BASEBALL: Lake Orion’s Josh Slayton caps fine prep career with Dream Team honors
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
Dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
Facebook: www.facebook.com/North-Oakland-Sports-439028726180861/
LAKE ORION – It seems like only yesterday to Josh Slayton when got the call up to the varsity ranks. He now departs high school with one of the highest honors for a prep baseball player in Michigan.
Slayton, a recent graduate of Lake Orion, was recently selected to the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State Dream Team as one of the state’s top players, joining a short list of Dragons who have been named to that prestigious list over the years.
Lake Orion’s Josh Slayton is one of the Dragons’ all-time great pitchers. Courtesy Photo / Lake Orion Athletics
“It’s really quite an honor,” offered Slayton. “Being named to that list of the very best players in the state is something special.”
Slayton joins Lake Orion grads Jim McMahon (2001), Randy Frye (2002), Neil Medchill (2005), Josh Deeg (2007), Joe Barnes (2007), Nick Deeg (2013) and Nick Vogelmeier (2013) as one of eight Dragons to be named to the 20-member All-State Dream Team.
“I started my freshman year on (junior-varsity) and then I was called up about midway through the year. I technically call it 3.5 years,” recalled Slayton. “You always have big dreams as a player. But I never thought I would be named (Dream Team) as a senior. There have been so many great players here (at Lake Orion) over the years.”
This past season Slayton was the No. 1 pitcher for a team that posted a respectable 26-12 record, spent some time in the Division 1 top 20 coaches’ state rankings, and captured its third straight OAA Red Division league title.
Slayton finished 6-1 from the mound with the sole loss being a 1-0 defeat to Rochester Adams. He threw a no-hitter against Oxford, posted a 0.50 ERA in conference games, a 1.09 ERA overall, a 1.07 WHIP, and recorded 58 strikeouts against 10 walks over 51 innings of work.
Lake Orion left-handed pitcher Josh Slayton, who is headed for Bowling Green University, was recently selected to the MHSBCA All-State Dream, just the eighth Orion player to earn the top honor. Courtesy Photo / Lake Orion Athletics
Also a standout first baseman and outfielder, Slayton produced at the plate. Placed in either the No. 3 or No. 4 slot in the batting order, Slayton batted at a .429 clip and posted a .513 on-base percentage and .735 slugging percentage. He laced 42 hits, 22 singles, four home runs, four triples, 10 doubles, collected 29 RBI, had 11 stolen bases and scored 30 runs over 98 plate appearances.
In the field he posted gold-glove-type numbers, having only two throwing errors while fielding at a .992 clip.
“He’s a complete professional. He does everything the right way,” said longtime Lake Orion assistant coach Eric Jennings. “He took the leadership role and went with it. He was our captain and one of the better leaders we’ve had over the years. (Head) Coach (Andy) Schramek and I talked about this that he was a great leader for us.
“He’s very deserving of the honor of Dream Team. He posted some great numbers this year,” continued Jennings. “We’ve had some great players over the years and Josh surely ranks up there with them.”
Slayton’s Dragons only captured one district title over past four years, that coming in 2017 during his sophomore year. He has heard stories about some of the other great Lake Orion teams, including the 2007 D-1 state championship squad and Elite Eight teams in 2000, 2002 and 2013.
“If I had the chance to do it over again, I would have tried to lead us to more district championships and farther into the tournament,” offered Slayton. “Other than that it was a great four years. We had a lot of fun and still won three league titles and a lot of baseball games.”
Slayton was a three-time All-OAA Red Division and All-District choice. He also earned All-Region as a junior and senior and this year was also Division 1 All-State First Team.
Slayton signed with Division I Bowling Green University back in February and will be part of a strong cast of younger players that will try to help the Falcons compete for Mid-American Conference titles.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Slayton, who also plays travel baseball with the prestigious South Oakland A’s. “They have a lot of very young talent down there and we hope to have a lot of (success).”
Category: Baseball, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Prep Wraps, Sport, Top Stories, Uncategorized
