ADRIAN – A normal high school baseball game lasts seven innings.
The rules were different for the Monroe County vs. Lenawee County All-Start game at Adrian College on Monday, June 15, 2026.
Extending the contest to nine innings worked out very well for Monroe.
Lenawee led 4-3 at the end of seven, but Monroe rallied for a pair of runs in the eighth then got shutdown pitching from a pair of Ida players in the last two frames for a 5-4 victory.
“We did whatever it took to win,” said Whiteford’s Luke Henegar, who was named the Most Valuable Player for the Monroe team. “We showed up with defense and our pitchers shut it down.”
Lenawee never trailed until the eighth inning.
“I guess we’re not used to nine innings,” quipped Tecumseh coach Tom Bullinger. “It was a real good game.”
Lenawee took an early lead when Rocco Williams of Tecumseh singled home a run in the bottom of the first.
Aiden Sainato of New Boston Huron led off the fourth with a single and Airport’s Ryan Burger doubled home a run to knot the score.
Lenawee regained control with a three-run fifth inning.
Back-to-back doubles by Brian Dopp of Adrian Madison and Williams got it started. Julius Robichad of Adrian brought home a run with a sacrifice fly and a run-producing single by Morenci’s Blake Moran completed the uprising.
Williams, who went 2-for-3, drove in two runs and scored once, was named the MVP for Lenawee.
“It was a lot fun playing with these guys,” he said.
It wasn’t as much fun facing a different all-star pitcher in each of his three trips to the plate.
“That’s very tough,” he said. “Usually when you play you see the same guy two or three times.”
The game marked the end of Williams’ athletic career. He will attend Michigan State in the fall, but will not play sports there.
He took the setback in his finale philosophically.
“That’s baseball,” he said.
Monroe fought back within a run on RBI singles by Zayne Emch (Whiteford) in the sixth and Jake Brewer (Jefferson) in the seventh.
Aggressive baserunning produced the tying and winning runs in the eighth.
Jacob Towne of Ida got it started with a walk and stole second.
The next hitter, Ryan Burger of Airport, struck out but sprinted for first base as the pitch bounced off the turf.
It still would have been an out, but Towne broke for third base. The Lenawee catcher started to throw to first base, then changed his mind and tried to cut down the lead runner.
Towne beat the throw, leaving Monroe runners on first and third with no outs.
“We ran the bases aggressively and took advantage of some things,” said Ida coach Jimmy McMonagle, who led Monroe with Blain Moore of Erie Mason. “Towne is one of my guys. We always tell them to run if they see the ball in the dirt. He did it exactly right.”
Monroe tied the game when the ball sailed into centerfield on a steal of second by Burger.
Burger came home with the go-head run moments later.
Ida pitchers Owen Snyder and Cam Riggs closed out the win as each tossed a scoreless inning.
Snyder gave up a one-out single to Tecumseh’s Connor Bullinger, but he was cut down trying to steal.
Riggs had to go through the heart of the Lenawee lineup in the ninth. He retired Williams on a grounder to short, then struck out Cam Barber of Madison – the clean-up hitter who was named to the Division 3 All-State team earlier Monday.
Robichaud kept his team alive with a single, but Riggs induced a short fly to right to end the game.
“He didn’t throw a ton during the season, probably only 15 or 20 innings,” McMonagle said. “But he did close some games for us.”
Cooper Robinson (Monroe), Anderson Moore (Mason), and Cam Fairchild (Dundee) also tossed scoreless innings and Tyler Gray (Huron) gave up just one unearned run over the first two frames.
Robichaud opened the game with a pair of scoreless innings to start the game for Lenawee. Williams and Barber each struck out the side in their inning on the mound.
“I liked how all our guys threw strikes,” Bullinger said. “We didn’t walk too many.”
Whiteford teammates Henegar, Caden Schroyer and Zayne Emch finished with two hits each. Henegar said any of the three could have been named MVP.
“I knew I had a shot at it,” said Henegar, an Adrian College recruit who was getting a chance to play on his future home field. “This means a lot to me. I’ve worked hard.”
McMonagle loved seeing the interactions of his players.
“A lot of them knew each other from travel ball,” he said. “We had really good rapport. This was a cool experience.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Late rally carries Monroe County past Lenawee in all-star baseball
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Niles Kruger, The Monroe News | USA TODAY Network
