Orchard Lake St. Mary's Passes Homer for State's Record Winning Streak
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 17, 2023
It initially might be an absurd notion, but this year’s Orchard Lake St. Mary’s baseball team was able to enter this season with a legitimate chip on its collective shoulder.
Yes, the Eaglets began practice last month having won three straight MHSAA Finals championships (Division 2 titles in 2019 and 2021 and the Division 1 title last year surrounding the canceled 2020 season) and set a state record for wins in a season last year in finishing 44-0.
But the Eaglets graduated some unreal talent from that squad, including four players contributing to Division I college baseball programs this spring (Jack Crighton at Clemson, Ike Irish at Auburn, Nolan Schubert at Oklahoma State and Jake Dresselhouse at Michigan State) and another in pitcher Brock Porter, a top prospect in the Texas Rangers farm system after being taking in the fourth round of last summer’s MLB Draft and inking for signing bonus of $3.7 million.
So going into this year, there was a definite hunger and drive for the returning players to show the rest of the state there wouldn’t be any letup in the program despite the roster attrition.
“We have a lot of new guys who didn’t get an opportunity really last year because of how good our roster was,” said senior second baseman Ryan McKay, a co-captain who has committed to play at Michigan State. “But now they are filling in their shoes amazingly. There are a lot of names people don’t know, and those are the guys helping us win these games.”
Proof of St. Mary’s still excelling and simply reloading certainly came over the weekend in Ohio.
With a win over Grove City in suburban Columbus on Saturday, the Eaglets won their 76th straight game, breaking the state’s all-time record consecutive victories set by Homer during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
St. Mary’s (11-0) then added a win over Milford (Ohio) to make it 77 wins a row, and is now 12 shy of tying the national record of 89 set by Portsmouth (N.H.) High School in 2012.
Congratulations to the Orchard Lake St. Mary's baseball on setting a new @MHSAA record with 76 consecutive wins! The Eaglets defeated Grove City (Ohio) 11 to 3 during their 4-game Ohio road trip.@OLSMBaseball pic.twitter.com/zY1h3sShTs
— STATE CHAMPS! Michigan (@statechampsmich) April 15, 2023
Given it’s becoming harder and harder to ignore the streak and attention that’s coming with it, breaking the state record made for a festive bus ride home from Ohio on Saturday.
“The thing about it is their commitment to it and to get up for every single game over the course of three seasons,” St. Mary’s head coach Matt Petry said. “That says a lot about our players, how well prepared they are and how serious they take the game. That’s not easy to get up for every single game. Especially knowing you are going to get everyone’s best efforts because they want to be the ones who break the streak.”
There were some close calls en route to this weekend’s accomplishment.
St. Mary’s earned a 5-4 win over Howell on March 26, a 1-0 win over Detroit Catholic Central on March 30, and then a 1-0 win in nine innings last Wednesday against Walsh Jesuit in Ohio.
“There have been close games, but if you want to go far in sports, you have to love those big games,” McKay said. “The nerves are coming, but at the same time, you love it.”
Last year’s seniors were well-known across the state before the season even began. But even after their graduation, there remains loads of talent on the St. Mary’s roster and plenty of time for this group to create similar buzz.
In addition to McKay and top pitcher Aidan Donovan heading to Michigan State, senior shortstop Blake Grimmer is committed to Tennessee, senior SS/P Jasen Oliver is committed to Indiana, and junior Parker Brzustewicz has committed to Notre Dame to headline another roster full of future college players.
Now, the hard part will be continuing to stay focused amidst attention that will undoubtedly increase as the Eaglets pursue the national record.
Fortunately, it won’t be hard for St. Mary’s to get up for its next action Wednesday because it is hosting archrival Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice for a doubleheader.
Odds are St. Mary’s will lose a game at some point. But until then, it will bask in the glow of a ride never seen before in state history.
“It’s definitely in the back of our minds,” McKay said. “But every game we just go out with the same idea, plan and basically play baseball at the end of the day.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTO Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Ciaran Caughey (12) welcomes Jake Dresselhouse after the latter scored during last season’s Semifinal win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Top-Ranked St. Francis Earns Repeat Try, Unranked K-Christian Walks Off To Advance
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 11, 2026
EAST LANSING - You can say much about a defending state champion, but opportunistic likely describes Traverse City St. Francis best.
