DETROIT — A near no-hitter. An extra innings marathon. Spectacular clutch performances.
The Catholic High School League crowned three champions, two of them for the first time, within a five-day stretch that will have fans talking about all that happened for a while.
It kicked off last Friday, May 10, at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica and wound up Tuesday, May 14, at the Willie Horton Field of Dreams at The Corner Ballpark, the historic former site of the Detroit Tigers for more than a century.
A first for the Gryphons
In the opener at The Corner, this was the first baseball title contested in the Ste. Anne Division since it was created a year ago, and the first time Ann Arbor Greenhills, which joined the CHSL in 2017, played in it, although the Gryphons have enjoyed success in tennis, soccer, golf and cross country.
It was the first time, too, since 2006 that Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes made it to the finals, where they have an overall 2-6 record.
The Lakers (13-6) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Sophomore outfielder Hunter Anderson cracked a triple and scored on a ground ball.
Greenhills (14-10) responded in the sixth. Pitcher Francisco Loue walked, moved to second on a ground ball, and scored the tying run on Talen Pilz’s base hit. Pilz made it to third via a ground ball and a sacrifice bunt and raced home with the winning run on a passed ball.
“This is a big deal for us,” coach Tom Ward said. “Our school has been playing in different conferences for 40 years, and this is the first time we won a conference title.”
One out from a no-hitter!
In the second game, Marine City Cardinal Mooney didn’t know it at the time, but their hopes to successfully defend the Cardinal Division title were doomed a couple of minutes after the game started.
Cameron Spezia led off popping out to the shortstop. Nick Oginsky and Joe Doddy walked. That was the sum and substance of the Cardinals offense for the rest of the game.
Jackson Lumen Christi’s hard-throwing Gabe King retired the next 19 batters, including eight strikeouts in a row in the second, third and fourth innings.
The Titans, whom Mooney’s George Szep had limited to three singles through four innings, erupted for a four-run outburst in the fifth inning and another run in the sixth for a comfortable 5-0 lead.
King needed one more out to formally claim the victory and a no-hitter. He had struck out catcher Anthony Girling twice. This time, however, Girling connected on a waist-high fastball and sent it rocketing in the right-center gap for a triple.
Unperturbed, King collected his 12th strikeout and was mobbed by his teammates.
“I’ve had a couple of one-hitters in my high school career,” King said, “but this was the closest I’ve come to a no-hitter.”
“He’s been good all year,” coach Phil Clifford said. “He was all-state last year and all-Catholic this year. He’s been phenomenal. He keeps guys off balance with his fast ball, slider and splitter.”
About playing in the Catholic League for the first time, Clifford said, “It’s been a good experience. The teams are really good. They play solid defense, great pitching. It’ll make us better for the state tournament run.”
A 13-inning marathon
On paper, the Bishop Division was scheduled to play a pair of semifinal games at 3 and 5 p.m. and the championship at 7 p.m. at Jimmy John’s Field.
In the first semifinal, University of Detroit Jesuit and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice plodded their way to produce a 2-2 tie after three innings, the Cubs scoring on a passed ball and a wild pitch, the Warriors getting one via Chase Van Ameyde’s 340-foot homer.
Brother Rice wrapped up the 7-2 victory with a five-run fifth inning and waited to see whom they would play in the final.
It took nearly four hours and 13 innings for Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep to determine that.
St. Mary’s had built a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Catholic Central rallied for five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score. The Shamrocks wasted an opportunity to win in regulation in the seventh inning with the bases full and one out.
“There was talk that they were going to move it to the next day, but our guys were here, our fans were here,” Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker said.
St. Mary’s coach Nick DiPonio inserted his fourth pitcher, senior Aidan Donovan, one of the Eaglets starters from the Eaglets’ record-setting season a year ago, but who hadn’t pitched this spring because of arm issues.
Donovan responded with four innings of relief, scattering five hits and striking out nine.
He helped his own cause with an RBI single in the top of the 13th and raced home on a double by Andrew Tribul to give the Eaglets the eventual 8-6 victory and move into the title game against Brother Rice.
Never too late to play ball
It was 9:50 p.m. when “Play ball!” was issued for the championship, St. Mary’s after a 45-minute break, the Warriors some four-and-a-half hours later.
The turning point of the game occurred in the top of the third inning. The Eaglets’ Parker Brzustewicz walked and moved to third on a single by Luke Crighton.
Andrew Tribul hit a fly ball to medium left field. Ty Fox caught it and fired a one-hop throw to the Warriors’ freshman catcher Broder Katke, who tagged out Brzustewicz attempting to score.
The Warriors took the momentum in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff walk to Owen Turner and back-to-back doubles by Fox and Katke produced two runs. Rice added a run in the next inning on the combination of a walk, an error and a sacrifice flyball for a 3-0 victory.
Rice sophomore southpaw Cole Duhaime settled down after the Eaglets’ foiled bid in the third inning, permitting two hits and striking out nine.
The game ended at 11:36 p.m.
It was Brother Rice’s first CHSL championship since 2017 and the 14th in its history.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
Copy Permalink
