OLSM rallies past Brother Rice in CHSL Bishop title game
TROY » Arch-rivals clashed on the diamond for a fifth time this season on Tuesday as the No. 1-ranked Orchard Lake St Mary’s baseball program did battle with Birmingham Brother Rice at Warrior Park in Troy.
Tuesday’s latest showdown was for the Catholic League’s Bishop Division crown. St Mary’s was eyeing a three-peat while Rice was in search of their first league title since 2017.
The game lived up to the billing and then some. Pitching dominated on both sides. But it was ultimately a clutch hit from Jack Crighton in the late stages of the game to propel top-ranked St Mary’s past the host Warriors by a final of 2-1.
In the home half of the sixth, OSLM cashed in on an bases-loaded, no-out situation, with Crighton beat out a grounder deep in the hole at shortstop, plating Jake Ruckhaber with the go-ahead run.
“The thing with Crighton, he’s been hurt over the last three and a half weeks,” OLSM coach Matt Petry said. “We didn’t think he was going to play today. We had an injury to our DH that we were going to play today, Brock Porter. But he was sick. Jack came and said ‘Hey, I can play’ and he ended up getting the gamewinning hit. It’s pretty poetic.”
The win improves the Eaglets’ mark to 34-0 on the season and a more extended 56-game winning streak dating back to last season. The defending Division 2 state champions, now up in D1 this year, are relishing this kind of late-season playoff-like atmosphere.
“That’s playoff baseball
right there for ya,” Petry said.
“You’re going to see it in the state tournament, and here in the Catholic League tournament, like our 4-0 game Friday night and 2-1 here today. You start seeing every team’s No. 1s and 2s out.
“(Starting pitcher Alfredo Velazquez) did a nice job for Rice keeping us down,” Petry added. “We were able to scratch one out with some good at-bats late.”
The two teams combined for just nine hits, with Rice accounting for five of those. St Mary’s, which was the home team on the scoreboard despite playing on the Warriors’ home field, got things rolling right away in the first.
Jake Dresselhouse led off the inning with a double.
After a Nolan Schubart base hit to put runners at the corners, Ike Irish with one out drove Dresselhouse home on a sac fly to left, giving the Eaglets a 1-0 lead early.
After that, Velazquez started to settle in, allowing no hits and just three baserunners over the next four innings.
He faced just two batters over the minimum during that four-inning stretch, including a big 6-4-3 double play to end the fourth after Irish was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Velazquez finished with 10 strikeouts on the day over his six innings of work.
“Alfredo did a great job, he really battled,” Riker said. “When you’re in a game like that, you want a guy like him to have the ball.”
“It was a really wellplayed game on both sides,” Riker added.
“The kids on both teams played hard and played the game the right way.
“You play the game because
you want to have a winner and a loser, that is how it goes.”
Rice meanwhile nearly tied it up immediately in the top of the second but saw Tristan Crane thrown out at home by Eaglets left fielder Ryan Mooney on a two-out base hit from Charlie D’Angelo.
The Warriors however did get the equalizer in the third, courtesy of a twoout double from Alex Cheeseman to plate Velazquez.
The Cheeseman double was the only extra-base hit of the game allowed by St Mary’s starter Ciaran Caughey, who went six innings and struck out 13 Warriors.
“Ciaran does a good job for us,” Petry said. “We fortunately have a lot of pitchers that do a good job for us, guys like Nolan Higgins and Parker Brzustewicz, and obviously (Brock Porter) gets a lot of the spotlight. But Ciaran has been great for us over the last two years now.”
Jasen Oliver came on to shut the door in the seventh,
striking out the side to seal a third straight CHSL title for the Eaglets.
The 2-1 score is just the second one-run game for St Mary’s all season, the first since a 1-0 win over Detroit Catholic Central back on April 30.
It’s also the 23rd of their 34 wins in which the Eaglets have allowed one run or fewer to the opposition.
Five of Rice’s now nine losses on the season are at the hands of St Mary’s, they were outscored a combined 39-5 in the previous four defeats, three of which were shutouts.
These two teams could very well be on a collision course for a sixth meeting this season.
That would potentially come in the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
“We’re going to see them again,” Riker said.
“So I told our guys, ‘Be ready to go.’ You have to relish and embrace those moments. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”