Hartland Baseball Wins KLAA Title

LIVONIA — It was all working for the Hartland baseball team Saturday.

Two rainouts this week and a change of venue had no effect on the Eagles, who defeated Livonia Stevenson, 4-0, to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship.

“It’s a 24-team league and we came out on top,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said. “To be the champs is kind of special. And we beat a good team today.”

Hartland (26-2) never trailed against the Spartans (23-9) as sophomore Jake Lowery took a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I had a feeling,” Lowery said. “One of my teammates told me I had a one-hitter.”

Lowery got behind in the count on the first batter he faced in the seventh and gave up a single.

“I was pretty disappointed, but I didn’t let it get to me,” Lowery said. “It was 3-0 so I had to throw him a fastball. I had to put it over the plate so there wasn’t much I could do about it.”

Hartland’s defense, which played errorless ball, backed Lowery. The next hitter flied out to right field. Then, the next batter ground into a double play, the second one of the game for the Eagles.

“This was a big day for us,” Lowery said. 

Hartland won the Kensington Valley Conference in 2007 and 2008, but this is the program's first KLAA title.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on singles by seniors Dan Richmond and Sean Bennett and an RBI by senior Shane Felix.

Felix broke the game open in the fifth inning. Bennett led off with a single and Lowery reached on an error. Felix, then, belted a triple that rolled all the way to the right field fence at 362 feet.

“I didn’t know it was going to go as far as it did,” Felix said. “I put my head down and kept running and looking for (coach Brian Morrison at third base).”

Felix scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Anthony Villar. That was it for the inning and it was all the runs Lowery would need.

“It put some reassurance in me when I went back on the mound,” Lowery said. “It got the momentum going. That’s how we hit the ball. It’s like a chain reaction.”

Richmond, who had a double and two singles, agrees with Lowery.

“It kind of sparks a fire and that’s when we really start scoring,” Richmond said.

Lowery struck out five, walked three and faced just 23 batters over seven innings. 

“He’s gotten better as the year has progressed,” Morrison said. “He’s a competitor and a hard-worker. ... He gets better every time he's on the mound."

Saturday’s title game was postponed Wednesday and Thursday because of inclement weather. The game was supposed to be played at Stevenson High School, but the outfield was still soaked so the game was moved to Ford Field in Livonia.

“We just waited,” Morrison said. “Everybody waited. But their coach did a nice job of finding this place for us to play.”

The Eagles play two games Sunday at a tournament at Wayne State University. Then, Hartland hosts Fenton at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the first game of district action.