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.

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.