Detroit

Earning their wings

By Brad D. Bates
C & G Sports Writer

Warren De La Salle baseball wins state title, caps year

DETROIT — There was only one way the 2009 baseball season was going to end for Warren De La Salle.

After seeing their football team fall in a Division 2 state final, their basketball team reach a Class A state quarterfinal and their soccer team reach a Division 1 regional final, the Pilots’ baseball team knew it had to bring home a Division 1 state championship.

“Every coach and person involved with the school feels pretty good about the way the teams performed this year,” baseball coach and Athletic Director Brian Kelly said June 17.

“To have the senior class cap off such a year was phenomenal. To see those kids elated, I can’t think of a better way to cap off a year.”

When De La Salle took home a 3-2 win against Saline High in the Division 1 title game June 13 at C. O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek, it was the culmination of more than just one season.

“It  a lot for me, Jim and John (Martinez) to do it with this group, because we were all so close,” senior catcher John DiLaura said.

“In the summer, we bonded with the guys on the De La Salle summer team, and then during school, we’d get together to workout or play cards. We knew (chemistry) was key, so we wanted to establish it.”

‘Built up’

DiLaura and twin senior brothers John and Jim Martinez have been with the Pilots’ varsity team since they were freshmen and had never made it out of the district round of the playoffs, but those letdowns only reinforced the Pilots’ drive in 2009.

“The desire and determination to compete and win is something that has built up,” Kelly said. “With some of the other close calls we’ve had in other sports, there was a determination that this was going to be different.”

It was different because many of the athletes on the baseball team were not just following the other teams, they were part of them.

“They learn so many disciplines, and they develop themselves so much more than playing just one sport,” Kelly said of the benefits of having multi-sport athletes. “Part of the reason the baseball team was so successful was because of the twins, John (DiLaura), Alex (Pierse), Steve (Laudicina) and Frank (Sorise).

“They got the experience of winning seasons, and that’s what carried over. We were kind of lucky that baseball was the last thing they did.”

The Martinez brothers, Pierse (senior pitcher/outfielder), junior pitcher/outfielders Bryan Carroll and Laudicina, and junior infielder/outfielder Jake Lepore were part of the Pilots’ state runner-up football team.

DiLaura was a member of De La Salle’s Division 1 state quarterfinalist bowling team and was student manager for the boys basketball team, which fell to eventual state champ Detroit Pershing.

Sorise, a senior outfielder, was a captain on the Pilots’ D-2 state quarterfinalist hockey team, which fell to Trenton High — the eventual state champs.

And all of that combined experience got the Pilots ready for baseball season.

“If you played a varsity sport at De La Salle, you played in some big games,” Jim Martinez said after the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game June 16 at Comerica Park.

“That helped out a lot too, because they know what they have to do, and that was the mentality that our team had.”

‘It wasn’t going to get away’

Big-game experience was a key factor in the Pilots’ drive for a state title, as they took home the crown with four, one-run wins.

One of those was the first-round, 11-10 extra-inning win against Warren Cousino, a game that almost cut short the dream season.

“We were three outs and five runs from being eliminated, and when we came back (to win), we knew it was destiny,” DiLaura said. “We were all pretty nervous, because we were one of the favorites to win a state title and to lose in the first game would have been embarrassing.

“We came in the dugout and (senior first baseman/outfielder) Giancarlo (Brugnoni) said, ‘We’ll find out how good we are,’ and we did.”

There was another moment in that first game that could have grounded the Pilots, when senior right-handed pitcher/shortstop Cam Walker fielded a ground ball that nearly broke the ring finger on his throwing hand.

Walker responded by taping the finger and pitching key relief innings in the  regional final, state quarterfinal and state final — earning the win in the regional and state final — and did not allow a run all postseason.

“I’ve been catching Cam in summer ball since we were 10, and you always want Cam on the mound. He wants to win more than anybody,” DiLaura said.

Walker’s wasn’t the only injury that a Pilots pitcher had to work through, as senior Mike Schypinski suffered with a back injury for most of the season, but still managed to start key playoff games — like the regional final and state final.

“Maybe Curt Schilling with the bloody sock,” was the only thing DiLaura could compare Walker and Schypinski’s postseason to.

Kelly credits Walker’s determination and his bond with his teammates with playing a key role in the playoff run.

“Cam was the guy who, when he got in a game, everybody felt very confident. Because if it was a one-run game, it wasn’t going to get away from us,” Kelly said. “He’s a tough, tough kid that wants to win as much as anybody.

“A big part of it is because he’s a hell of a teammate, and he knows that if he does well, his team wins.”

All the Pilots shared those traits, which helped them make good on their championship aspirations.     

“Any time you win a championship, there’s people accepting roles, and it’s not always easy,” Kelly said.  “For guys to accept roles on the bench, those guys were huge because of the way they accepted their roles. Without that type of attitude, the starters would not have had success.”

In the end, that’s what put them where they felt they belonged all year.

“We were on top of the world,” Jim Martinez said. “And there’s nothing better than that right there.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1029.