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.

Click for the box score.

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: Lake Orion Clinches on Walk-Off

April 27, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

When Nick Dunstan singled up the middle to drive in Joe Barnes in the bottom of the seventh inning of the 2007 Division 1 Final, he sent Lake Orion past Farmington 4-3 to clinch what remains the Dragons’ only MHSAA championship in the sport.

That alone makes for a good story. But there’s another little hook as well.

Lake Orion had come back from a 3-1 deficit, tying the score in the fifth inning as Barnes crossed the plate for the second of his three runs on the day. After giving up three runs over the first three innings, Dragons pitcher Josh Deeg held Farmington scoreless over the final four, setting up his teammates to score the walk-off winner.

As for another good story, here’s the rest. That game-winning single came off Farmington reliever Cam Fowler, who moved over from shortstop to start the sixth inning. Dunstan’s single was the only hit Fowler gave up over the final two innings.

The ending surely stung for Farmington, which was making its first and still only Finals appearance in the sport. But Fowler, just a sophomore that season, bounced back in a big way although that afternoon marked his last high school baseball game.

Three years later, Fowler was a first-round pick by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, and he made his debut as an 18-year-old the next season. He’s played a decade with the Ducks, making the NHL All-Star Game in 2017 and also playing on the U.S. Olympic team in 2014.

Barnes went on to play baseball at Grand Rapids Community College and South Carolina-Upstate, and Deeg played at Xavier and then Madonna.

Click for coverage of the game from the Lake Orion Review and watch the game winner below from the MHSAA Network. 


PHOTO: Lake Orion's Nick Dunstan fires a throw across the infield from his spot at third base during the 2007 Finals weekend.