GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The streak continued on Saturday (April 30) for Madonna baseball as the Crusaders used an improbable eight-run rally in the ninth inning to topple No. 15 Davenport, 10-6, at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Crusaders, winners of 17 straight, sit firmly in first place, two and a half games ahead of Davenport with four games remaining in regular season play.
Now 34-14 overall and 24-4 in the WHAC, the Crusaders will meet up with Marygrove for a four-game set to be played at Ilitch Ballpark next week. Currently, the four-game series is slated for Wednesday-Thursday with start times of 2 p.m. on each day. The Crusaders enter the Marygrove series controlling their own destiny and are in the driver's seat for a shot at the program's first WHAC regular season championship since the 2013 campaign where the Blue and Gold finished with a 20-1 record in the league.
Originally scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, game two between the Crusaders and Panthers (35-13, 21-6 WHAC) was canceled due to heavy rain in the Grand Rapids area.
A Mitch Hudvagner (Cottam, Ontario/Essex District High School) single through the right side would break a scoreless tie in the second inning as the sophomore catcher drove home John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) with a key two-out base hit. Lauro started the inning off with a walk to help put the Crusaders out in front in game three of the series by a 1-0 margin.
The Crusaders added a run in the fifth when Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) connected on a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Zack Byron (Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC) to jog home and give MU a 2-0 edge through four and a half innings.
The Panthers answered with six unanswered runs, scoring one in the home half of the fifth before plating two in the sixth and three in the eighth inning. The three-run eighth inning lifted the fifteenth-ranked Panthers to a 6-2 lead and left the Crusaders scrambling with only three outs remaining.
Then in the ninth, the Crusaders were able to mount a fierce rally, plating eight runs in the frame to once again stun the host Panthers and win, 10-6. The wild final inning started off with a walk by Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School) and singles by Jimmy White (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sinclair CC) and Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich./Holy Cross) to load the bases with no outs.
Grzelakowski would come in to score the first of eight runs in the inning, rushing home off of a wild pitch to cut the Panthers lead to 6-3. Hudvagner battled deep into the count to draw the second walk of the inning, loading the bases once again for the Crusaders in the ninth as the sophomore catcher represented the game-tying run at first base.
Byron stepped to the plate and moved everyone up a station with a RBI single to pull the Crusaders to within two runs at 6-4 with no outs in the ninth. Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) followed Byron with a fielder's choice scenario where all Crusaders were safe after the Panthers pulled the third baseman off the bag in an attempt to get a lead runner. With all runners safe, the Crusaders inched to within one run, 6-5, as Tibbits came in to score as the bases remained loaded.
After Lambrecht was hit by a pitch and Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School) walked, Lauro recorded a two-RBI double down the left field line to move the Crusaders in front by a 10-6 margin with the Panthers now down to their final three outs.
Patrick Wierimaa (Redford, Mich./Union High School) coasted in the ninth in a non-save situation to hold the Panthers and help the Crusaders finish off the three-game sweep after game four was called due to rain.
Alex DeYonker (Livonia, Mich./Franklin High School) started on the bump for the Crusaders and delivered 7 2/3 innings of well-pitched ball, allowing only three earned runs and striking out five. DeYonker was strong all afternoon before handing the duties off to Jack Zimmerman (Tecumseh, Ontario/St. Anne's Secondary) who came on in relief to get tabbed with the win after the thrilling ninth-inning comeback by the Crusaders.
