Onsted baseball getting into 2016 form
ONSTED — Back in 2016, the Onsted baseball captured its first Lenawee County Athletic Association title since 1973.
It was only the Wildcats' second league title in program history.
With a doubleheader sweep of Clinton on Tuesday, Onsted is a win away of clinching a share of a third league title. A sweep Tuesday at home against Dundee with give the Wildcats the title outright.
"It would be huge for these kids and these seniors," said head coach Matt Randall.
The 2016 team who finally captured the LCAA title for Onsted was a special one as it went on to win a Division 2 district title before falling in the regional championship, 4-1, to Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
The team had pitching depth, could hit all through the lineup and had a lot of senior leaders.
Not unlike the 2022 team.
"We had arms in 2016 and we have them now too, obviously," Randall said. "We swung the bats well in 2016 and we're putting up runs again. They are two totally different teams makeup wise, but they are two great teams that want to win and know how to win. The biggest thing is they all get along with each and play for each other.
"Whenever you get that it makes my job easy and helps the team out."
The Wildcats' pitching staff is loaded.
Seniors Broc Shoemaker, Logan Lipinski and Logan Hunt give Onsted a trio of aces who will all continue to play at the next level. Shoemaker and Lipinski will be heading to Adrian College in the fall while Hunt will be heading to Delta College.
"They don't throw many balls," said Clinton head coach Joe Gillies. "They are going challenge you. All three have good velocity and then they have a nice off-speed pitch. You are always off-balance and kind of guessing the batter's box.
"Their defense is pretty solid. We had some balls that were hit well and they made plays on them.
Entering Tuesday's game, Hunt had the top ERA in the county at 0.75 while Lipinski ranked 11th at 2.22 and Shoemaker was 16th at 2.53. Sophomore Quinn Hiram also had an ERA of 1.08 (fourth in Lenawee) and freshman JT Hill has an ERA of 1.28 (sixth in Lenawee).
"It really helps out all of the starters arms," Hunt said. "They can get rest and pitch at 100%."
Onsted is currently 23-4 on the season and 10-2 in league play. A win against Dundee assures at least a share of the league title with Hudson done with a record of 11-3 while a sweep of the Vikings would mean an outright title.
Confidence isn't lacking for the Wildcats, but sweep against No. 17 Clinton could be a boost 16th-ranked Onsted needs to go from an LCAA contender to potentially a true Division 3 state contender.
"(Winning the LCAA) would be huge," Hunt said. "Our coach has been talking about it since Day 1. Those were two big wins (Tuesday).
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Onsted baseball nearing first LCAA title since 2016
