1. Birmingham Brother Rice
This Warriors team isn’t just a frontrunner to win a state title this year, or just next year, but this is a team that could realistically contend for a state title in each of the next three seasons with an extremely talented sophomore class that is led by pitching ace Matt Ruppenthal. What makes Brother Rice so dangerous this year isn’t just the loads of talent, but the Warriors also have plenty of senior leaders, including highly coveted pitcher/outfielder Will Schwartz, who will keep this young team together during some rough patches.
2. Madison Heights Bishop Foley
The defending Class C state champions lost a couple of key players from last season, but make no mistake, this team is still extremely dangerous and it starts with star catcher Brett Sunde. But it won’t be a one man show in Madison Heights as the Ventures have a handful of players that are returning after impressive 2011 seasons, including pitching ace Brian Bayliss and standout outfielder Luke Ortel.
3. Lake Orion
It all starts with pitching in baseball, and the Dragons have plenty of it. Nick Deeg is the ace of the Lake Orion staff, and there are several other dangerous pitchers on the staff including seniors Dalton Overseen, Jake Gardner and super-soph Brad Schaenzer. There’s no doubt that runs are going to be hard to come by this season for any team that has Lake Orion on its schedule.
4. Birmingham Groves
Groves has a very experienced infield returning this season and it will be led with Michigan commit Jake Balicki, who will do a bit of everything this year for the Falcons. Griffin Harms, who is heading to Wayne State, should serve as a shutdown pitcher for Groves this year that will pair nicely with the offensive power from Balicki.
5. Stoney Creek
The Cougars will have one of the best pitcher/catcher combos in Oakland County this season with catcher Niko Gonzales and ace Zack Northrup. Last season Gonzales hit over .400 at the plate, but shined defensively as he gunned down base-stealers at an impressive rate while Northrup was dominant last year, only recording one loss in eight decisions and held a sub-1.50 ERA.
6. Walled Lake Western
Western starts the season as one of the top teams even without its best player in Central Michigan bound pitcher Jason Gamble. But with or without Gamble, this team is stacked with senior Cam Vieaux and junior Niklas Heglin who have both proven to be “top of the rotation” type of pitchers. The offense will likely get a sizeable boost from senior catcher Blake Amhowitz.
7. Bloomfield Hills Andover
Whether it’s at the plate or in the field, it’s going to start with senior Gabe Berman who is without a doubt an ace and one of the best sluggers around. Senior outfielder Emerson Misch will likely provide some protection for Berman in the lineup after Misch finished last season with nearly 40 RBI.
8. Novi
The strength for the Wildcats is really their defense with senior outfielder Logan Regnier and shortstop Jimmy Eloff as well as senior Tyler Schwanz who has proven to be effective at a number of positions. Regnier and Eloff both hovered around the .450 mark last season and both should help carry the Novi offense once again this season.
9. Walled Lake Central
For one last time the dynamic duo of Zac Leimbach and K.J. Schultz will pair up and they should lead a potent offense for the Vikings this season. Last season, both players hit over the .400 mark and each stole 20 bases or more. There is some uncertainty to the Central pitching rotation, but look for senior Brandon Cichocki to be the ace of the staff.
10. Rochester Adams
Adams will be led by a lethal 1-2 punch in the batting order with seniors Alex Borglin and Alex Taylor who have plenty of power and hit for a very good average as well. Look for senior Sean Beyer to carry some of the load on the mound, and give a good balance to the Adams attack offensively.
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