Detroit News top baseball teams: Orchard Lake St. Mary's living up national ranking
Apr. 19—David Goricki of The Detroit News breaks down the top 10 high school baseball teams in Metro Detroit.
Orchard Lake St. Mary's has backed up its No. 7 national preseason ranking by Perfect Game USA in dominating style.
St. Mary's has been a state power during Matt Petry's 11 years as head coach, winning state championships in 2015 and in 2019, but Petry had to find a way to get his team to bounce back from a 7-9 start in 2019 when St. Mary's finished with a 27-0-2 run to win the Division 2 title.
And, St. Mary's — The News No. 1 team in Metro Detroit — returned several starters from that 2019 championship team, which is a reason it has opened up the season with a 13-0 record (8-0 Catholic League), outscoring its opponents by a 170-15 margin.
"It's certainly the best start we've had in my 11 years," Petry said. "The thing I am most excited about is how we compete from top to bottom in our lineup. The depth we have relieves the pressure on our guys, knowing that their teammates are there for them if they have an off day."
St. Mary's is led by senior shortstop Alex Mooney (Duke), 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior right fielder Nolan Schubart (Michigan), junior right-handed pitcher Brock Porter (Clemson) and junior third baseman Jack Crighton (Michigan).
Porter was the winning pitcher in the state championship game as a freshman in 2019, giving up just one run while striking out seven in six innings of work in a 8-1 rout of Grand Rapids Catholic Central to finish the season 9-2 with a 1.20 ERA and 85 strikeouts.
Porter threw in the high 80s his freshman year and now regularly throws in the mid-90s, touching 98 mph.
Mooney hit better than .450 his sophomore year with 47 RBIs and 22 stolen bases, going 6-for-8 with five RBIs in the semifinal and title games.
Schubart hit .405 with 43 RBIs, going 4-for-7 in the semifinal and title games and Crighton, .385, 3-for-7 during the two games.
Petry can boast an outstanding pitching staff, anchored by Porter, who is 3-0 this season, allowing just three hits while striking out 30 in 13 2/3 innings. He tossed a five-inning no-hitter against Dearborn Divine Child, striking out 10 while allowing one walk.
Senior left-hander John Essig picked up the win in a 15-0, 11-1 doubleheader sweep over Birmingham Brother Rice on Saturday, striking out 10 in four innings with senior right-hander Tommy Allman getting the win in Game 2, striking out 12 in six innings while allowing two hits and a run. Junior Ciaran Caughey (Kent State) and freshman Parker Brzustewicz also have pitched well.
Mooney and Schubart are off to great starts, as is junior center fielder Jake Dresselhouse, junior Ike Irish and Crighton (8-for-12, 9 RBIs) since joining the team after helping St. Mary's reach the state quarterfinals in basketball earlier this month.
Mooney is hitting .513 with five homers and 20 RBIs, including a four-homer day in a 20-2, 17-2 doubleheader sweep over defending Division 1 state champion Portage Northern.
Schubart is hitting at a .471 clip with four homers and 25 RBIs, including two homers and nine RBI in the doubleheader sweep of Brother Rice.
Irish (Auburn) is hitting .412 with four homers and 15 RBIs and Dresselhouse (Michigan State), .421 with three homers and 19 RBIs.
St. Mary's showed it also can pull out the close games with a 5-3 victory at Chelsea Friday when Chelsea rallied to pull within 4-3 in the late innings having runners at the corner with one out before junior reliever Nolan Higgins got out of the jam when the runner at third was tagged out on a suicide squeeze followed by a strikeout.
2. Grosse Pointe Liggett
(Division 3, Catholic League)
Dan Cimini guided Liggett to four state championships last decade and a couple of runner-up finishes, including 2019 in Division 3.
And, Cimini feels this year's team is the most talented he's had in his 17 years at the school.
Liggett has a great team with the chance to be special, like in St. Mary's during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
After all, Liggett showcases 11 players from Grosse Pointe's consecutive Little League Worlds Series teams that played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 2017 and '18, led by sophomore shortstop Jarren Purify, a Michigan commit, freshman second baseman Reggie Sharpe (another Michigan commit), 6-3, 200-pound sophomore pitcher Jack Jones (Michigan State), 6-3, 200-pound sophomore catcher Ryan Jones, Jack's twin, and junior pitcher Curt Barr.
"We're young and it's fun," Cimini said of Liggett which is off to an 8-2 start, including a competitive game against St. Mary's, trailing 8-6 before the 12-6 loss. "We're super young, but good and talented, by far the most talented group I've had great. We have great kids character-wise who are friends and have fun pushing each other to be better.
"PBR (Prep Baseball Report) ranks Jarren (Purify) as the No. 1 player for the 2023 class. He has great range, a tremendous arm and is just a 5-tool player. MLB teams are already looking at him. Reggie Sharpe is a phenomenal infielder who hits with power.
