Macomb Township

De La Salle baseball team routs Anchor Bay, moves on to state quarters

By Jason Carmel Davis
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Erin Sanchez Warren De La Salle sophomore Dominic DiPuma hit a grand slam to cap off a 14-run fifth inning in the Pilots 15-3 win over Anchor Bay in an MHSAA Division 1 baseball regional final. Photo by Erin Sanchez Warren De La Salle sophomore Dominic DiPuma hit a grand slam to cap off a 14-run fifth inning in the Pilots 15-3 win over Anchor Bay in an MHSAA Division 1 baseball regional final.

MACOMB TOWNSHIP - With his team down 2-1 to Anchor Bay heading into the top of the fifth inning of a Division 1 regional final, Warren De La Salle baseball coach Matt Cook only wanted his team to tie the game going into the bottom of the fifth.

The Pilots (18-21-1) did more than tie the Michigan High School Athletic Association baseball playoff game, De La Salle sent 20 batters to the plate to the tune of 14 runs, as the Pilots downed the Tars (24-12), 15-3 in five innings June 9 at Macomb L'Anse Creuse North.

"I definitely didn't think we'd put up (14 runs), said Cook, who leads De La Salle to its first trip to the MHSAA baseball state quarterfinals since 2009 - when the Pilots last won a state title.

"What a game," Cook added.

De La Salle advances to the state quarterfinals where the Pilots face Hartland High at 4 p.m. June 12 at Madison Heights Bishop Foley. The winner of that match up heads to Battle Creek and will be two games away from a state championship.

"The last two years we lost in the regional finals," Cook said. "So our seniors this year made it a goal to try to get back to the state quarters and that's what we've done. We're not done yet, though."

In that fifth inning, seven De La Salle batters recorded RBI. The inning was punctuated by sophomore infielder Dominic DiPuma's two-out grand slam that gave the Pilots a 15-2 lead.

Sophomore outfielder Sam Badalamenti recored three hits in De La Salle's big fifth inning and sophomore Alex Fultz gave the Pilots the lead for good at 4-2 with an RBI single to right field that plated two runs.

De La Salle senior pitcher Bill Radatz got the complete game victory in five innings of work.

To advance to the regional final, the Pilots bested Utica Ford II 12-10 in eight innings in a regional semifinal June 9.

Anchor Bay downed Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse North 5-2 in the other regional semi.

For more information on the state baseball playoffs, check www.mhsaa.com.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jason Carmel Davis at jdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1107. Follow Jason Carmel on Twitter.