The Gladiators remained in the hunt to become the first team to win back-to-back MHSAA Division 3 titles in 13 years after topping Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 13-3 in Thursday's five-inning Semifinal at Michigan State.
St. Francis didn't necessarily pound the ball offensively and two pitchers scattered six hits, just four fewer than the Gladiators (33-5) tallied. But St. Francis took advantage of eight Crusaders errors, either bunted the ball for hits or used a sacrifice to involve scoring seven runs, and stole 10 bases en route to the win.
That, said coach Tom Passinault, is typically how the team rolls.
"Absolutely," he said. "There were the errors and that compounds things. But Rochester is a good team. You can't yell at the kids because it's just baseball. But there are things that we can do."
The win sent St. Francis into Saturday's 11:30 a.m. Final against Kalamazoo Christian.
Gladiators freshman infielder John St. Peter said taking advantage of opponents' mistakes is a trademark for the team, which won Division 3 a year ago and will be playing in its fourth Final since 2017.
"That's always how we roll," said St. Peter, who contributed a two-run triple and RBI single. "We pick up on what they can't do and the things we can do. I'm just a freshman and this is my first year, and I know I have some big shoes to fill. There's a lot of responsibility for sure."
There was no more of an opportunistic inning for St. Francis than the third. Already ahead 3-0, the Gladiators bunched three singles, a fielder's choice, a walk, three stolen bases, three errors and a wild pitch to score four more runs.
St. Francis senior captain Sam Wilfong said the ability to capitalize on mistakes added to the experience from playing in last year's Final likely makes the current team better than last season’s champion.
"I would say better because we're battle-tested," he said. "We know what we have to do and how to keep our emotions in check. We know what it takes to win much better this year. Guys have been there before."
St. Francis pitcher Lanse Vos, who gave up four hits in 3 1/3 innings, won't necessarily compare the two teams. But there's little doubt last year's run has affected this season.
"I think we've built off last year," he said. "Our four seniors we lost from last year said go run it back this year. That's what we're trying to do. We put the ball in play, and good things happen. We make those plays this year."
Kalamazoo Christian 6, Detroit Edison 5
Who says Kalamazoo Christian is too young to cause ripples in the MHSAA baseball tournament?
The Comets rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to outlast Detroit Edison and to sail into Saturday's 11:30 a.m. Final.
Despite having just two seniors on the roster, the unranked Comets – who start six juniors and a sophomore – overcame a 5-4 deficit during their final at bats to win the game on a based-loaded single by junior outfielder Max Johnson. Kalamazoo Christian (26-8) let a 4-2 lead slip away in the fifth inning and was tied as late as 4-4 in the sixth before trailing 5-4 going into the last half inning.
Comets coach Russ Meyer said the young team "hasn't flinched" in handling big moments, even with just two seniors.
"I knew and they knew we had incredible talent last year, that people expected a lot and things didn't happen for us," he said. "We played with a chip on our shoulder this year. It's like what about us?"
Johnson, who entered the game hitting .304 but with just nine RBIs in 79 at-bats, said his clutch hit was the first walk-off he's ever had, going back to Little League.
"I was down in the count and I knew I had to battle," he said. "Everyone on base trusted me, and that trust helped. It was like see ball, hit ball. We've done this all year; we just had to stick it out."
Comets junior outfielder Noah Zichterman had a pair of huge hits, including a third inning RBI double that gave the team a 3-2 lead, and a game-tying triple in the seventh two batters before Johnson's heroics.
Zichterman said it doesn't bother his teammates that the team isn't ranked or that few expected the club to be in an MHSAA Final.
"No one expected us to be this good," he said. "We've had some adversity that we overcame. I believe in us, we believe in ourselves and we just play the game."
Another key hit for the Comets was a two-run third-inning double by Jace Rarick. Crosby Croel had an RBI single in the fourth that put Kalamazoo Christian up 4-2.
Among Edison's highlights were a run-scoring single by Javarious Jackson that tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning and an RBI single by Jerrell Crosson II that gave Edison (23-9) a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian catcher Jace Rarick prepares to put a tag on Detroit Edison's DaiJon Brooks (8) during the Comets' Division 3 Semifinal win Thursday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) A Traverse City St. Francis runner attempts to get back to first base during his team's win over Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest.