Michael DuShane threw six no-hit innings in helping the Ticonderoga baseball team claim the Class C state title. It was a fitting ending for the senior, who had experienced several tough losses in his high school career before winning a state title in his final high school game.
VESTAL | With the Class C state title on his right arm, Michael DuShane was able to exorcise the ghosts of past seasons that saw he and his Sentinel teammates almost reach the pinnacle of high school sports, only to be turned away.
DuShane turned in a masterful performance in his final high school game, throwing a total of six no-hit innings in picking up the win on the mound that gave the Sentinels their first team state championship with a 7-3 win over Cooperstown June 15.
“It’s so special,” DuShane said. “We got here last year and it was heartbreaking. We have been in regional games where it has been close, two-point games in basketball, a lot of games like that.”
DuShane also started and relieved in the 2018 state championship game against Avon, where the Sentinels came up a run short after holding an early lead.
“It’s redemption for him,” coach Dan Dorsett said. “He is a great kid, he is an emotional kid and he works his tail off. This kid has been everywhere and he deserves it.”
JOURNEY TO A TITLE
The road to a state title for DuShane started in his freshman year as a member of the varsity football program. The Sentinels advanced to the state championship game, tied 26-26 before Ticonderoga won, 33-26.
“Michael has been a tremendous asset to our school and athletic program for the past four years,” coach Scott Nephew said. “He followed the lead of his brothers, Anthony and Samuel, and did not disappoint. Michael has been a great kid to coach. He is a young man who ‘gets it’ and a guy that you never have to worry about when you have him in the classroom or on the athletic field. I am very happy for him and the rest of the baseball team who were able to get the job done to cap off his athletic career at Ticonderoga. Michael is a kid who will be missed in our building and on our teams, but Michael has the tools needed to be successful in life in whatever path he chooses.
“He is a great kid.”
In basketball, DuShane was a member of two sectional titles with the Sentinels, both times meeting Lake George in regionals. In 2017, the Warriors scored a 62-59 victory, while the game was 38-38 in 2018 before LGHS gained the edge in a 46-44 win.
“When I heard that the boys won I was so happy for them,” varsity basketball coach Joe Defayette said. “It couldn’t have happened to a better group of kids.
“Mike is a good athlete and even better person. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching him in basketball. Mike would do anything you asked of him. Even in defeat he was always positive and a fun person to be around. Mike has been a big part of the recent success our football, baseball, and basketball teams have had. I hope that the character Mike displayed on and off the court rubs off on our underclassmen.”
“Mike’s the kind of student-athlete I wish we had dozens of,” said AD Robert Sutphen. “Happy for him and his whole family. Both his brothers were top notch guys, too.”
Then came last season’s Class C final game against Avon, where the Sentinels dropped a 6-5 game in eight innings.
“They didn’t deserve what happened last year,” Dorsett said. “They played their tail off last year against a very good team and we were catching breaks, we just were not able to catch the breaks at the end.”
DuShane now leaves high school with the one thing that had eluded him, perhaps with the best performance of his storied scholastic career, pitching the first five innings and seventh in a no-hit effort along with an RBI while going 2-for-4 at the plate.
“To capture this one in my senior year and my last baseball game, just unbelievable.”
SENIOR SENDOFF
Along with DuShane, the Sentinel baseball team will say goodbye to seniors Russell Gallo III, Jack Grinnell, Nick Robarge-Greene, Carson Reeves and Bryce Gautreau.
“It’s going to be sad,” Dorsett said. “I told my wife as I was writing out the lineup card I was sad because I would never write these names in again. I am more emotional for them because I still get to do this next season while they’re done. It’s amazing what they have done.”
