Dragons Baseball Gets Revenge on Hartland and wins first Regional since 2007. Has Monster showdown with Birmingham Brother Rice next

Written Saturday June 8th, at 9:07 PM

The Dragons are right back into the thick of things in baseball. Lake Orion took home it’s first regional since 2007 when they beat Hartland 4-0 and then beat Stoney Creek 10-2 to claim the regional crown at Rochester.

It is the first regional since the Dragons won the State Championship six seasons ago.

In the Hartland game it was deemed as a battle of aces as the Dragons sent Nick Deeg who is going to Central Michigan and the Eagles sent Jake Lowery who is going to Michigan State for college.

In the bottom of the first inning Connor Grant drove in a two run double off Lowery that scored two runs to give Lake Orion a 2-0 lead. Then Lowery settled in, he struck out the side in the second inning but allowed three hits and two runs along with five strikeouts.

The Eagles could not solve Nick Deeg. Deeg was also good in not only matching Lowery but at times overpowered the Eagles lineup.

In the third inning, Lowery attempted a pick off throw at first but it got away from him. The error scored a run from second base making the score 3-0 Orion.

Hartland in the top of the fifth put runners on second and third base but Deeg got a strikeout to end the threat and Lowery was on deck, keeping the score 3-0 Dragons.

The Eagles then countered in the top of the sixth with a double from Lowery and runners on first and third with nobody out off of Deeg. Hartland loaded the bases but Deeg got a popup, then a fly out and then struck out Toledo bound senior Jordan Kesson to end the threat.

The Dragons in the bottom half of the inning got an insurance run off a wild pitch from Lowery making the score 4-0. Deeg would then pitch the seventh inning limiting the Eagles and then avenging last season’s loss to Hartland in the regional final.

Hartland was 0-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. The Eagles finished the season at 29-8. The Dragons scored four times with runners in scoring position against a good Hartland team.

Deeg threw 112 pitches, only allowing two hits and striking out seven. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 37^th round of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Lake Orion then went into the second game against Stoney Creek whom eliminated Rochester Adams 6-5 in the regional semifinal, with Brad Schaenzer on the mound. The Dragons took advantage of two throwing errors by the Cougars and then took a 5-0 lead thanks to RBI’s by Nick Volgelmeier and Ryan Lambrecht.

The Dragons would pull away after Stoney Creek added two runs to make it 5-2. Deeg and Volgelmeier added a two run single and a two run double respectably in the bottom of the fifth wrapping up the scoring.

Lake Orion then closed out the game with Schaenzer almost taking a no hitter into the fifth before being broken up. Schaenzer left the game for Josh Bays, who pitched the final two innings.

The Cougars conclude its season at 21-15.

The Dragons are now 32-7 on the season will face its biggest test of the season in the state quarterfinals. Lake Orion will play the two time Catholic League Champions, Birmingham Brother Rice in what is called the Oakland County Classic Match up of Baseball on Tuesday at Saline High School in Washtenaw County, most likely will be 2 PM due to Lake Orion having graduation that night.

I still don’t know why this game is being played in Saline and in Washtenaw County. It should be played in Auburn Hills in my opinion because it is a nice boundary between Lake Orion and Birmingham.

The Warriors (29-8), who won its first regional crown in four years feature a very dangerous lineup led by sophomore third baseman Alex Malzone. He is being looked at by baseball scouts and football colleges since he is the team's starting quarterback for coach Al Fracassa. Malzone had the winning RBI that scored Cross to beat Northville 3-2 in extra innings along with Nick Plummer who was three for three, including a home run against the Mustangs. What made all this was the Warriors were down to their final out.

Birmingham Brother Rice also features Bobby Cross, Randy Righter, Karl Kauffman, and pitcher/infielder Matt Ruppenthal whom are all very good hitters who are being looked at by other colleges. Ruppenthal can also pitch. He pitched a three hit shutout in a 2-0 win against Walled Lake Northern in the regional semifinals. Ruppenthal started the game against Northville allowing two runs in the game. Kauffman came in relief, striking out a batter, and getting a ground out to end the inning. He got the win over Northville.

Tuesday will be interesting, we’ll see what happens.