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Ignited by Eddy Zapinski's grand slam home run in the third inning, the Eagles went on to upset Ubly, 10-7, for the Division 4 District title at Kingston High School. It was only the second District crown for the Eagles in two decades. The only other came in 1999.

Deckerville will now move on to Regional competition this Saturday at Bay City All Saints. The Eagles face North Huron (23-7) in the 10 a.m. semifinal.

When sophomore shortstop Josh Fritch scooped up a ground ball and fired to first for the final out, the Eagles broke open a celebration that had been in the making for some time. The Eagles piled on top of each other in jubilation near the mound.

Coach Noble, who has spent the last four years trying to build the baseball program at DHS, finally had solid proof that his program is on its way.

"I didn't know how I'd react when we won, but when I saw the kids in the pile... it was great," said Noble. "That's something we talked about all year, and we even put it on our shirts.

"My reaction is how happy I am for the kids," Noble continued. "We've been trying to build a program for these kids to do well, and they did it today. The kids showed their character.... and came though."

The Bearcats, who saw a chance at winning the GTC East title slip away late in the season, jumped out to a 5-1 lead after two-and-a-half innings, chasing Eagle sophomore starter Adam VanNorman. The Eagles, now 13-21, had had some good days this season, but also had their share of bad ones. This, at the time, looked like it resembled the latter.

That all changed around on one big swing of the bat. The Eagles were threatening with two runners on base and two outs against Bearcat ace Jordan Kaufman. A walk to David Ruggles loaded the bases. Moments later, a fielding error that could have ended the inning allowed a run to score.

That's when Zapinski, a senior catcher that has been on the varsity for four years, stepped to the plate. On a 1-0 pitch, the left-handed-hitting Zapinski lofted a home run over the right field fence that entirely changed the complexion of the game.

"I was just thinking base hit," said Zapinski after the game. "I wasn't thinking about pulling the ball for a home run." He added that when he made contact, he thought the inning was over. "I just thought I hit a pop fly at first."

Instead, he hit a momentum-changer.

The Eagles went on to score three more times in the fourth on a run-scoring double by Jim Nichol, a squeeze bunt by Kyle O'Mara and a balk. Nichol, a junior, and Fritch each had three hits in the game.

Ubly cut the lead to 9-7 with two runs in the sixth off Nichol, who came in to relieve VanNorman. Freshman Nick Taylor came on to get the final out in the sixth and then went on to pick up the save.

Zapinski, who lived through the rough times with young, learning teams with Coach Noble, said the District title was special. "For Coach Noble, it's been a long haul. He's the one that wanted to see 'the pile'. His dream all year was to see us (celebrating) in the pile. And, that what we did in the end."

Semifinals
Deckerville 5 CPS 4
The Eagles rallied from a 4-0 deficit early in the semifinals on Friday and then used a suicide squeeze in the seventh to advance to the title game.

With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, senior David Ruggles came through with a one-out single for the Eagles. He moved around to third base on a steal and a passed ball and then scored the game-winner when senior Tony Santana laid down a perfect squeeze bunt.

Junior James Lusher of CPS put Deckerville in the hole on the opening pitch with a lead-off home run in the first inning. The Tigers added three more runs in the inning, including two on a base hit by Dustin Maher.

The Eagles battled back against the hard-throwing Lusher. They scored two unearned runs in the third and added another run on a squeeze play in the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Ruggles and Santana combined to tie the game in the fifth. Ruggles smacked a two-out double and Santana followed with an RBI single.

Taylor went the distance on the mound, allowing just two hits after the first inning, and fanned 12. Lusher, who struck out 11, took the loss.

Ruggles was 3-for-4 in the game while Cam O'Mara was 2-for-4, including a triple, accounting for five of the eight hits off of Lusher.

In the other semifinal, Ubly mercied Kingston, 13-0.

Pre-District
Deckerville 15 Peck 2
The Eagles scored in every inning, including six times in the seventh, to end the Pirates' season last Tuesday.
Cam O'Mara had the biggest day at the plate for Deckerville, going 5-for-6, with two doubles, and driving in five runs. Fritch collected three singles and drove in a pair of runs. Zapinski, Cody Hoff, and Santana each had a single and an RBI.
Taylor went the distance on the mound, allowing five hits and striking out nine Pirates.
For Peck, A. J. Kiley and Bryan Carrier each had a double and an RBI.