Hartland Eagles Baseball

ROCHESTER —

Two hits wasn’t enough to give the Hartland baseball team two games at Saturday’s Division 1 regional

tournament at Rochester High School.Lake Orion senior Nick Deeg, who was drafted by the Detroit

Tigers in the 37th round later Saturday, held the Eagles to just that — a pair of Jake Lowery doubles —

and outdueled the Michigan State-bound Lowery on the mound as Hartland’s season came to an end in a

4-0 loss to the Dragons in the regional semifinals.“Lake Orion did what we couldn’t and got the timely

hits,” said Lowery, who fanned 11 Dragons on the day. “Two hits just is not enough to get a win.”The

Dragons snapped Hartland’s 10-game winning streak on their way to beating Rochester Stoney Creek

for the regional title.Meanwhile, the Eagles (27-9) stranded seven runners while going 0-for-9 with runners

in scoring position. Lake Orion scored three of its four runs with two outs, including a two-run double by

Dragons catcher Connor Grant in the first inning.

“It’s tough. ... We had our opportunities,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said. “We just couldn’t get the big

knock when we needed it and, you know, that’s what decides games.”Lake Orion manufactured another

run in the third without even putting the ball in play. Lowery walked a pair and had an error on a pick-off

attempt to first, which led to a Lake Orion run. The Dragons tacked on another run in the bottom of the

sixth.The Eagles got some traffic on the basepaths trying to mount a rally in the seventh. Michael Parks  

got things started with a walk and Stephen Milarch reached on an error to put two runners on with

nobody out. Hartland catcher Max Cadman then hit a soft liner to third, which was dropped, but started a

double play.Deeg then struck out Lowery to end the game.Hartland was playing for its third consecutive

regional championship and fourth in five years overall.“Our seniors — these guys, more than the wins,

meant a lot to our program with the work ethic and attitude they brought every day,” Morrison said.

“I’ll remember how we fought back and never gave up,” Lowery said. “We kept battling to get the bat on

the ball and kept fighting until the end.”