The No. 1 Dakota Cougars defeated the Lake Orion Dragons, 4-0, in a Division 1 baseball state quarterfinal game on Saturday, June 7 at Grand Blanc HS.

The No. 1 Dakota Cougars defeated the No. 10 Brother Rice Warriors, 2-0, in a Division 1 baseball regional championship game on Saturday, June 7 at Grand Blanc HS.

Saturday’s meeting between the No. 1 Dakota Cougars and No. 10 Brother Rice Warriors at Grand Blanc was an elimination game with a spot in the Division 1 state quarterfinals on the line.

To Luke DeMasse, it was “just another game.”

Dakota’s ace fired off seven scoreless innings surrendering just two hits as he and the Cougars beat the Warriors, 2-0, to win a regional championship and give themselves a chance to earn one of four spots in the state quarterfinals.

“I have more confidence in myself than anyone else,” DeMasse said. “I didn’t go into that game nervous. Nothing really changes. Kind of another game.”

A Ball State commit, DeMasse toed the rubber opposite another Division I arm, Brother Rice’s Blake Ilitch – an Ole Miss commit.

It clearly didn’t phase him. DeMasse sat down the Warriors, 1-2-3, in the top of the first, all on strikeouts, including two looking.

“I’ve coached him for four years and I feel great when I’m on the mound,” said Dakota head coach Angelo Plouffe. “So I don’t care who they’re pitching – I just know he’s on the mound.

“He had everything working. If he’s on, it’s tough. He can throw a changeup, throw a slider, throw his curveball. He’ll locate. He doesn’t walk people. He makes you have to beat him. He makes you have to have a great advance. That’s why he’s who he is – he’s a dude.”

Dakota threatened to score early and often, but stranded two runners in the first, one in the second and three in the third.

And with two out and two on in the fourth inning, it looked like the Cougars might let another golden opportunity go by the wayside.

Enter Braylon Ryan – the Alma commit and No. 2 hitter in Dakota’s lineup smoked a line drive double into right field, scoring Jacob Gjonaj and Andrew Borowicz, who both walked.

“It was like waiting and waiting and waiting to kick the door down, and we finally did,” Plouffe said. “There’s not a guy on our team that I’d rather have the bat in his (Ryan’s) hand in that moment. He’s pretty special. He’s been doing that stuff all year for us.”

Walks were part of the game plan for Dakota. They approached Ilitch with the fastball in mind, and as his offspeed pitches dipped from strike-to-ball, they let them go. The Cougars ended up drawing five walks, forcing the future Rebel out of the game before the end of the fifth inning.

Ilitch finished the game with 4.2 innings, four hits, two runs, five walks and six strikeouts to end his Brother Rice career.

The Warriors’ best chance to score was in the fourth inning. Cash Van Ameyde reached on a chopper to second baseman Borowicz, then Maksim Neshov got on with an E5, putting himself and Van Ameyde in scoring position with nobody out.

DeMasse didn’t panic. He forced Broder Katke to ground out, struck out Cole Van Ameyde then got a grounder from Tristan Turner to get back into the dugout.

Brother Rice didn’t get another runner on base until Turner’s two-out single in the seventh.

Photos from No. 1 Dakota’s regional championship win over No. 10 Brother Rice

“Not really going to change anything (in the jam),” DeMasse said. “Those weren’t good hits, and that was just unlucky there. But everything ended up working out, and we just stuck to the game plan. Really, nothing changes.”

DeMasse’s final line saw him go seven scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and nine strikeouts.

Dakota previously beat Brother Rice this season, 8-4, on May 4.

That advance scouting helped both sides, but DeMasse said it really helped him dissect their hitters’ tendencies.

“Not a lot of people look at the little things that hitters do,” DeMasse said. “I’m not going to say what it is because I don’t want people to know how I’m going to pitch. But we had a game plan. We stuck with it, and it ended up working out.”

Brother Rice’s season ends with a 28-13 mark. They won the CHSL tournament.

An 11-win team heading into Saturday, the Eisenhower Eagles had to go through 23-win Romeo and 21-win Stoney Creek to win a district championship.

They did.

