GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A championship sweep! The remarkable 2016 campaign for Madonna baseball continued on Thursday (May 12) as the Crusaders won the program's first WHAC Tournament Championship since 2008 with a 4-2 win over Indiana Tech. With the win, the 2016 edition of Madonna baseball joins the 2006 and 2008 clubs as the only three to take home the WHAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships in the same season.
At 41-15 overall and with a sweep of the WHAC's two championships, the Crusaders now await their official placement and seeding for the upcoming NAIA National Tournament Opening Round from May 17-20. The Crusaders will learn their national tournament assignment with the rest of the qualifiers across the country by viewing the NAIA Selection Show at 4 p.m. eastern on Friday (May 13).
After losing for the first time in 24 games in Thursday's opener, the Crusaders showcased their championship resolve in the latter championship contest and were led by the right arm of Taylor Turner (Northville, Mich./Northville High School).
A sophomore, Turner stepped to the mound for the biggest assignment of his career and went on to breeze through the Indiana Tech lineup to the tune of 6 2/3 scoreless innings while scattering four hits. The sophomore, now 4-0 on the season, earned the win in the tournament championship clincher weeks after tossing the first no-hitter of his career back on April 16 against Lourdes.
The Crusader bats helped Turner settle in by scoring three runs in fourth, sparked by a RBI triple by senior first baseman John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School). Lauro hugged the right field line for his fourth career triple to bring Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School) all the way around from first and give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
With Lauro on third, Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School) stepped to the plate next and extended MU's edge to 2-0 with a sac fly to center to plate the Crusaders' first baseman. The RBI was Grzelakowski's 24th of the season. One batter later, senior third baseman Levi Larmour (Oakville, Ontario/Mesa CC) lifted the Crusaders lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning with a solo home run well over the left field wall. The home run was Larmour's third of the conference tournament and fourth of the season as the senior continued his recent power surge.
The Crusaders tacked on their fourth and final run of the contest in the fifth inning when Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) – who reached via walk with one out – took advantage of a passed ball to sprint home the final 90 feet and score.
MU pitching took care of the rest as Jack Zimmerman (Tecumseh, Ontario/St. Anne's Secondary), Patrick Wierimaa (Redford, Mich./Union High School) and Bobby St. Pierre (Windsor, Ontario/Crowder CC) combined to scatter two hits over the final 2 1/3 innings as the Crusaders went on to win the tournament crown by a 4-2 final tally.
Mitch Hudvagner (Cottam, Ontario/Essex District High School), Larmour and Thomas paced the Crusaders attack with two hits each while Dokey, Lauro and Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) checked in with one each to account for MU's nine hits in the final title game.
Stay tuned to madonnacrusaders.com and all of the Crusaders' social media outlets for the latest NAIA National Tournament Opening Round news.
