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TOP BASEBALL PLAYERS

Dan Stickradt | April 15, 2011 | Comments (0)

TOP BASEBALL PLAYERS

(Listed alphabetically)

Below are the top baseball prospects for the www.northoaklandsports.com coverage area for the 2011 season.

NICK BRADLEY, Rochester: Bradley enters the season as one of the state’s top 25 seniors and the three-sport athlete is a fourth-year starter in baseball. Rotating between the pitcher’s mound and shortstop, Bradley become’s the ace of the Falcons’ staff this season. He hit close to .400 at the plate last season and is the type of player that no pitcher wants to face. He is a sure-handed fielder with a strong arm, as he is also a three-year starter as a quarterback and starter as a shooting guard in basketball. He signed with Western Michigan for baseball.

COMING AROUND: Troy Athens junior Tommy Eng spent last summer playing in Georgia and is one of the state's top juniors. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt

TOMMY ENG, Troy Athens: Eng has developed into one of the state’s better juniors and the lead-off hitter is coming off first-team all-area honors where he excelled with both the bat and glove. He committed only two errors all season as a regular shortstop, while he hit .402 with 10 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, scored 31 times, had 12 stolen bases and drew 15 walks. He was 2-1 on the mound with 37 strikeouts and a 2.00 ERA.

ANTHONY GONZALES, Rochester Stoney Creek: The catcher position is tacked not only in the OAA Red Division, but throughout Oakland County and Metro Detroit as well. Gonzales, a third-year starter, is one of those standout signal-callers, as he brings pop to the plate and is a fine defensive catcher with a strong arm. The junior is a big and physical presence behind the plate, and he had 206 putouts, a .960 fielding percentage and 12 assists last season. At the plate, he hit .371 with 36 hits, 19 runs, seven doubles, 12 walks, and a .445on-base percentage.

NICK KRAJEWSKI, Troy: Krajewski is a third-year starter who is also a versatile player, digging deep at shortstop or on the mound all while brining a powerful bat to the plate. He hit over .350 last season, and fielded close to a .900 clip on the left side of the infield. Krajewski will also be one of the Colts’ top pitchers this season.

MATT NESTOR, Rochester Adams: One of the top pitchers/infielders in Oakland County as a junior, Nestor was first-team all-area and all-league last season, going 10-0 with a 2.10 ERA for a team that won 27 ballgames. He struck out 78 in 60 innings of work, walked 31, scattered 45 hits, and surrendered only 18 earned runs. He also had a .958 fielding clip, with 17 putouts, 51 assists and only three errors.

KEITH PASLEAN, Oxford: Paslean inherits the Wildcats’ No.1spot in the rotation after posting an impressive 1.64 ERA last season and a 5-3 record. The senior infielder/pitcher also fielded at an impressive .990 clip from the field, while he batted .391 with a .505 on-base percentage. If Oxford is going to compete with a young team in its new league, the OAA Red Division, it will need some sterling performances from Paslean, wherever on the diamond he stands.

BRIAN PORTELLI, Auburn Hills Avondale: The senior outfielder is coming off a monster junior season, where he earned All-State Second Team honors in Division 1 for the district champion Yellowjackets. The Team MVP hit a school record .562 with 59 hits (second most in a single season at Avondale) with 41 RBI, a .648 on-base percentage and a.952 slugging percentage. In 105 total at-bats, he scored 44 times, added 15 doubles, four triples, six home runs and 15 stolen bases. Furthermore in the field, he had 127 putouts, six assists and only three errors for a .978 percentage. Enough said.

MATT RODGERS, Clarkston: Rodgers came into his own last season, earning All-State Second Team honors in Division 1 by developing into one of the premier pitchers in Oakland County. He finished with a fine 8-2 record which included a 1.54 ERA and 38 strikeouts. At the plate, he hit .393 with 33 hits and two home runs. His role will expand this season as he faces other team’s No.1 ace; expectations are high with the return of seven starters and 13 players that saw significant innings on the fieldand Rodgers is one of those top prospects.

CHASE TOTH, Clarkston: Headed for Michigan State, Toth earned All-OAA Red Division and second-team all-area status last season combining fine defense and pop to lineup. Toth covers a lot of ground from center field, which is one of the main reasons he’s headed to Michigan State. Plus, he’s a proven winner. Clarkston reached the regional finals last season, while his Chief Pontiac American Legion squad qualified for the state tournament last July.

ZACK ZOTT, Lake Orion: The Dragons’ senior ace is coming off a monster football season as a wide receiver, which saw him end up at Butler with a scholarship. The fourth-year varsity veteran lefty, who might also play baseball in college, will be given the ball for multiple big games this season. He also hits for power and brings an explosive bat to one of the state’s top lineups.

OTHERS TO WATCH

Pitchers — Luke Combs, Troy Bethany Christian sr.; Hayoto Ando, Troy Athens soph.; Luke McCatty, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest sr.; Sean Byer, Rochester Adams sr.; Cody Campbell, Lake Orion soph.; Nick Deeg, Lake Orion soph.; Vince Siwicki, Clarkston sr.; Luke Combs, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian jr.; Tyler Drabek, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.; A.J. Susick, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.

Infielders — Mike McKliney, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Peter Gebara, Troy sr.; Travis Woodham, Troy Bethany Christian sr.; Ira Land, Troy Athens sr.; John Wassel, Troy jr.; Trent Drumheller, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Jake Miller, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Ian Mercer, Rochester Adams sr.; Trevor Elliott, Rochester sr.; John Pesta, Oxford sr.; James Noruk, Lake Orion Baptist jr.; Bret Wyss, Lake Orion sr.; Ben Yax, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Jacob Gardner, Lake Orion jr.; Jake Sims, Clarkston sr.; Jassiel Gonzales, Clarkston sr.; Ben Lashar, Auburn Hills Lutheran Northwest sr.; Matt Andrus, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.; Chad Cook, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest jr.; Ben Kotz, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes sr.

Outfielders — Justin Baetz, Clarkston sr.; Jared Ritsch, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes sr.; Alex Harrison, Troy Athens sr.; Anthony Carrillo, Troy Athens sr.; Eric Mishley, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, sr.; Jon Becker, Rochester Hills Christian sr.; Mike Kmiec, Rochester sr.; Billy Klotz, Rochester sr.; Matt Economou, Oxford jr.; Tony Annese, Rochester Adams jr.; Alex Borglin, Rochester Adams jr.; Matt Williams, Rochester Adams sr.; Cole Schaenzer, Lake Orion sr.; Dalton Overson, Lake Orion jr.

Catchers — Austin Karbowski, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes sr.; Dan Essian, Troy sr.; Mitch Robinson, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.; Nick Reed, Rochester sr.; Kyle Hartwick, Oxford jr.; Conner Welby, Lake Orion Baptist sr.

Freshmen to Remember — Joe Cox, Rochester Stoney Creek P-C-INF; Devin Goff, Troy Bethany Christian 1B; Misael Hernandez, Rochester Hills Christian SS-P; Jason Noruk, Lake Orion Baptist fr.

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