Elite Eight - Oakland County Baseball MVP's

1. Brett Sunde – Madison Heights Bishop Foley

Sunde was as good as it gets in his senior season, proving to be the best player in the state after winning the Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year award and was also drafted in the 35^th round by the Oakland Athletics. While helping lead the Ventures to back-to-back D-3 state titles, the star senior hit .500 with 68 RBI and five home runs while showing off his ability to throw out runners at an impressive rate from behind the plate. Hard to pick against him for MVP.

2. Matt Ruppenthal – Birmingham Brother Rice

Ruppenthal might have been just a sophomore this spring, but proved that he is as good of a pitcher as there is in the state. In over 80 innings of work, Ruppenthal held an ERA that was well under 1.00 and fanned nearly 130 batters for the Warriors this season. It’s scary to think that he’s only going to get better over the course of the next two seasons before heading to SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt.

3. Cam Vieaux – Walled Lake Western

Vieaux went from being one of the county’s unknown pitchers to being arguably the area’s best pitcher in almost no time at all. Injuries pushed the senior lefty to the top of the Western rotation and he dominated from there, posting a 1.35 ERA while striking out 107 batters in just over 60 innings of work. Vieaux’s performance during the 2012 season was enough to catch the eye of several Division 1 baseball scouts, including Michigan State, where he eventually committed to.

4. Mike Ruppenthal –Birmingham Brother Rice

Ruppenthal was quietly dominant all year long for the Warriors in 2012 as his ERA hovered around the 1.00 mark as a senior. When he wasn’t on the mound, Ruppenthal was proving to be one of the area’s top catchers both offensively and defensively as he made life tough for potential base-stealers all year long while catching for his younger brother, Matt.

5. Nick Deeg – Lake Orion

The OC’s Randy Johnson lived up to his nickname in 2012 as he was a dominant force for the Dragons on the mound and did just as much damage at the plate. In just under 70 innings, Deeg posted a 2.01 ERA and fanned over 100 batters on the year as he helped lead the Dragons to a district title in his junior season. Offensively, Deeg was almost as dangerous as he drove in over 30 runs and had a batting average near .450.

6. Brian Bayliss – Madison Heights Bishop Foley

In a year where the biggest question facing the Ventures was what they would do to replace the top level pitching they had last season, Bayliss stepped up as a true ace for Bishop Foley, as he helped lead the way to a second straight state title. Bayliss put together a perfect 15-0 record in 2012 while posting an ERA of just under 1.50 and averaged a strikeout per inning as he struck out 96 batters on the season.

7. Zac Leimbach – Walled Lake Central

Leimbach capped off his high school career in impressive fashion on the diamond as he proved to be a threat in a number of ways for the Vikings in the spring as he hit nearly .700 and was named to the Division 1 all-state team. Leimbach was one of the state’s most dangerous players on the base paths as he swiped 33 bases and crossed the plate 35 times on the season.

8. Sterling Sharp – North Farmington

Sharp quickly became one of the most coveted pitchers in the state last season as he caught the attention of college scouts from just about everywhere. In a season that included a no-hitter, Sharp recorded 50 strikeouts and an unblemished 7-0 record and a 1.90 ERA. Sharp, much like Deeg, will continue to improve into his senior season as both will continue to generate plenty of college interest over the course of the next several months.

Honorable Mention (No Order): A.J. Susick (Auburn Hills Avondale); Gabe Berman (Bloomfield Hills Andover); Tommy Eng (Troy Athens); Jake Balicki (Birmingham Groves); Logan Regnier (Novi); Luke Ortel (Madison Heights Bishop Foley); Nikko Gonzalez (Stoney Creek); Mike Azzopardi (Birmingham Detroit Country Day); Ted Lilley (Walled Lake Northern); Zak Northrup (Stoney Creek); Garrett Schilling (Madison Heights Bishop Foley); Brad Schaenzer (Lake Orion); Jacob Chapman (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood); Dylan Peck (Clarkston)

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