EAST LANSING – Traverse City St. Francis senior Charlie Olivier threw up three fingers before heading to the outfield in the seventh inning of Saturday’s Division 3 Final.

It signified more than the three outs the Gladiators would eventually get to accomplish a feat that hadn’t occurred in 35 years.

“At St. Francis, when we arrived in middle school, there were the three Cs – character, commitment and compassion,” Olivier said after a 5-4 win over Marine City at McLane Stadium.

“And it reminded me of the three outs of the seventh inning, and I held up the three just because all we’ve been doing this year is showing character and commitment to this team and showing so much compassion for one another. I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else other than this team.”

Appearing in a Division 3 Final for the third time over the last eight years, the Gladiators (31-8-1) overcame a late rally by the Mariners to hang on and win their first championship since 1990 (in Class D).

“Winning a state title in baseball is so hard, and there are so many things that can happen to lose one baseball game – and not always does the best team win,” said St. Francis coach Tom Passinault, who’s been coaching high school baseball and football since 1993.

“We’ve had some really good teams through the years that got beat, but this team finally did it and turned the corner and made us state champs.”

The Gladiators struck first in the opening inning when junior Matthew Kane ripped an RBI single to score junior Tyler Thompson, who led off the game with a single. 

St. Francis added to its lead with a three-run third inning. 

Kane delivered another RBI single to make it 2-0, and then Olivier followed with a suicide squeeze to score Sam Wildfong.

After a pitching change, Braxton Lesinski knocked an RBI single past a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded and St. Francis held a 4-0 advantage.

“That was awesome,” Kane said. “I struggled a little bit in the playoffs, so to start the game out 2-for-2 with some RBIs – that was special,” Kane said. “My hard work paid off so I'm happy, and this team is so special. We didn’t lose a single guy from last year and added a freshman, and it's just a brotherhood. The coaching staff is awesome, and it’s been a full team effort. I couldn't be more proud of these guys.”

Harrison Shepherd’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning scored Thompson to give St. Francis a 5-0 cushion, but Marine City didn’t go away quietly. 

The Mariners, playing in their first Final, scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a throwing error. 

“It’s kind of what they always do; they battle all the time,” Marine City coach Ryan Felax said. “We haven't been held under four or five runs the whole tournament, so I knew falling down 5-0 wasn't anything and we would be able to battle back. It just was not enough in the end, and this is a tough one to swallow. It just hurts.”

St. Francis starter Tyler Endres held the Mariners hitless through the first three innings before Lanse Vos replaced him in the fifth. 

Vos settled down after the rocky end to the fifth inning and retired six of the last seven batters he faced.

“I felt really good at 5-0, and Tyler was mowing,” Passinault said. “We knew we would go with Lanse at some time, and I put him in a bad spot with coming in on a 2-0 (count), but then he had a couple clean innings.

“I’ve been around high school sports for a long time and always been envious of guys who had 30-year reunions for state championships. I’m just ecstatic.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ Tyler Thompson (2) eludes a tag at home to score one of his two runs during the Division 3 Final. (Middle) The Gladiators’ Tyler Endres delivers a pitch.