With a 9-3 victory in the semifinals over the Bulldogs, Ike went on to score five runs in the first two innings of their eventual 5-1 victory over the Cougars to win their first district title in eight years, and just the second in program history.

That last district crown came during Bob Hall’s first stint with Ike. After a hiatus, he’s back with the Eagles, but hasn’t coached for most of the year after a birth defect in his heart caused a stroke.

But he was there on Saturday, and acting head coach Karlene Kilburn – also on the 2017 staff – couldn’t help but hold back tears.

“Eisenhower only has one other district title in school history, and it’s a little emotional because the last time it was coach Bob and I together,” Kilburn said. “So it’s nice that he’s able to come back and we could finish what we wanted to start.”

The Eagles struck first when Addison Viviano cracked a single to score Rease Buza, who walked, in the first inning.

Vivano was given another chance in the second, and again, she didn’t disappoint – with the bases loaded and two outs, the freshman scorched a line drive into center field that got past a diving D Bryant, clearing the bases.

She came around to score herself on a Liz Petrella double right after.

“We feel so excited,” Viviano said. “We’ve been working for this all season, practicing hard every practice. I mean, it feels great.”

Viviano is just one of several young contributors for the Eagles. Their starting pitcher, Anna Bellomo, is just a sophomore – the only run she allowed in the complete game was an unearned one, and she also struck out six Cougars with three hits allowed. She walked four. Rease Buza, who pitched in the win over Romeo, is also a sophomore.

“Both her (Bellomo) and Rease as pitchers bring a leadership that is really helpful in our defense,” Kilburn said. “And so having that pairing has been phenomenal; that when one is down, the other one is pitching well.

“And Anna is a competitor, and she likes a little bit of pressure, and putting her in that situation just makes her throw better. Today was probably the best I’ve seen her pitch all year.”

Out of all five teams in the district – including Rochester, Romeo, Rochester Adams and Stoney Creek – Eisenhower had the fewest wins and worst regular season win percentage going in.

That was then.

“I told them all that, if they put into games what we do in practice, if they just execute that, there’s not a team out there that can beat us,” Kilburn said.

Stoney Creek struggled to find their groove early after winning an 11-10 marathon over Rochester Adams in the game before. Ella Fugate allowed four baserunners while getting just two outs, and Sara Kruczek was tagged for three runs in 0.2 innings.

It wasn’t until Allie Ray finally settled in that they were able to stabilize, but strong pitching by Bellomo and solid defense behind her made it difficult for Stoney Creek to overcome the early deficit.

“The culture of this team has been for the last four years, and as you’ve seen with the first game against Adams, is we never give up,” said Stoney Creek head coach Rick Troy. “It’s a ‘never give up’ attitude. It’s a culture. It’s just how this team has been built and continues to be built. There’s no excuse for the loss, but there is a reality that we’re a very young team.”

The Cougars graduate senior Kate Stephens, a Maryland softball commit, whom Troy dubbed as the best player to ever come out of Stoney Creek.

Photos from Eisenhower’s 5-1 district title win over Stoney Creek on Saturday

“We’ve been blessed to have her leadership and her gamesmanship, her skill sets,” Troy said. “She’s the entire package, and that’s why she’s going DI.”

Stoney Creek finishes the year 21-14.

Eisenhower has earned themselves another week, with their next game set to be against Port Huron Northern, who beat Dakota in eight innings on Friday to win their district. Start time is 10 a.m. from Royal Oak High School, with the winner playing either Ford or Royal Oak.

The Eagles are a-ok with having more time to practice, having had one as recently as the night before their 10 a.m. start time against Romeo.

“This feels amazing,” Viviano said. “It’s my freshman year. I can’t wait for the next three years.”

The Clawson Trojans believed that they could win the Macomb Area Conference Gold despite never winning a league title that prestigious in their program’s history.

On Wednesday, they had a chance to confirm that belief – and with a 2-1 win over the Warren Mott Marauders, they finished off the league, becoming responsible for Mott’s only two league losses of the year.

“Just for the school, 350 kids in the school, and we go against schools with, you know, 100, 1,200, 1,500 (students),” said Clawson head coach Brian Maurer. “And a season like this, and how we just caught fire, got on a roll – the belief system, right? And what that can do through a program going forward, little kids seeing it, seeing the little engine that could. And we just pride ourselves on hard work in the off season and see how it pays off.

