Fernandez, Plymouth Christian baseball upset No. 5 Divine Child
· Yahoo Sports
After Carter Dattillio’s walk-off single to left field helped the Plymouth Christian Academy baseball team upset No. 5 Dearborn Divine Child 12-2 on May 15, the umpire made sure to shake pitcher Michael Fernandez’s hand before leaving the field.
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“Good job, man,” the umpire told the senior. “You got me outta here fast enough so I can go watch the Pistons game.”
That’s a nod to how efficiently the University of South Carolina-Sumter commit worked against the Division 2 Falcons.
He struck out seven, walked four and allowed only two hits, even pitching himself out of two jams to secure the mercy-rule victory and get the umpire back to his mancave in time for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“He’s just a workhorse for us, but he’s been doing that the last three years that he’s been here,” coach Eero Perkola said after the Eagles improved to 20-6 overall. “Mechanically, he’s just using his lower half more. He’s commanding the zone this season.”
Fernandez entered the matchup with 25 1/3 innings pitched, allowing only three earned runs and recording 29 strikeouts. Most of that work has come against tough weekend opponents such as DC.
Against the Falcons, he touched 89 mph on the gun and looked dominant in spots. Even when he got himself into trouble, he still looked in control.
Take the second inning, for example. After putting two runners in scoring position, he struck out the next three batters to escape the jam.
In the fourth, he walked the bases loaded and allowed only one run on a single by DC’s Andre Davis, the Garden City transfer.
Andrew Ryan scored the Falcons’ other run on a passed ball in the fifth.
“I trust my guys on the field, and that’s really important to me, just knowing that if I get a groundball or anything, they’re going to pick me up,” Fernandez said about the confidence he exudes even in a jam. “It’s a great feeling, and it fires up the boys.”
It certainly did.
The Eagles answered Fernandez’s effort in the second inning with four runs, including Miles Loiselle’s RBI single to deep center field, Calvin Nielson scoring on a wild pitch, Luke Janigian driving in a run with a line drive and Dylan Beasley laying down a suicide squeeze bunt that gave Bennett Bushey enough time to scoot home.
They kept feeding off that energy with three more runs in the third. Bushey singled to deep left to score Coltin Belanger, Josh Yeager smacked an RBI double to the center-field fence and Beasley drove in two runs on a chopper past the shortstop.
Of course, the highlight of the night, outside of Fernandez’s gem and Dattillio’s walk-off, was Justin Shollack launching a two-run home run beyond the 300-foot sign in left field.
“To get out of the second inning and put up four or five runs, it just gets momentum rolling when you get out of a jam,” Fernandez said. “It’s a really nice feeling.”
And having more nice feelings than not is what the Eagles have been about after falling short in the state championship game twice in the past three seasons.
Losing to Portland St. Patrick 10-0 last year motivated Fernandez to dedicate himself to the weight room and add 10 pounds of muscle, bringing him to 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. It kept him working with his pitching coach, increasing his velocity into the high 80s and, at times, 90-91 mph. And it inspired him, as well as the other veterans, to get teammates into bullpens and batting cages almost every day during the offseason.
“Twice now we’ve gotten to Michigan State and haven’t been able to close it out,” Fernandez said. “That lights a fire underneath you.”
Added Janigian, a Cornerstone commit batting .463 with 26 RBI this spring: “I think for Mike and me especially, we know who we are, know what we can do. We’ve just had to put that work in all offseason because we know that’s what needed to be done because (getting back to MSU) has been the only thing on our minds.”
Beating teams like DC on a stacked schedule that has also included recent wins over New Haven, Flat Rock, Plymouth and Flushing has only added to the Eagles’ confidence as they chase another trip to East Lansing and hope the third time is the charm.
With the playoffs right around the corner, opponents should watch out. Fernandez is pitching lights-out, the defense is backing him up and the Eagles’ bats are heating up.
“I don’t think there is a team in the state that can confidently whoop us,” Janigian said. “We knew today we had a shot, and we knew we were going to go out there and win, and it’s just kind of the dog in us we ride with to keep pushing us through games like these.
“We’re just getting hot at the right time. We can go out there any day of the week and compete with any team and be confident.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Fernandez, Plymouth Christian baseball upset No. 5 Divine Child