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.
Moment: Carey Calls Hillman Tigers' Win
May 2, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Hillman and Athens combined to scatter 15 runs on 18 hits during the 1992 Class D Final, one of the highest-scoring baseball championship games in MHSAA history.
And calling them all was a familiar voice that should bring comfort to baseball fans at least 35 and older as we wait for a return to the diamond this spring.
Longtime Detroit Tigers broadcaster Paul Carey, along with his nephew and also longtime broadcaster Mike Carey, called the action for PASS Sports as Hillman went on to an 8-7 victory to clinch its first Finals championship in the sport. The win also started a string of three Hillman Tigers titles over six seasons.
Hillman won on a one-out, bases-loaded bunt single in the bottom of the seventh inning by Mark McMurray, who plated Tim Jones. McMurray, a freshman at the time, also pitched four innings in the contest.
Click for coverage from the Battle Creek Enquirer and watch the game in its entirety below from PASS (click on the YouTube player and open full screen for better viewing).