Liggett Caps Memorable, Meaningful Run
June 18, 2016
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Dan Cimini led Grosse Point Woods University Liggett to its fourth MHSAA baseball championship Saturday.
None of the previous three could come close to matching the emotion of this one.
Matthew Gushee fashioned a six-hitter as the Knights downed New Lothrop, 12-0, in the Division 3 title game at Michigan State University’s McLane Baseball Stadium. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
It was Liggett’s fourth MHSAA crown since 2011. But for Cimini and his players, this one was more meaningful.
Cimini, who is in his 13th year at Liggett, lost his father Danato to cancer on the eve of the District tournament.
“It’s very emotional,” said Cimini, who added that he began tearing up with New Lothrop down to its final out in the bottom of the fifth inning. “I was crying there with two outs, just thinking of my Dad. He’d have been sitting behind (the plate) screaming ‘Come on Dano.’
“I’m going to miss that. I’m going to miss that the most. And I’ll never get to hear that again. It’s tough, but I know he’s here with me, and he’s here with this team.”
University Liggett leadoff man Connor McCarron had three hits while teammates Sean Fannon, Noah Miller and Anthony George added two apiece. McCarron, Fannon and Alec Azar had two RBI each.
The Knights, who were ranked No. 1 throughout the season and finished 32-4, collected 12 hits off three New Lothrop pitchers. The Hornets, who won the Division 4 championship in 2014, finished 41-4.
University Liggett plans to move up to Division 1 next season.
Gushee struck out one and walked three. The Knights did not commit an error behind him and were the only team of the eight who played in the four MHSAA title games Saturday to finish errorless.
Quentin Taylor, Cam Pope and Carter Hamgesberg had two hits each for New Lothrop.
Liggett scored in every inning and its lead was 8-0 by the bottom of the third.
“This is a team (New Lothrop) that was down 5-0 the other day in the Quarterfinals and came back and won 6-5,” Cimini said. “I told these guys ‘You’ve got to get a lead, step on them.’
“For our team to do what we did this season and save their best game in the biggest game, it just tells you about these kids. To rise to the occasion in the biggest moment of their lives and play their best game of baseball for five innings against a really good baseball team – that was no joke of a baseball team right there.
“I think the game was won before it started (because of) the confidence that these kids had. Nothing was going to stand in their way.”
Fannon, a senior, said the players kept their emotions in check, but were well aware of what it meant for Cimini.
“He deserves it so much,” Fannon said. “He puts all of his time into us. He had to push some of his problems to the side, so it’s really awesome that he got to do this. We did it for him, we did it for the team, we did it for the program.”
PHOTOS: (Top) University Liggett celebrates its Division 3 championship that closed the 2016 season. (Middle) A University Liggett runner charges toward first base.
Rochester Adams, Detroit Catholic Central Set Matchup for 2026 Season Finale
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
EAST LANSING — Thirty years after leaving Battle Creek following the second of two straight state championship game losses, Rochester Adams head baseball coach Andy Lamkin was back at the MHSAA Semifinals on Friday with his team.
The head coach of those teams that lost in Class A championship games in 1995 and 1996, Lamkin is in his second stint as Adams head coach (he took the program back over in 2024) and probably experienced some full-circle emotions entering Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal against Brownstown Woodhaven.
“It’s a different perspective this time, I’ll definitely let you know that,” Lamkin said. “It’s good that other people have an opportunity to share what I was able to feel 30 years ago. To me, that’s what I’m reflecting on, is everybody else and the parents and the kids that have this opportunity.”
On Saturday, Adams will get an opportunity to achieve what the 1995 and 1996 teams did not – win the school’s first baseball title.
The Highlanders earned that opportunity with a 10-4 win over Woodhaven, after jumping out to a 7-0 lead and not looking back. They will face Detroit Catholic Central at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Division 1 Final, which will close the 2026 baseball season.
Adams had a big inning early, producing a five-run rally in the second. Senior Rino Watters gave the Highlanders a 1-0 lead on an RBI single following a double by senior catcher McCallister Doelle, and then with the bases loaded, senior Dominic Dumitrescu cleared them with a double to make it 4-0.
Senior Matt Toeppner then followed with an RBI single to center to give Adams a 5-0 lead.
The Highlanders added two more runs in the third inning on RBI singles by senior Johnny Safadi and Dumitrescu to grab a 7-0 lead.
Dumitrescu, the team’s No. 9 hitter, had four RBI and Safadi had four hits to lead a 15-hit attack.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had four RBI,” Dumitrescu said.
Woodhaven got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single by junior Amauri Gutierrez after a triple by sophomore Tristan Spencer.
Adams got that run back in the fifth, but Woodhaven scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning, cutting the Adams lead to 8-3 on RBI singles by Gutierrez and Spencer.
In the sixth inning, Adams took a 9-3 lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by Doelle, and then Adams went up 10-3 in the seventh on an RBI sacrifice fly by Toeppner.
The Highlanders have two players, Andrew Wozniak and Quinn DeCourcy, whose dads were on the 1995 team that lost in the title game. Now, their sons will get a chance to earn what eluded them.
“Now we’re back carrying on the legacy,” Wozniak said.
Gutierrez had two hits and two RBI in defeat for the Warriors (34-6-1).
“We started chipping way a little bit,” Woodhaven head coach Corey Farner said. “The problem was we couldn’t slow them down. At the end of the day, you can’t win when you give up 15 hits.”
Detroit Catholic Central 6, Mattawan 1
Ever since October, Catholic Central head coach Ryan Rogowski said there has been one date his team constantly talked about.
“June 13,” Rogowski said, referring to the date of Saturday’s Division 1 championship game.
Catholic Central will indeed get to play on the last day of the season.
“There are 16 seniors who are just incredible,” Rogowski said. “We have one game left. They have worked so hard for this.”
The biggest reason Catholic Central (28-12) earned a chance at winning its first Finals championship since 1999 was senior left-hander Andrew Mahoney, a Cincinnati signee.
Mahoney tossed a three-hitter against Mattawan, allowing one run and striking out 15 batters.
Catholic Central also had an efficient offense, putting together an 11-hit attack led by a three-hit performance by senior Nick Garnick.
“I was just ready to do damage and ready to attack,” Garnick said.
Catholic Central took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Garnick scored from second base on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, the Shamrocks gained separation, scoring five times to take a 6-0 lead. Catholic Central took a 2-0 lead on an RBI single to center by junior Kyle Davis, went up 3-0 when Davis scored from third on a balk, and grabbed a 4-0 lead on an RBI single by Garnick.
Sophomore Luke Fairchild then lined a two-run double over the center fielder’s head to make it 6-0.
Mattawan did have an immediate response, scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a wild pitch and putting runners on first and third with one out.
But the Shamrocks got out of the jam with no further damage to hold on to a 6-1 lead.
Mattawan (29-9) was making its second Semifinal appearance in four years, but just couldn’t make enough contact against Mahoney to advance to what would have been its first championship game.
“You’re not going to win many games when you strike out 15 out of 21 outs,” Mattawan head coach Brett Vaughn said. “He threw really well. We scouted the (heck) out of him and knew that was what we were going to get. Our approaches to the plate weren’t very good and again, striking out 15 out of 21 outs isn’t going to win you a lot of games.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams players celebrate after crossing the plate during Friday’s Semifinal win over Brownstown Woodhaven. (Middle) The Shamrocks’ Cam Swearingen (4) follows a drive against Mattawan.