“And we just paid it off for the first time in history.”

The weather, which seemingly reverted to the cold, gray spitting rain of early April, made things a challenge for both teams as Mott pitcher Sharon Becroft and Clawson’s Sarah McLeod cruised early.

Mott had chances, getting two runners on in the first and second innings and getting a runner on second in the fourth, but McLeod quelled each opportunity.

Clawson, on the other hand, didn’t get their first hit until the sixth inning; with two outs and the score still tied at zero, Dana Moss singled and McLeod doubled to get two runners in scoring position. A walk to Meghan Shea and another to Alaina Maloney loaded the bases then pushed across Moss, breaking the scoreless tie.

Chloe Fisher popped a looper over Mott second baseman Miley Xiong to add their second run.

Both walks were made on calls that the Mott side thought could have gone either way.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh and the league on the line, Mott’s Megan Melnyk hit a leadoff single then promptly scored on a triple by Aubrie Vojnov. Drina Lazarus then scored to represent the winning run, and her pinch-runner, Aubrey Sopala, reached second with one out.

McLeod got a strikeout, then Maurer chose to intentionally walk Becroft, setting up a game-winning weak popout to McLeod herself to close out the league.

The Trojans senior class, led by McLeod, has come a long way after finishing near the bottom of the Gold in the last two seasons.

“It really means a lot,” McLeod said. “I know that we were told, like a lot of teams really didn’t think that we would get that far this year, and we’ve really improved over the last four years. And I’m just really proud of the girls, and they’ve done a lot of work over the off season. Like, they did so much, a lot of hours put in, and I think it really paid off. And I’m really proud of my team.”

McLeod finished with seven innings of one-run ball, scattering six hits and three walks with nine strikeouts.

Becroft also punched out nine, walking four and allowing three hits for two runs.

Mott head coach Jim Carlisle admitted that the Marauders are in the midst of a difficult week, with the Clawson game marking their fifth-straight loss.

They’ll need a quick bounceback with their season suddenly on the line with a Thursday, May 22 pre-district contest against rival Warren Woods Tower on the docket.

“We’ve had some really emotional games this week, and it’s just tough to say how much these kids can endure,” Carlisle said.

“Come back 24 hours later and play in another emotional game. And it’s tough on anybody, much less 15, 16, 17 year old kids.”

With good pitching and good defense – they made only one error on Wednesday with no runs coming off it – their folly was their runners left on base.

While they were proud to play for a MAC Gold title, that wasn’t their goal, said Carlisle: “Our goal is to win it, not play in it.”

Clawson’s turnaround was even quicker than Mott’s – they had another game scheduled for one hour after the conclusion of Wednesday’s game back at their home field, Clawson City Park, which is over six miles away against Center Line. With their 15-0 win there, they secured an undefeated Gold slate.

The Trojans said they drew some inspiration from their girls basketball team, which had a historically strong season, going 20-3 with a MAC Silver championship, which they ironically shared with Mott.

But the softball Trojans have a chance to do something the basketball team couldn’t: advance in the district tournament.

Photos from Clawson’s MAC Gold clinching win over Warren Mott on Wednesday

“Focus and have fun,” Maurer said. “It’s playing the season. It’s not about mechanics. It’s just about focusing on every pitch, keeping your head, keeping your IQ in the game, noticing, you know, where we’re at in the game.

“This team is resilient, and they just never fluster. They’re laughing, they’re smiling. Doesn’t matter how hard the game is. Yeah, resiliency is the name of this team right here.”

The Trojans will face the winner of Tuesday, May 27’s game between Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in the District 91 semifinals at Clawson City Park at 10 a.m. With a win, they’ll play for a district title later that day.

The Clawson Trojans clinched their first-ever Macomb Area Conference Gold softball championship win with a 2-1 victory over Warren Mott on Wednesday, May 21 in Warren.

Dakota’s Angelo Plouffe and Brother Rice’s Bob Riker love to see the other man on the opposing dugout.

