Warriors Win Back-to-Back Nail Biters to Claim Baseball District Title

Jacob Collins (6), Grass Lake celebrated a baseball district title on Saturday over Clinton. Photos by Karson Durocher, JTV Sports.

David Rice & Trey Richmond | JTV Sports

Saturday May 31st

(5-31-2025, 10:30PM): Grass Lake held off a conference rival in the semis and held off Clinton in the final to win a baseball district title on Saturday at Clinton High School.

Semi-Final

Columbia kicked off the scoring early taking a 1-0 lead at the top of the 1st. The Grass Lake Warriors responded in the bottom of the 1st with Luke Guthrie hitting a ball deep right field. Sal Vitale got a single, and Jacob Collins hit a 2-RBI double making it a 2-1 game. Bryant Cook followed that up with an RBI single of his own to extend the lead for the Warriors, 3-1.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Guthrie gets the first hit for the Warriors since the 1st inning. Collins batted Guthrie in off a line drive to left-center field to make it a 3-run game at 4-1.

The Warriors continued to grow their lead, 5-1 in the 6th with Cam Prater hitting one into deep right field for an RBI single.

The Columbia Central Golden Eagles did not go down without a fight. They made a late push top of the 7th, starting with two singles by Chase Dukate and Conor Rentfrow. CC got back on the board with Lukas Calhoun hitting a double to left field for an RBI. Then Tyler Ladd hit a 2-RBI single to bring the Golden Eagles within one. That prompted the Warriors to make a pitching change where Noah Orban closed the game out, sealing Grass Lake’s position in the District Finals against Clinton.

District Final

In the finals, the Clinton Redwolves started off scoring in the top of the first with Cade Brighton hitting a double to center field, sending a runner home taking the early 1-0 lead over Grass Lake.

Top of the 3rd, Clinton bolstered their lead after Calen Keith hits a double to left field and Jalen Stelzer sent him home with an RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.

The Warriors, facing a 2 run deficit, stormed back in the 5th inning. Their 8 and 9 hitters started a string of hits that fueled the comeback. Manny Schafran hit a grounder by the shortstop for a single, and Cam Prater got another single by hitting a ground ball between the shortstop and 3rd baseman. Back atop of the batting order, Luke Guthrie hit an RBI single to get the Warriors on the board making it a 2-1 game. With the momentum building for Grass Lake, Jacob Collins hits a ball into left field allowing 2 more runs to come in giving the Warriors the lead, 3 runs to 2.

The scoring push in the 5th inning secured the district title for the Warriors with a final score of Grass Lake 3-2 over Clinton. Walker McKibbin pitched an exceptional game for GL, retiring 12 straight batters in the game, pitched all seven innings and struck out five batters. Four different Warriors tallied two hits.

“Stick to our pillars and be aggressive. Just thankful for the opportunity to compete today” said Grass Lake coach Keith Sulen. “Once Walker (McKibbin) gets in the groove pitching, it’s hard to stop him and a dominating performance from him”.

Grass Lake will face Onsted in the Regional Semifinal next Wednesday (6/4) at Hudson.