Championship Resilience
The final showdown of the Division 2 baseball season unfolded at the state championship game, where Orchard Lake St. Mary's edged Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills 6-4 in eight grueling innings.
What made the victory especially dramatic was the early hole the team faced. Kenowa Hills struck first, plating three runs in the third inning to build a 4-0 lead, leaving St. Mary's trailing as the game progressed.
But the Michigan team refused to surrender. In the top of the eighth, they rallied with two runs, sparked by an RBI groundout from Derick Conrad, and seized the momentum that would carry them to a comeback win.
Anthony Abela’s five‑inning relief appearance was a cornerstone of the rally, as he shut down the opposition with six strikeouts and no runs allowed, preserving the lead for the offense to capitalize on.
Key contributors such as Joseph Schlip, Nate Bauman and Preston Duff added crucial hits and defensive plays, underscoring the depth of a lineup that finished the year 34‑5 and rode a 27‑game winning streak.
For head coach Nick DiPonio, the championship marked a full‑circle moment. He had tasted victory as a player in 1998, and now, after years of development, he lifted the trophy as the architect of a historic run that includes seven state titles, four of them in Division 2 since 2015.