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An Orchard Lake St. Mary's runner rounds third base Saturday as a Kenowa Hills throw comes in from the outfield. 

Kenowa Hills Rallies Early, but St. Mary's Rallies Late to Claim Latest Title

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 13, 2026

EAST LANSING — The McLane Stadium scoreboard definitely had to be a strange sight for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s early in Saturday’s Division 2 Final against Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. 

En route to 26 straight wins entering the game, St. Mary’s had routinely recorded lopsided wins, but found itself trailing an inspired Kenowa Hills team by four runs after three innings of play. 

But while it was unfamiliar territory, panic certainly didn’t set in.

“We were calm, cool and collected,” Eaglets senior Hudson Brzustewicz said. “We knew we were going to put up runs. It was just a matter of time before the bats got hot and balls started dropping.”

Brzustewicz couldn’t have been more right, as St. Mary’s rallied for a 6-4 win in eight innings to add another Finals championship trophy to its collection.

The Eaglets (34-5) have now won seven titles and five since 2015 – four in Division 2 and the 2022 Division 1 crown.

It also gave head coach Nick DiPonio his first title as a coach after winning one as a player for St. Mary’s in 1998.

“They never had a doubt that they had it within themselves to persevere through everything,” DiPonio said. “It makes it that much sweeter.”

In the eighth inning with the game tied 4-4, junior Joseph Schilp started the winning rally with a sharp one-out single to left-center field. Schilp took second base on a passed ball, then went to third on a bunt single by senior Nate Baumann. 

St. Mary’s senior and No. 9 hitter Preston Duff then brought Schilp home with another bunt single inside the third-base line to give their team a 5-4 lead.

Eaglets reliever Anthony Abela delivers a pitch. With two outs, Eaglets senior Luke Crighton hit an RBI single to make it 6-4. 

Kenowa Hills put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but St. Mary’s senior left-handed reliever Anthony Abela ended the game on a strikeout.

Abela came on in the fourth inning and provided five innings of scoreless relief, striking out six. 

Making its first trip to a Final, Kenowa Hills finished 36-3.

“We just gave up a couple too many runs,” Knights head coach Todd VandenHeuvel said. “They outhit us (13-6). If we could have gotten a couple more baserunners on and stayed aggressive like we were and put more pressure on them, it might have been a different outcome. But very proud of the kids."

Kenowa Hills got off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single up the middle by Andrew Lake to score senior Brennan Gustinis, who led off the inning with a double. 

The Knights took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on junior Will Fussman’s RBI triple to the gap in right-center. 

With two outs, an attempted steal of home by Fussman worked, as an errant St. Mary’s throw got behind the catcher, allowing Fussman to score and make it 3-0. 

Kenowa Hills then made it 4-0 later in the inning when it executed a double steal perfectly with runners on first and third. With the runner on first breaking for second, senior Mason Peebles charged for home and slid underneath the tag at home plate after St. Mary’s cut off the throw to second and threw back to home. 

The Eagles got one run back in the fourth, cutting the lead to 4-1 on an RBI groundout by senior Derick Conrad. 

In the sixth inning, St. Mary’s made a move, cutting the Kenowa Hills lead to 4-3 on a two-run double to the gap in right-center by senior Tyler Shubnell. 

The Eaglets then tied the game at 4-4 on an RBI single by Bauman.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) An Orchard Lake St. Mary's runner rounds third base Saturday as a Kenowa Hills throw comes in from the outfield. (Middle) Eaglets reliever Anthony Abela delivers a pitch. 

High 5s: 5/15/12

May 15, 2012

This week's honorees include arguably Michigan's top distance runner, top lacrosse player, and a baseball team looking to assert itself at the top while representing the state's largest city.

Lauren Hooker
East Grand Rapids senior
Lacrosse

(Updated May 19) Hooker, who plays attack, led the Pioneers to a 20-0 start. She's scored 101 goals -- already third-most for a single season in the MHSAA record book, and more than 25 percent of her team's total. Add in her 33 assists, and her 134 total points are fifth in MHSAA history for one season. East Grand Rapids is ranked No. 1 both in Division 2 and regardless of division based on the computer rankings supplied by LaxPower.com. Hooker also was the low scorer on the Pioneers golf team that finished eighth at the fall's Division 3 Final, and she missed the individual top 10 by only two strokes. She's signed to play lacrosse at Marquette University next season.

Scoring touch: "I don't try and dodge all the time. I don't like to work my way through people to score. I just try to find an opening."

Up next: "I'm not exactly sure yet (what I'll study), probably something in the sciences. Maybe something like criminology. I always wanted to be an FBI agent when I was growing up."

I learned the most about lacrosse from: "Two of my best friends play for the University of Oregon (Jana and Jess Drummond). And Coach (Jeff) Oates has spent a lot of time with me, talking to me, helping me during the offseason."

Different strokes: "I love the intensity (of lacrosse). I love the team aspect. It's competitive, but fun at the same time. Everyone on our team loves it together. ... In golf, I like how you're still part of the team, but an individual. To help the team, it's on you. It's a good contrast to lacrosse." 

Garret Zuk

White Lake Lakeland senior

Track and Field

Zuk, the reigning MHSAA Division 1 cross country champion, ran career bests of 9:09.2 in the 3,200 meters and 4:16.92 in the 1,600 to take first in the former and second by two hundredths of a second in the latter at Saturday's Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship meet at Pinckney. But his best moment might've come when he finished second on purpose -- to Walled Lake Northern's Devin Kimberlin in the 3,200 last Tuesday after pacing the sophomore through the race to a career-best time, and then letting him win at the end. (Click to read more). Zuk was an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award winner this winter and is the co-salutatorian of his class with a 4.22 grade-point average. He will run this fall at Michigan State University.

"I've done it for kids on my own team. Normally, I'm in a position where things are still hanging in the balance and we need the points to win. But the way this meet was ... there was no way we could win. I saw the kind of effort Devin was trying to put in, and there was no reason not to help out."

Up next: Zuk will run both cross country and track at MSU, as is the norm at the college level. He's planning to study mechanical engineering, with an eye on the aerospace field -- think NASA, Boeing, etc. Not surprisingly, math is his best subject.

I learned the most about running from: Retired longtime Lakeland coach Randy Wilkins and current cross country coach Joe Verellen. "The combination of those two (taught me) a lot of what I know and what I practice in my running.

I look up to: "Every American distance runner has to look up to Steve Prefontaine at one time or another. What Pre stood for, the way he went about running; it's inspiring to everyone."

Detroit Western International baseball

The Cowboys are 22-4 and winners of 11 straight heading into Friday afternoon's Detroit Public School League Tournament semifinal. They are the top seed after finishing the league regular season undefeated, and have their sights set on a trip to Battle Creek this month after coming within an out of the MHSAA Semifinals a year ago. Of 16 players on this spring's team, 14 were on last year's as well. Click to read more.

This spring's previous honorees