Saline books third straight trip to Division 1 baseball final four with 8-2 win over Detroit U of D Jesuit
Pete Cunningham | AnnArbor.com, June 15, 2010 5:45 p.m.
Saline High School first baseman Josh Redies positioned himself beneath a fly ball just outside the baselines at the University of Michigan's Ray Fisher stadium. Redies squeezed the final out of the Hornets' 8-2 win over University of Detroit Jesuit and pumped his fist.
That was the extent of the Hornets' celebration.
Redies didn't jump in the air with ball held high. No gloves were thrown in the air, the mound wasn't rushed, and Saline coach Scott Theisen was in no danger of a Gatorade shower.
You would have hardly guessed that Saline (32-5) had just booked a ticket to the MHSAA Division 1 state semifinals.
That's probably because it's the third time in as many year Saline has made its way to Battle Creek for the final four weekend.
"It's always a pleasure to be able to compete with those schools that have had the seasons that everybody there has had," said Saline coach Scott Theisen.
Though Thiesen said the feeling never gets old, after losing in a state championship game two years in a row, it's clear that simply making it back to Battle Creek is not the goal of the this team.
"We know we're a great team," said Saline rightfielder/relief pitcher Doug Mitchell. "For a few guys, me included, it's our third time going. So we finally want to win. At all costs."
It was Mitchell who got the Hornets started, getting Saline's first hit on an infield single after fouling off a string of pitches. He would score in the two-run opening inning and finished the day 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and a walk.
Mitchell's long at-bat, and eventual single, became a common theme against the University of Michigan-bound U-D Jesuit pitcher Jonathan Perry, whose days in Ann Arbor got off to a rough start.
Perry gave up eight runs (six earned) on 15 hits, walked two and hit two batters back-to-back in the third inning.
Perry's arm seemed to carry U-D Jesuit's only hope, as coach Al Fernandez kept him in for all seven innings despite a high pitch count and consistent production out of the Saline lineup.
"We did have good swings and we did have good approaches, even when we didn't get hits," Theisen said. "Early on, we worked some counts two strikes and fouled some off and made the pitcher work."
Perry admitted that it was more pitches than he's used to throwing. "Yeah, ya know, but gotta do it for the team," Perry said. "Coming in we thought that we were hitting our stride and we were hitting the ball very well the past few weeks, so we thought we could get the win. But a few plays here and there, I left the ball up a few too many times and we really didn't get that key hit and I didn't make that key pitch at times."
Perry's counterpart on the mound, Cameron Keller, looked good early, retiring eight of the first ten batters he faced (another was caught stealing). But after giving up three hits and a run in the fourth inning, Keller's day was done. With two men on and just one out, Keller pitched himself out of a jam in the fourth, but he still got the hook, to preserve his arm for the championship weekend.
"It (his arm) didn't feel the best, but I felt pretty good," said Keller, who gave up five hits, struck out three and left the game with a 6-2 lead. "With a lead like that it didn't really matter to me. Either way I'd have been fine with it."
Tyler Owings struck out four in two innings of relief but was sat down after walking the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh and was replaced by Mitchell. Another move that was more for arm preservation than anything.
Jesuit loaded the bases with just one out, but Mitchell was able to get the two and three hitters to pop out to end the game. "I was a little nervous at first, but once I calmed down a little bit I thought I started doing better, throwing more strikes," Mitchell said.
The Hornets will face Saginaw Heritage at 5 p.m. Friday at C.O. Brown Stadium at Bailey Park in Battle Creek. Immediately following Tuesday's quarterfinal win, Theisen didn't yet know who his team's next opponent was.
"All I know is, we got some work to do," Theisen said.
