Of all the realistic scenarios for an all-Oakland County quarterfinal matchup entering the start of the state baseball tournament, this one had to have been the most farfetched.

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Birmingham Detroit Country Day?

Huh?

The schools have quite a rivalry in basketball and until recent years had one in football, but now they’ll have as big a game as it gets on the baseball field when the Eaglets and Yellowjackets clash in a 4 p.m. Division 2 state quarterfinal today at Novi.

Each team had rough regular seasons, but thanks to major upsets in regional action on Saturday, the two have ensured there’ll be at least one area team represented at the state’s final four in Battle Creek on Friday.

Go figure.

Country Day shocked many around the state on Saturday by beating defending state champion and state-title favorite, Dearborn Divine Child, 4-0 in a regional final.

“It was one of the biggest upsets in my 42 years,” Country Day head coach Frank Orlando said.

A big reason Country Day won was because of senior ace Michael Theodore.

Signed with Tennessee, Theodore might have pitched the game of his life against Divine Child, limiting the powerful Falcons to just four hits.

“He really wasn’t healthy too much of the year,” said Orlando, referring to the fact Theodore missed some time during the year because he had mononucleosis. “His command was excellent. He had a very good fastball and he changed speeds. He did everything a good pitcher should do.”

Country Day entered the playoffs with just a 9-7 record and has just 12 kids on its team, but somehow has advanced to its first quarterfinal since 1995, the year Country Day won its only state title under Orlando.

“I’m excited for the kids to be there and excited to coach them,” said Orlando, who has won nine state titles as the school’s girls basketball coach since the last time his baseball team made it this far.

While its upset wasn’t to the same degree as Country Day’s, St. Mary’s also surprised many by beating St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in a regional final, 4-3.

Lake Shore entered the game with 25 wins.

A junior-laden team that took its lumps in the state’s best league this year, the Catholic League Central Division, the Eaglets in their playoff run have seemed to have benefited from playing such top-level competition all year.

St. Mary’s enters today with a 14-19 record.

“We’ve definitely shown at times we can play with anyone,” St. Mary’s head coach Nick DiPonio said. “It’s just a matter of being consistent. The last couple of weeks, we’ve been playing consistent baseball. Picking up the ball and throwing strikes on the mound has been the biggest difference.”

For most of the year, the pitching staff was the biggest sore spot for St. Mary’s.

However, the Eaglets have gotten solid pitching in the playoffs from juniors Theo Piccirilli and James Edwards, who each threw complete games on Saturday.

There is one other county team still playing, and that is defending Division 1 state champion Birmingham Brother Rice.

Coming off a 4-1 win over Canton in a regional final, the Warriors will travel to Chelsea for a 3 p.m. quarterfinal against Saline in what is a rematch of last year’s state championship game.

Brother Rice beat Saline, 8-0, to win the crown last year, and each team has a majority of its roster back from that game.

Judging by the pitching each team has to offer, runs could be at a premium. Saline recorded back-to-back shutouts over Portage Central and Battle Creek Lakeview, while Brother Rice has three quality lefthanders at the top of its rotation in seniors Matt Conway, Derek Kilmer and Brad Zambron.

Conway threw 109 pitches in six innings in a regional semifinal against Northville and Kilmer and Zambron each pitched four innings, so Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker said he might use a pitching-by-committee approach.

Brother Rice beat Grand Ledge on the same Chelsea field in last year’s quarterfinals, so that could be a small advantage that swings to the Warriors.

“There’s an easiness that goes with one, knowing your opponent, and two where you’re playing,” Riker said. “Going in, it’s nice to know that ‘Hey, I’ve pitched on that mound before and we we’ve won on that field before.’ ”

 

Contact Keith Dunlap at keith.dunlap@oakpress.com