Lumen Christi Follows Early Lead to D3 Win
June 13, 2015
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Before John Fleming took the mound, he was already a touchdown ahead.
When he left it a couple hours later, he and his Jackson Lumen Christi teammates were Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 baseball champions.
Fleming, a junior right-hander, fashioned a four-hitter, and the Titans rode their early lead to an 8-0 victory over Buchanan on Saturday at Michigan State’s McLane Baseball Stadium.
The victory gave Lumen Christi – which entered the MHSAA tournament with a 16-16 record – its first championship since 1978.
“We play in a really tough conference,” Lumen Christi coach Phil Clifford said. “We play Division 2, Division 1 teams all year. We think it’s vital to our preparation as a team so that when we get to the tournament we feel like we’re ready. It’s the schedule, really. That helps us.”
A six-run first inning doesn’t hurt the cause, either. The Titans (24-16) sent 11 hitters to the plate and collected six hits off Buchanan starter Dalton Riddle. A two-run single by Connor Mogle and a two-run triple by Connor Fors were the big blows.
“They got around on some good fastballs on Dalton and they hit them hard,” said third-year Buchanan coach Lonnie Hoover, who had the Bucks (24-8) in an MHSAA title game for the first time since 1985. “I think we’ll be back here next year, and we’ll have a lot more experience coming back here. We’ll be back and we’ll be better and stronger.”
A Mogle RBI single in the second inning upped the lead to 7-0, and from there Fleming cruised as his teammates made all the plays behind him in turning in an error-free performance.
He was a model of efficiency, throwing just 87 pitches (54 for strikes). He struck out two, walked just one, and rarely did the Bucks manage to hit a ball sharply.
“My plan is to always pound the strike zone, change speeds, hit spots, throw what coach tells me to throw,” he said. “My guys on defense – I can throw strikes and they’re going to make a play for me.”
Mogle and Chad Thayer led Lumen Christi’s 15-hit attack with three each.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Lumen Christi runner beats a throw into third base during Saturday’s Division 3 championship game while Buchanan’s Gavin Morris prepares to collect the relay. (Middle) The Titans celebrate their first baseball title since 1978.
For Coach: Powers Completes 1st Title Run for 42-Year Leader Dutkowski
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2024
EAST LANSING — On behalf of this current Flint Powers Catholic baseball team, Saturday’s message was loud and clear to past players, alumni and school officials:
We finally did it for Tom.
Tom would be longtime head coach Tom Dutkowski, who after 42 years and 872 wins finally got to coach in a state championship game Saturday.
Not only did Powers get there for Dutkowski, but the Chargers delivered win No. 873 and his long-awaited first title as coach with an 11-0 defeat of Spring Lake in the Division 2 Final at McLane Stadium.
“We just made Flint Powers history, and to be a part of that is amazing,” Powers senior Fischer Hendershot said. “We have a lot of alumni and a lot of alumni on the coaching staff. To do it for the coaching staff, everyone here, everyone in Powers, every alumni and everyone who cares about us is a great feeling.”
After accepting the championship trophy and raising into the air triumphantly, Dutkowski reflected on the journey and long wait.
It was the third title for Powers baseball, joining the 1974 and 1980 championships. Dutkowski was an assistant on the 1980 team.
“I played in ’73 here, and my joke for that was that I taught the ’74 guys everything they knew and then they won a state championship the next year,” Dutkowski said. “We won it in ’80 with just a gritty team. My third year as a head coach we got to the final four in Class A, and I figured this was going to happen every three years. And then it was a 39-year drought in terms of that.”
The game ended after five innings via the run differential rule and capped off a fairly dominant season for Powers — or at least as dominant as a baseball team can be for a season.
The Chargers finished 37-6 and outscored opponents by a combined 57-13 during the MHSAA Tournament.
The only close call during the playoffs came in Friday’s Semifinal, when Powers blew a 3-0 lead to Trenton before prevailing in the bottom of the eighth inning, 4-3, on a walk-off single by senior Gavin Darling.
“These guys, they never flinched and they never wavered,” Dutkowski said. “They developed into being a great team, not just individual talent.”
Powers wasted no time against Spring Lake, taking a 2-0 lead with one out in the top of the first inning on a two-run double to the gap in left-center by Darling. After a ground out, Darling scored on a Spring Lake throwing error to give Powers a 3-0 lead.
Powers added another run in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-0.
In the third, Powers scored four runs to take an 8-0 lead on an RBI single by Hendershot, a walk with the bases loaded and a two-run single by freshman Connor Kelly.
Powers then put three more runs on the board in the fourth inning to take an 11-0 lead.
Hendershot was the winner on the mound, allowing two hits and striking out five in five innings of work.
Spring Lake also was attempting to win its first Finals title, but had to settle for its third runner-up finish (to go with those from 1995 and 1978).
The Lakers finished 32-10.
“They are a good team, and this was their year,” Spring Lake head coach Bill Core said. “We just couldn’t keep them off of the bases, and our pitching wasn’t as sharp as it’s been. We gave them a couple of free passes, and they mixed in some good hitting. That’s a good team, and that’s why they’ve been ranked No. 1 in the state all year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Flint Powers Catholic raises its championship trophy to complete the 2024 baseball season Saturday evening at McLane Stadium. (Middle) The Chargers’ Fischer Hendershot delivers a pitch. (Below) Teammates congratulate Michael Klein (6) as he returns to the dugout.