Because they know that, when their East Lansing-hopeful team is going against the other man’s, they’re going to be better off for it – and they know that neither of them is going to back down from the fight, either.

“We play everybody that we play every year, you know, whether we’re old or young, and they do the same thing to us too,” Riker said. “They come in and, you know, I think he’s (Dakota’s) got 14 or 15 seniors, but next year, he’ll be young like I am this year, and he’ll still come out and play us. And that’s why I love playing Angelo and those guys.”

Plouffe’s Cougars, ranked No. 4 in Division 1 by the MHSBCA, took down Riker’s No. 9 Warriors, 8-4, on Friday, May 2 at Warrior Park in Troy.

“We try to schedule the best teams around, so when a tournament comes, (we’re) ready to play,” Plouffe said. “So that’s why we’re here. That’s why we play these guys. That’s why, every year, we come here. Coach Riker does a great job with this program. (We) love coming here, and there’s a reason why.”

Brother Rice got on the board first when Tristan Turner doubled in Maks Neshov, but Dakota starting pitcher James Nuechterlein – traditionally a reliever – didn’t allow another runner to reach scoring position until the fifth inning.

Plouffe didn’t have to go to his bullpen a single time in the Cougars’ midweek series in which they run-ruled 10th-ranked Stevenson thrice, allowing him to reward Nuechterlein, who has been one of his best relief arms, with a start.

“Hey, go out there and throw 70 pitches because you’re in the right to, because you’ve been great all year,” Plouffe said of Nuechterlein. “You get to see him throw, and you get to see (Jacob) Gjonaj and (Jadon) Ford and guys who don’t get to throw much at all for us. They’re great arms. But we have a bunch of great arms, so that’s fun.”

Dakota got the one run back immediately in the top of the second inning when Gjonaj singled in Ford, but their best inning was the third: with one out, Evan Morrison was hit by a pitch. Singles by Evan Kavalick and Luke DeMasse eventually brought him in, then a walk to Ford loaded the bases for Gjonaj (1-run single) and Peyton Leon (2-run double) to clear them. Luke Kavalick’s RBI single capped the six-run frame.

And though they only added one more insurance run, it didn’t mean they were making good contact – Brother Rice’s defense made plays.

It continued a trend that the Cougars started in their first win over Stevenson and poured over into Friday: the bats are hot, with run totals of 10, 14, 14 and eight this week in their four top-10 victories in a five-day span.

“We swung it all week,” Plouffe said. “We even swung it today, I thought. It was right at people. It’s fun when you’re swinging it. It helps your arms, helps your pitching staff, helps your defense. Everybody can calm down for a second, but we were swinging it really well.”

Most Cougars saw a different pitcher each time up – Brother Rice deployed six arms, starting with Manny Simms into Grady Preston, then Ben Junga, Gavin McClelland, Freddie Beyer and finally Michael Stanton.

Stanton punched out all three batters he saw and McClelland had two scoreless frames.

Riker said that he had to be careful with how he used his pitchers on Friday due to a looming Saturday Catholic League doubleheader against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.

The Warriors return just seven players from last year’s team that lost by one run in the state championship game. It’s why games like Friday’s against Dakota are so valuable.

“I just want our guys to compete, and they’ve done that,” Riker said. “They have a chemistry with the older guys, and the team’s kind of really coming together. I know the record doesn’t necessarily indicate that, but I’m very happy with where we’re at right now.

“The unique thing about our sport is everybody makes the playoffs, so it’s getting hot at the right time. It’s gelling at the right time, having health at the right time.”

Dakota’s Gjonaj threw 1.2 scoreless innings with four hits allowed. Ford allowed two runs in the seventh inning, including a two-run double by Neshov, but finished the win.

Photos from No. 4 Dakota’s 8-4 win over No. 9 Brother Rice on Friday

Neshov, a freshman, went 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Dakota’s Gjonaj went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three stolen bases. Evan Kavalick had three hits and drove in one.

Dakota will be busy in the coming weeks as they continue to prepare for a potential East Lansing trip – they’ll play 18 games between May 3 and May 27.

“I told our guys (to) be ready to go, because when it’s nice out, we’re playing usually,” Plouffe said. “You have 38 games … we’re going to try to play them all here so we can be ready for the tournament.”

