Posted at: 05/23/2012 10:23 PM
Updated at: 05/23/2012 10:41 PM

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Ryan Lakin

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- After nearly two months, the Big 9 baseball crown came down to two teams.

"Honestly, we were thinking we would all end up sharing the title," John Marshall pitcher Ryan Lakin said.

But when Mayo upset Century yesterday, and JM took care of business against Austin, the Rockets won the title outright.

"Our focus wasn't on they have to lose. It was let's just go take care of business, and they'll put a trophy in our trophy case. We'll take it, and we just wanted to make sure we did what we had to do," JM coach Dutch Heiderscheit said.

Leading the way for JM was Lakin. Not only did he pick up the win on the mound, he went 2-for-3 at the plate.

"When we found out during the game that Mayo was up 4-2, it just got us more pumped up," Lakin said.

"We've won two Big 9 championships back-to-back, and he's a big part of it," Heiderscheit said. "He's been one of our top hitters, and he's been our top pitcher the last two years, so he's the kind of guy you want to build your team around."

Lakin proved that once again when he went out two weeks ago and beat Century star Mitch Brown, who's likely to be picked in the MLB draft next month.

"We were acting like we won the World Series. It was a big win for us, and I felt great," Lakin said.

Lakin heads to the University of Minnesota-Duluth on a baseball scholarship this fall, and he's ready for the next chapter in his career.

"I get a lot of people saying, 'It's gonna be cold up there.' Yeah, it's going to be cold, but it's Division II and I'm excited," Lakin said.