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Plymouth wins first district title, takes on state power Saline in regionals
Plymouth – While Plymouth’s mission to win its first district title was postponed until Monday afternoon, the Wildcats wouldn’t have to wait much longer thanks in large part to its stellar starting pitching.
Behind starter Cameron Stella and reliever Kevin Anthony, Plymouth (27-12) silenced the Westland John Glenn bats as the Wildcats held on for a 2-1 victory to advance to the Division 1 regionals on Saturday against Saline at Saline.
Plymouth coach Jason Crain said that both sides pitched well, giving credit to John Glenn starter Brian Martin for his performance on the mound as well.
“Pitching dominated that game for sure,” Crain said. “Both sides pitched well, I don’t know his name, but the opposing pitcher was a freshman and he did a tremendous job.”
Pete Carravallah drove in the first run of the game for Plymouth to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Plymouth later plated what turned out to be the game-winning run when a Seth Hubbard fielder’s choice brought in Carravallah.
Crain said that the win is another step to the program being built at Plymouth as the Wildcats have continued to build off successful seasons in the past two years.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “The seniors that we have here, they have now won two straight division titles, one 25-win season and we’ve won 27 games this season, which ties the school record for wins. They’ve won a lot of ballgames and the seniors, juniors and sophomores are building a program and that’s going to be the standard for classes behind them.”
Anthony came in the seventh inning with a 2-1 lead and slammed the door on John Glenn recording the final three outs in order to earn the save.
“I definitely had the adrenaline flowing and butterflies going,” he said. “But I was able to fight through it and throw some strikes and get them out 1-2-3.”
In another Division 1 district final, host Grosse Pointe North (26-11) defeated St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 4-3. Nick Mazzola’s single scored Dan Robinson from second in the bottom of the seventh for the win. Robinson, a State Champs player of the year candidate, went 1-3. In the 13-3 semifinal victory over Roseville Robinson was 3-4 with two stolen bases.
North will play Sterling Heights Stevenson (32-6) in a regional semifinal at home on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Tom Markowski contributed to this report
