Rochester upsets sixth-ranked Lake Orion
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — After a slow start, Rochester is starting to find its groove on the baseball diamond.
The Falcons won for the fifth time in its last six games, pulling a 6-2 upset of Division 1 sixth-ranked Lake Orion Wednesday in OAA Red Division play.
It was the first league loss of the season for Lake Orion, which dropped behind Troy Athens in the division standings. Rochester is tied with Clarkston for third in a wide-open race.
“We have been playing better as of late. And we should’ve beaten (10th-ranked) Clarkston on Monday,” said Rochester coach Eric Magiera. “In that game, we had a 2-0 lead and had a couple of errors and lost. This time we took advantage of Lake Orion.”
Rochester also road the arm of senior right-hander Nick Bradley, who improved to 4-0 on the season and has not given up a single earned run all year. Bradley, headed for Western Michigan, fired a one-hitter, striking out nine while allowing only a bunt single by Zack Zott.
“The one hit he gave up, Zack Zott just beat out. He had them guessing all day,” said Mageira. “Both of the runs we gave up were unearned. We had a couple of other mistakes in the field that we need to start eliminating.”
While Bradley, who is hitting over .400 this season, was dominating on the mound, Rochester continued to pick up some timely hitting. Justin Bommarito was 20for-3, scored a run and drove home another. Evan Surinck drew three walks and scored twice and the Falcons also scored three unearned runs on Lake Orion starter Cole Schaenzer, who suffered the loss.
Locked in a 1-1 tie, Rochester scored five runs in the fifth to break the game open.
“We had a couple of hits and took advantage of a couple of errors,” said Magiera.”That was the difference. Their pitcher threw hard and Lake Orion always seems to have good pitchers. We were just able to capitalize on a couple of their mistakes.”
Rochester will host league leader Troy Athens on Friday and Auburn Hills Avondale on Monday.
“We have two league losses, but we are right in the thick of the race,” said Magiera.
“If we can knock off Athens, then everyone will have a loss and only a couple of games will separate several teams. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. There are a lot of very good teams and some great players in this league.”
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Category: High School, Lake Orion, Prep Wraps, Rochester
