Ike shortstop Austin Thorpe didn’t have a play.

Their second run was a bit more unconventional.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid steal straight home and slow down and still be safe,” Whitt said of his teammate, Dylan Isrow, who, with one out in the sixth inning, swiped home when his teammate, Nolan Parak, failed to put down a suicide squeeze bunt.

“That was crazy. It’s supposed to be a suicide squeeze, but couldn’t get the bunt down. But, I mean, that kid’s just probably the fastest player in the MAC.”

It was one of several momentum-laced plays in the game, and arguably the biggest.

“I think it just all feeds off each other, like when the energy is confident, and everyone kind of trusts everyone out there, and everyone knows anybody can make a play like that, it becomes like fun, and it becomes like a battle of who can, like, make the next sweet play,” said Ford head coach Dan Tallant. Eisenhower’s Marco Fodale got to second after a single and passed ball in the sixth inning, but the Eagles were again unable to plate the runner.

They may have had a chance in the seventh inning, but back-to-back web gems — a soaring catch by first-time right fielder Brady Dworkin and an impressive snag and tag by first baseman Kyle Moore — set up a Whitt strikeout to end the game.

“It’s just good to know that I have seven guys back there, and then eight including the catcher, who just want to lay it out for me,” Whitt said. “You know, making big plays really helps me with my confidence. I know I can throw it middle of the zone, let the kids hit it, throw strikes.”

Whitt finished the game allowing three hits and two walks with nine strikeouts and no runs.

He’s been Tallant’s top guy all season and is starting to have his workload prepped for being their postseason ace.

“(Whitt) does a lot for our confidence,” Tallant said. “And he’s, again, getting hot and feeling really, really good about himself at the right time of the year.”

Rutkowski battled Whitt the entire way, also going the full seven frames with five hits, two walks and five strikeouts along with one earned run.

Eisenhower’s main bugaboo for most of the season has been its offense. Five of their losses in Red play were by two runs (Ford twice, Chippewa Valley, Romeo and Stevenson) and lost 1-0 to Dakota.

That’s a grand total of 11 runs in six losses, half of which are to MHSBCA-ranked teams.

“It is the biggest blessing in the world to play in the MAC Red,” said Ike head coach Steve Spisak. “We’re ready for any type of pitcher you could throw at us. We see kids who throw in the 90s. We see lefties with unbelievable breaking stuff everywhere we go on the weekends. Like nothing phases us because of what we see every day.

“We’re building armor. Bats better start coming with the armor at some point, but we’re state playoff ready, and we still have seven games to figure out the lineup.”

Both teams have seven games left until their begin their state tournament chases, and both have games against high-level, ranked opponents: Ike has Woodhaven and Lutheran North plus Anchor Bay, Lakeview and Utica, and Ford will see LHN and Notre Dame Prep along with U of D Jesuit, Lakeview and St. Clair. They will also play each other one more time.

“I think we get up every day ready to fight,” Spisak said. “Just hasn’t worked out at all for us in the Red. But we’ll continue to fight. We’ll continue to battle, and with the pitching we have, we have as good a chance as anybody to make a run.”