Brother Rice Victorious After marathon semifinal

PREP BASEBALL

Brother Rice tops Orchard Lake St. Mary’s for CHSL Bishop title

Birmingham Brother Rice players celebrate with the CHSL Bishop Division Championship trophy after Friday night’s 3-0 victory over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica. BRYAN EVERSON — MEDIANEWS GROUP

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s senior Bradley Hale celebrates scoring a run in the Eaglets’ eventual 13-inning victory Friday over Novi Detroit Catholic Central. BRYAN EVERSON — MEDIANEWS GROUP

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By Bryan Everson

For MediaNews Group

UTICA >> The Warriors waited, and good things came.

Birmingham Brother Rice defeated Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 3-0 Friday night for the CHSL Bishop Division Championship at Jimmy John’s Park in Utica.

It wasn’t far from technically being a Saturday championship, though.

After Brother Rice avenged its only defeat of the year by beating U of D Jesuit 7-2 in the first semifinal of the day, St. Mary’s and Novi Detroit Catholic Central faced off for the other spot in the finals.

And face-off they did, for longer than anyone imagined.

The Eaglets outlasted Catholic Central 8-6 in 13 innings, finally squaring off with the Warriors at 9:52 p.m., almost three hours after the initial start time for the championship game.

That didn’t seem to bother the Warriors, particularly sophomore pitcher Cole Duhaime, though he admitted that the long wait was tiring.

“I think I warmed up about five times,” said Duhaime, who cooked when the time came to the tune of a two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.

Duhaime averaged 10 pitches over his first six frames, and despite walking and hitting a batter in the top of the seventh, the southpaw still fanned two Eaglets that inning to cue the trophy presentation and Warriors’ celebration. “A lot of that depends on first-pitch strikes and depending on my guys to get outs,” he said. “Sometimes, you just have to throw it down the plate, and I relied on my guys.”

St. Mary’s and Brother Rice (30-1) last met in the finals in 2022 when the Eaglets won 2-0. Prior to this, the Warriors’ last Catholic League title came in 2017.

“There was talk that they were going to move it to (Saturday), but our guys were here, our fans were here, so it was good for them to watch,” Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker said. “I’m happy for my guys, I’m happy for my coaches. They do an unbelievable job working with our players and developing them. All year long, our 18 guys, they play as one, and you can get a lot more accomplished like that than with 18 individuals. They’re very talented, but they play together.”

“It’s huge for this team,” Duhaime added.

St. Mary’s (17-9) had its best chance of getting on the board first in the top of the third when Parker Brzustewicz walked and Luke Crighton singled, but a pinpoint throw from Brother Rice left fielder Tyler Fox to Broder Katke at home beat an advancing Brzustewicz, who was attempting to tag up and score.

“That was a big momentum boost,” Riker said. “You go down 1-0, it’s a little different story. That was a big throw and a big play, and Broder did a good job at the plate.”

The Warriors scored two of their runs to take the lead in the fourth. Tristan Turner, who walked to lead off, scored on Chase Van Ameyde’s double to left, and Van Ameyde came in