OAA Red Division baseball title chase wide open
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
There just might be a fine between winning or losing in the OAA Red Division baseball circle this spring.
A very fine line.
Always a very competitive league, there seems to be depth in the conference, which bumps up to nine schools with the addition of Oxford. The Wildcats come over from the Flint Metro League, where they competed for 27 school years.
DIAMOND UP: There does not seem to be a clear-cut favorite in the OAA Red Division baseball chase this season, although Auburn Hills Avondale and Lake Orion both are entertaining thoughts of challenging this spring. File Photo.
“There does seem to be a lot of parity, which is good. It’s a very competitive league,” offered Lake Orion coach Andy Schramek, who has guided his team to six league championships since taking over the Dragons’ program in 1999. “I still think that someone might get on a roll the first way through the league. I don’t know who, but someone will get hot and win this league.”
Last season Rochester Adams finished 12-2 in the OAA-Red, also known as the OAA-North geographically, to win the crown. Clarkston finished second and Lake Orion third.
Last season four teams from the league — Rochester Adams, Rochester, Clarkston and Auburn Hills Avondale — also won districts and advanced to the same regional. Adams eventually captured the regional crown with wins over Rochester and Clarkston and reached the state quarterfinals, where they were upset by Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 3-2.
Adams graduated eight players, including four playing in college, but by no means are the Highlanders going to enter a major rebuilding year. They have one of the state’s better pitching prospects in Western Michigan-bound Matt Nestor, who was 10-0 on the mound last season, pus standout hockey goaltender Ian Mercer playing in the middle of the infield.
All of the Highlanders’ comrades seem to bring similar resumes to diamond. Each team has a couple of all-state-caliber athletes and plenty of talent up and down the order to compete.
This season each team brings forth realistic goals of finishing in the top half or contending for the league crown. While Lake Orion, Clarkston and Auburn Hills Avondale were originally presumed as the leaders, Rochester returns multiple players from its district championship squad, Troy Athens had plans to shock the field with a bulk of its starting lineup back along with two stellar transfers who will join a deep pitching rotation.
It does not stop there.
Rochester Stoney Creek will have a potent lineup with senior Mike McKinley and junior catcher Niko Gonzales, a pair of likely college-bound players. Trent Drumheller, Jake Miller and Ben Yax offer a potent bat, while Joe Cox is a freshman prospect to keep an eye on in the future.
Avondale, the smallest school enrollment-wise in the league, has won four straight district titles and also has a fine batting order capable of producing runs in bunches. Brian Portelli is Dream Team-caliber player who hit a school record .562 last season, while Mitch Robinson, a junior, is as good of a catcher a scout can find in the state and a third-year starter. A.J. Susick is an imposing 6-foot-6 left-hander who will be another fine arm to watch in the league.
Athens is very much a wild card. Junior Tommy Eng has developed into one of the state’s better juniors, while the addition of Japan foreign exchange student Hayato Ando and California transplant Anthony Carrillo automatically lift the Red Hawks into contention.
“We have as deep of a pitching rotation as I’ve seen in my seven years here,” noted Athens coach Mike Morris. “I like our chances.”
Troy failed to generate much buzz last season and is flying under the radar. With a new coach in Jim Ellis, who comes over from Berkley to replace departed coach Frank DiVito, the Colts do have a talented transfer to go along with two stellar players. With 10 seniors and eight juniors on the roster, they could become a sleeper.
Nick Krajewski and Peter Gebara are two well-rounded players that will help Troy under new leadership, while Dan Essian, of heritage of former Major Leaguer Jim Essian, comes in as a transfer to handle the catching duties.
“We can fly under the radar. That’s fine by me,” said Ellis, who spent four seasons at Berkley and several years at Ferndale before that. “The one thing we need to figure out is our rotation. We have a lot of seniors and talent on this team.”
Lake Orion returns Zack Zott, a senior who will play football at Butler. Zott is the ace of a large staff of hurlers. Cole Schaenzer is another senior who will help the Dragons bounce back from an up-and-down campaign in 2010.
Clarkston has Michigan State-bound outfielder Chase Toth and ace Matt Rodgers, a second-team all-state selection last season as two cornerstones in its lineup.
Rochester counters with one of the state’s top players in Nick Bradley, who is going to Western Michigan, plus a large senior class and one of the area’s top outfielders units intact.
Jeff Hall, the new head coach at Rochester Adams, feels that the winner of the league will be far from undefeated.
“It may be one of those years where a team has 4-5 losses and still wins the league. Every team has some very talented players,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun season.”
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Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Troy, Troy Athens
