Detroit, MI
Detroit C.C. gives Adams triple trouble in Div. 1 baseball final
Mikey Laser allowed only four hits in Detroit Catholic Central’s win for Div. 1 championship.
Mikey Laser allowed only four hits in Detroit Catholic Central’s win for Div. 1 championship.
East Lansing — This gave a whole new meaning to the term “triple threat.”
Detroit Catholic Central’s offense was humming during Saturday’s Division 1 state baseball championship game against Rochester Adams on the strength of triples.
Lots and lots of triples.
Catholic Central set a championship game record by hitting five triples, which helped catapult it to a 7-0 victory over Adams in the all-Oakland County title game at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
It was Catholic Central’s first state championship in baseball since 1999 and finished off a terrific state tournament run after Catholic Central lost to Warren De La Salle in the semifinals of the Catholic League tournament on its own home field.
“What a game right there,” Catholic Central head coach Ryan Rogowski said. “What a hitting performance. I’m telling you, can we hit the ball or what? Them Shamrocks can hit.”
While the offense was sending balls to the wall, Catholic Central was also good at preventing runs thanks to senior Mikey Laser, who limited a powerful Adams offense to just four hits, or one triple fewer than Catholic Central’s lineup produced.
“I was just trying to get ahead with first-pitch strikes,” Laser said. “Just get the ball to my defense and I know they’ll make plays.”
Adams (29-9) was making its first appearance in a championship game since 1996, when it lost in the Class A championship game a second year in a row.
This year’s coach, Andy Lamkin, is in his second stint at the helm of the program and was the head coach of those teams that lost in the 1995 and 1996 championship games.
Thirty years later, Adams hoped to do one better than those teams and claim its first title, but couldn’t get the offense going against Laser and Catholic Central.
“We haven’t done that all year long,” Lamkin said. “You’ve got to give him a lot of credit. He pitched fast. When we did hit the ball hard, it was at people. They outhit us. They took it to us at the beginning and nobody has done that to us this year.”
The triple-barrage for Catholic Central started on the first pitch of the game, when senior Bennett Thompson laced a rope to the gap in left-center.
The next batter, senior Dylan Fairchild, duplicated the feat, hitting his own shot to left-center for an RBI triple that made it 1-0 Catholic Central.
An RBI groundout by Nicholas Garnick put Catholic Central up 2-0 in the first.
With two outs and two men on in the second, Fairchild hit another triple, this time scoring two runs to give Catholic Central a 4-0 lead.
The score stayed that way until the fifth, when Thompson hit another triple to start the inning and then scored on a wild pitch to give Catholic Central a 5-0 lead. Catholic Central then took a 6-0 lead on an RBI single by Cam Swearingen. Junior Jaxon Gatt put Catholic Central up 7-0 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
As a team, the Detroit Lions have a ton to prove this season.
After taking a step back in 2025 for the first time in the Dan Campbell era, doubt is starting to creep in both within Detroit and from the national audience. It hasn’t been a splashy offseason, and with some drama surrounding the departures of Alex Anzalone, Taylor Decker, and Terrion Arnold, the vibes have certainly been off.
Proving the doubters wrong starts at an individual level, and there are plenty of Lions players who must use this season to turn their career around or show that they belong in Detroit.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions player has the most to prove in 2026?
My answer: On offense, one name jumps to the top of the list for me: Christian Mahogany.
After his rookie season, it looked like the Lions may have found a gem in Mahogany. While he only played a handful of games, the fifth-round pick finished the season on a high note, projecting to be the team’s left guard of the future. Unfortunately, 2025 was filled with injuries and subpar play. Mahogany will have to compete with Ben Bartch and Miles Frazier just to win back his starting job, but the bar should be higher than that. He needs to prove he can be a potential high-end starter again, because the bar is very high when it comes to offensive line expectations in Detroit.
On defense, the list is much longer, but I think the most pressure is on Derrick Barnes. With Anzalone now gone, Barnes will be expected to not only be a full-time starter, but take on multiple roles. He needs to take his pass rush, coverage skills, and even edge setting to a new level and justify the three-year, $24 million extension he was given. If he succeeds, the Lions defense has a chance to bounce back in 2026. If he fails, it seems unlikely Barnes will reach the final year on his contract, which includes a hefty $6.145 million option bonus.
Which Lions players do you think have the most to prove in the 2026 season? Share your answers in the comment section below.
After being selected No. 53 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, Ugonna Onyenso signed a two-way deal with the Detroit Pistons.
Amid speculation of a possible Jalen Duren departure, the Detroit Pistons signed recent No. 53 overall pick Ugonna Onyenso to a two-way contract following the 2026 NBA Draft. Considering Detroit finished atop the Eastern Conference last year, playing time may be tough to come by for Onyenso; however, that doesn’t change his status as an intriguing prospect.
Despite nearly falling out of the draft entirely, the Virginia product was viewed as one of the top shot-blocking prospects, standing at 7’0″ with a 7’5″ wingspan. Last season in the ACC, Onyenso had a block percentage of 17.4 and averaged 2.9 blocks in less than 20 minutes per game. In the ACC Tournament, Onyenso gained notariety for his defensive prowess, averaging seven blocks per game in a three-game span, including nine blocks against Cameron Boozer and Duke.
For these reasons, Onyenso has potential to carve out a solid career as a defensive specialist if given the opportunity.
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