Saturday update:
The Lake Orion softball squad won their first district title in three years, while the Dragon baseball squad’s run as defending state champs ended with a loss to rival Oxford.
The softball squad beat Adams 5-0 and Stoney Creek 8-2 to capture the district crown and advance to regional action next weekend at Clarkston.
‘I thought we had some clutch hitting,? Coach Denny Davis said of their comeback win in the title game against Stoney Creek.
The visitors took a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning before the Dragons responded. Tessa Tomlin had RBI singles in both the fifth and sixth innings, Jenny Kasper added two RBI and Jessica Bays had a 2-run double for Lake Orion.
Danielle Dunn was the winning pitcher in both games, allowing five hits in each, while striking out seven in the nightcap.
On the baseball diamond, Oxford took the district with a 1-0 victory over Rochester. That win came on the heels of a wild 8-7 Oxford win against Lake Orion.
The Wildcats, playing as the home team, scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 6-2 deficit. The inning was capped by a two-out two-RBI double by Kyle Teague. It was Oxford’s sixth hit of the inning and first off of relief pitcher Josh Deeg.
All eight Wildcat runs were charged to Dragon starter Connor Mielock, though the runs in the sixth inning were all unearned.
Meanwhile, Russell Luxton came on in relief of Teague to get the win for Oxford. He also was the winning pitcher against Rochester, tossing six innings in that one.
Chris Lum, Drew Ordakowski and Connor Mielock all hit solo home runs on a breezy day for Lake Orion. The Dragons scored four runs in the fifth, including two on a Mielock double and looked to be in control, but Oxford came back to avenge a 2-0 loss in last year’s district semifinal.
Also Saturday, the Dragon girls? soccer team fell 4-1 at Grand Blanc in a district final.
Look for more on all of these games tomorrow at lakeorionreview.com.
All of the Lake Orion teams played with a heavy heart on Saturday, as many of the players learned of a classmate and friend’s apparent suicide earlier in the morning.
More on that story in next week’s Lake Orion Review.
Friday update:
–The Dragon soccer squad advanced to a district final by beating Clarkston 2-0 in a Thursday matinee.
The team advances to play Grand Blanc (a 3-0 winner over Milford) in Saturday’s championship game, set for 10 a.m. at Grand Blanc.
Thursday’s game, originally slated to be played at Grand Blanc was moved to Lake Orion, and earlier in the day, because of evening conflicts for both the Dragons and the Wolves.
Lake Orion broke a scoreless tie in the second half on a Jessica LaBond goal. Julianne Boyle added the insurance goal for the Dragons, who improved to 12-8-2 on the season.
–The Lake Orion boys? golf season came to an end last Thursday, as the team placed 10th at the regional tournament held at WestWynd in Rochester Hills.
Lightning quick greens inflated scores for all 12 teams at the tournament, as Lake Orion’s 336 was 24 shots back of first-place Kettering.
Traverse City Central and Grand Blanc joined Kettering as the three teams to advance to next weekend’s state finals.
The Dragons? OAA Red foes Adams and Clarkston also posted team totals in the 330s.
‘WestWynd was playing very difficult,? said Lake Orion Coach Monty Gallaher. ‘The greens were very fast and there were lots of three putts.?
The Dragons were led by Cameron Beeler’s 81. That score was two shots back of the state individual qualifying mark (the top three individuals not on qualifying teams advance).
Andy Bogus, 82, Ian Peterson, 84, and Kyle Wesley, 89, rounded out Lake Orion’s scoring, with Paul Couretas carding a 90.
Gallaher said he was not disappointed with the team’s performance and said he was pleased with the season as a whole.
‘I was very happy with how our team played at districts. I thought they were capable of playing like that all year,? he said of their 315 score at Heather Highlands a week earlier. ‘I was just happy that it seemed to come together towards the end of the season.?
The team will lose Bogus and Peterson to graduation and Gallaher said he hopes the returning players continue to improve on their short game over the summer.
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Wednesday update:
–The Dragon soccer squad won their district opener, routing Lakeland 5-0 on Tuesday night.
The team got two goals from Julianne Boyle and a goal and three assists from Shannon Doyle.
Caitlin Clemence and Niki Read also score for LO and Hailey Redd and Alyssa Mason shared the shutout in net.
The team will play Clarkston on Thursday in a game that has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. at Lake Orion High School (it was originally scheduled to be played at Grand Blanc). Look for full details tomorrow at lakeorionreview.com.
–The Lake Orion baseball squad captured the OAA I championship outright on Wednesday morning, beating Farmington 14-4.
The team scored five runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to end the game an inning early.
Connor Mielock earned his ninth win on the mound, as he and Josh Deeg pitched four innings of no-hit ball. Mike Musary pitched the final two innings for LO.
Musary had a pair of hits and two RBI to lead the Dragon cause offensively.
For full details, check out our podcast of the game by clicking on the link on the left side of this page.
The team will play Oxford (a 2-0 winner over Adams on Tuesday) in Saturday’s district semifinal at 12:30 p.m. at LOHS.