Baker brilliant as Hartland advances to baseball semifinals, 6-0

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DETROIT — When John Baker has been on this season, and that’s been most of the time, he’s been dominant.

On Tuesday, he showed how dominant he can be, allowing only two base runners, striking out 12, and nearly throwing a no-hitter as Hartland beat Rochester 6-0 in a Division 1 quarterfinal at Wayne State University.

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“We lost to probably the best team and the best pitcher we’re going to see in the state, and you can’t hold your head down over something like that,” Rochester coach Eric Magiera said. “Give those guys credit. They’re as good as advertised.”

The Eagles (36-5-1) will take on Saline in a semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday at Michigan State University. Saline beat Portage Northern 5-1 at the University of Michigan on Tuesday.

Hartland got the only run it would need in the first. Jack Slavin singled, went to second on an errant pickoff throw, then scored on Hunter DeLanoy’s double.

“It’s always good to get the first run across,” Slavin said. “That was a big hit by Hunter.”

The Eagles got another run in the third when Baker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but couldn’t add to the lead.

You have to give them credit, too,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said of the Falcons and starter Albert Nagy. “They made some pitches and got out of it, and we didn’t necessarily take real good swings in that situation, but that happens sometimes. We were able to get one out of it, and the next time we got the opportunity we got a couple more.”

As they did in the third, the Eagles loaded the bases with no one out, then scored when Cade Martin drew a walk. R.J. Bortle’s two-run single all but put the game out of reach, and Gary Turnbull hit a sacrifice fly to end the scoring.

“It lowers the stress a little bit,” Baker said, “knowing that your teams’ got a few runs for you, and I know the team’s got my back in the field.”

On the mound, Baker was simply dominant.

“He was on,” Morrison said. “He was constantly around the strike zone. He got some easy outs there and that kept hin fresh. He was throwing multiple pitches well, so that kept them off balance a little bit.”

Baker had a perfect game until Rochester’s Tyler Frankhouse reached on an error in the fourth inning, and Ryan Gladstone ended Baker’s bid for a no-hitter when he doubled down the left field line with two outs in the seventh.

“Definitely,” he said, asked if he was going for the no-hitter in the seventh. “But a win’s a win.”

Meanwhile, the Falcons (24-18), who had won 13 of 14 going into Tuesday’s game, were overmatched at the plate. Baker struck out the side in the third, while striking out two in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

“He throws his fastballs as hard as anyone we’ve seen this year and he had pinpoint control,” Magiera said. “He throws his fastball on the outside part of the plate. He throws in the upper 80s and hits that part of the plate consistently. As he got ahead of guys and started throwing that offspeed, if you don’t see upper 80s all the time, it becomes a challenge.”

Hartland’s next challenge will be against Saline on Thursday.

“There’s four teams left, and we’re one of them,” Morrison said. “We’ll go play and see what happens, just like we’ve been doing.”

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