The De La Salle Pilots baseball team is having fun.

And why wouldn’t they? After a pair of 15-0 run-rule wins over Avondale on Saturday, the Pilots are 12-2 with 10 of their wins coming against Catholic League rivals Brother Rice, U of D Jesuit, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Detroit Catholic Central.

It’s been a striking difference from last season, when the Pilots finished 17-19.

So what’s changed?

“I think we all bought in this year,” said senior Mason Pilarski. “I mean, we kind of all came together as a group.”

The buy-in has circulated around new head coach Dan Cimini, who took the DLS head coaching job after winning the Division 1 state title last season as the skipper for Northville.

“‘Everything counts’ is his motto,’ Pilarski said.

“He’s instilled what he’s about – winning and everything like that. And he’s really put it there, and we’ve all bought in.”

Cimini is familiar with both De La Salle and the Catholic League – he won five state championships as the head coach at Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, where he dominated the Catholic League and battled against De La Salle annually. He’s also an eastsider with friends who are Pilot grads.

It helps that there’s plenty of talent on the roster.

Pilarski, a Western Michigan commit, is the team’s top pitcher and is a fixture at the top of the lineup. His 17 RBIs are a team-high and he’s yet to allow an earned run in 18.1 innings pitched.

JJ Jurczyk leads off and is a rangy outfielder who is a soccer state champion with DLS.

Vito Zito is an anchor behind the plate, catching most of the team’s games. He’s hit four home runs and nine of his 14 hits have gone for extra bases, good for a 1.166 on-base plus slugging.

“I keep telling these guys, you know, care about the guy next to you,” Cimini said. “Maybe it’s not your day, someone else will pick you up, and that’s what we’re doing, passing the baton to whoever that day is going to be helping us.”

It’s not just the top of the lineup that opponents have to sweat, either. In their second win over Avondale on Saturday, their 7-8-9 hitters – Mason Stempin, Mark Gerardi and Pashk Daka – went 5-for-5 with two doubles, both by Girardi, and a no-doubter home run by Daka.

On the mound, Dylan Leupke’s ERA is a minuscule .545 in 25.2 innings of work with 38 strikeouts. Jurczyk’s is 2.58 with a team-high 45 punchouts in just 21.2 innings.

All of those guys are returners. Clearly, the talent has been there – Cimini is unlocking it. And it starts with belief.

“He (Cimini) instilled confidence on us,” Zito said. “Last year was hard for us, losing a lot of games. We came in here, he kind of set the standard for us, and we’ve just been playing to it now and having fun.

“It’s a great feeling. I mean, since day one he was saying this is a spot we’re going to be in. And I mean, he spoke into existence, great guy. He’s always picking us up.”

The state is taking notice. In the recent MHSBCA statewide poll, the Pilots were ranked as the best of the best, the cream of the crop – the No. 1 team in Division 1 – just a few weeks into the season.

“(I expected it) Maybe not this early, but I mean, we all knew that we had something special here, especially with them coming in,” Pilarski said. “I wasn’t really expecting it this early, but it’s pretty cool.”

De La Salle, Romeo ride strong starts to rise in new Macomb County baseball rankings

An emphasis on “doing the little things” has made waves for the team. It’s not just about hitting the ball hard and throwing strikes – they work counts, go first to third on hits, field the ball cleanly and hammer the details that other teams don’t.

For Cimini, who is one of the most accomplished baseball coaches in Michigan across the last two decades, it’s something he knows sets the good teams apart from the great ones.

Photos from De La Salle baseball’s 15-0 win over Avondale on Saturday

“I just really wanted them to understand that, you know, with hard work and preparation and do the little things that we talk about – the little things are, what win championships and what win games,” Cimini said. “And I don’t know if they did a lot of that stuff last year. I mean, they did some of it, but now they’re doing it all.

“Our goals are (to) win a Catholic League championship, and then, you know, see what we can do in the playoffs and hopefully be at Michigan State again. That’s my goal every single year as a coach, and I think these guys now believe that they can do that same thing, so that’s cool.”

The Pilots last won a state championship in 2016.