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PREP BASEBALL: Stoney Creek outmuscles Clarkston in 11-1 victory

Dan Stickradt | April 13, 2012 | Comments (3)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

ROCHESTER HILLS — As the defending OAA Red Division baseball champions, Rochester Stoney Creek is trying to accomplish something this season that no other baseball team in the school’s 10-year history has done just yet: Win back-to-back league championships.

So far, so good.

The Cougars captured their sixth win in the past nine days Friday, topping visiting Clarkston, 11-1, in six innings to move to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in league play. Stoney Creek pounded out 15 hits on the afternoon and never trailed the Wolves.

Stoney Creek scored five times in the second, tacked on five more runs in the bottom half of the fourth, then picked up a game-clinching run in the sixth. Sophomore Joe Cox delivered a full-count, bases-loaded walk that scored the 11^th run to end the game.

The Cougars received some potent bats up and down its lineup, and chased Clarkston starter Ryan Slaughter after 4 1/3 innings. Slaughter surrendered 10 runs and 11 hits.

“I thought we played well in this game,” praised Stoney Creek coach Clint Rodger.

“We won the OAA White Division) in 2006 and then the Red (Division) last year, so I think the boys have a goal of trying to win it again this year,” continued Rodger. “But it’s a long season. We have a long ways to go.”

Senior Niko Gonzales finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and scored three runs to pace the attack for Stoney Creek. Cox also drove in three runs, Zak Northrup was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, Jake Kruk added three hits and two RBI, Mike DeFrancis plated twice and Eric Gilgenbach added an RBI to back the superb pitching performance by DeFrancis.

One of the Cougars’ key arms last season, DeFrancis limited Clarkston to just three hits and one walk on the day. He struck out five to gain the win on the mound.

Gonzales, a fourth-year starter behind the plate who leads the Cougars with four home runs this season, believes his team can contend for another league title.

“I believe so,” he smiled. “The underclassmen have some big shoes to fill (with the loss of four regular starters). They are doing a good job of that right now. Hopefully, they stay consistent.”

Clarkston (1-1, 1-1), which did not play last week over Spring Break, lost most of its lineup with the departure of 13 players by graduation, including seven starters.

Freshman D.J. Zezula supplied Clarkston’s only run on his sacrifice fly that plated Alex Barta in the top of the third. Barta singled and swiped a pair of bases before coming home, but the Wolves could not find much offense after that point.

Stoney Creek’s five-run outburst in the second included a two-run single by Gonzales and a two-run double from the Hillsdale College-bound Northrup.

To add to Clarkston’s misery, Stoney Creek opened up a nine-run advantage in the fourth. Gonzales provided a two-run double with the bases loaded, while Kruk Noah Beck and Gilgenbach all laced RBI singles in the frame. All of the Cougars’ runs in the frame came after one out.

“The last few games they have really started to gain some confidence,” noted Rodger, who first began the Cougars’ program in 2003. “I think they are starting to (understand) that they are the defending league champions. We are not at the same level we were a few years ago. We were kind of building up .Now, we are pretty confident.”

Clarkston graduated more than any other team in the 25-school OAA and the Wolves’ youth movement showed in this game. The Wolves struggled to put together any momentum against DeFrancis.

“I am disappointed in that we lost. But in all reality, sometimes the other team just plays a better game than you and there’s nothing you can do about it,” conceded Clarkston coach Phil Price. “Stoney Creek hit the ball awfully well. They have some good bats in that lineup. They were the better team today.”

Stoney Creek plays one of its rivals, Rochester Adams, on Monday, then visits Lake Orion next Friday. The Dragons appear to be the Cougars’ biggest challenger to contend for OAA-Red honors this spring.

“We have two really good pitchers back .We already had one lefty today, Mike DeFrancis, who has stepped up to fill in one of the roles,” said Rodger. “Little by little, the guys are just doing their job. We seem to be clicking.”

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Tags: baseball, clarkston Baseball, high school baseball, OAA Red Division baseball, prep baseball, Rochester Stoney Creek Baseball