"Jack Jones throws mid-80s, has four really good pitches, a great slider, a great curve and Curt Barr hits 90 (mph) and has a great changeup and great slider and Ryan Jones blocks everything and has a strong arm."
3. Detroit Edison (Division 3, Charter League)
Edison never has been known as a powerhouse, even with standout shortstop Werner Blakely, who was picked by the Angels with the 111th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Edison was the mercy-rule victim in 2019 games, but players on that team, along with Blakely, gained valuable experience and Blakely is now making his way through the Angels' organization while Mark Brown is receiving outstanding performances from his Edison players for a 10-0 start, including a 11-1, 13-1 doubleheader sweep over Grosse Pointe South — the 2018 Division 1 state champion — an 11-7 win over Grosse Pointe North and a 9-1, 15-7 doubleheader sweep Saturday at Allen Park.
"We've been working real hard and a lot of these kids have been here from Day 1, as freshmen," said Brown, who was head coach at Detroit St. Martin de Porres back from 1995-2000. "Last year I thought we were going to be really, really good, would have had Werner Blakely and David Thurman, a pitcher who is now at Wayne State, and a lot of these guys would have started last year.
"I thought we'd be good this year, but I didn't expect us to be where we're at now. We're an older bunch now, juniors and seniors. We played Allen Park two years ago and they mercied us, beat us bad, but these kids are grown up now and that's the difference. Physically, we're just bigger, stronger and faster than the teams we've played so far."
Edison is led by 6-3, 190-pound junior center fielder/pitcher Greg Pace (Michigan), senior catcher Brandon Ford who can also play shortstop, junior pitcher/outfielder Caleb Sanders (Dayton), senior third baseman Omar Boyd (Prairie View A&M) and junior outfielder Justin Smith.
Pace hit a 400-foot homer to lead off the Allen Park game, also stealing four bases, while Ford went 3-for-4 in each game of the doubleheader, three singles and four RBIs in the opener and five RBIs, including a three-run homer in the night cap with freshman Donnie Hill going 4-for-4 in Game 2.
Edison will be in the same district as Liggett, so it should be an early showdown in the state tournament.
4. Birmingham Brother Rice
(Division 1, Catholic League)
Brother Rice has been a perennial power, owning a spot in the Division 1 state semifinals back in 2019.
And, coach Bob Riker has another talented team, led by the strong pitching of 6-7 Jake Coulter (Kentucky), Blaise Wilcenski (Texas Christian University) and 6-5, 250-pound John Locker, who throws 92 mph.
Four-year starter Will Shannon, a catcher/third baseman, hit .350 for the state semifinal team back in 2019 and has multiple offers, including Akron.
Riker also has multiple outstanding sophomores to work with, including left-handed hitting outfielder Fredo Velazquez and outfielder/first baseman Braden Dowd.
5. Grosse Pointe North (Division 1, MAC)
Dave Martin is happy to have all of his players back after seven of the 18 were quarantined due to COVID issues earlier this month.
North is off to a 6-2 start despite the losses, earning a doubleheader sweep of Lake Orion on Saturday with freshman left-hander Brennan Hill getting a complete-game victory in Game 2.
North is led by Bowling Green-bound left-handed pitcher Nick Good, who throws in the high 80s and has a great curveball.
Martin has a pitching staff loaded with left-handers with junior Jake Tedesco joining Good and Hill.
"We have eight guys throwing in the mid-80s and that's unheard of for high school baseball," Martin said.
Senior centerfielder Chris Marshall (Albion) and junior shortstop James Macauley are other key contributors.
6. Saline (Division 1, SEC)
Saline also has strong pitching, along with a couple of football linemen in Kyler Blake-Jones (Grand Valley) and Brett Baldus (Mount Union) who can play baseball at a high level as well, with Blake-Jones catching and playing first base and Baldus playing first and third.
Coach Al Zeiher has reason to be excited about his pitching staff, which is led by senior left-handers Aidan Arbaugh (Michigan State) and Fletcher Whitley (Tennessee) and senior right-hander Mason Glennie (Northwood).
"Aidan has great command and throws in the high 80s, he also hits for power from the No. 2 spot, hitting .410 with three home runs," Zeiher said.
Senior right fielder August Hutchison (Hillsdale) is another key contributor.
7. Detroit Country Day
(Division 2, Independent)
Country Day has a large senior class (eight) which is loaded with talent, led by Vanderbilt-bound Anthony Migliaccio, Saborn Campbell (Stanford) and pitcher/outfielder Gabe Nazelli.
Migliaccio and Campbell are four-year starters with Migliaccio a catcher/outfielder who could play shortstop and Campbell a center fielder who doubles as a second baseman.
Migliaccio is a switch-hitter who hits for average and power, batting .380 as a sophomore two years ago. Campbell is a four-year leadoff-hitter.
Nazelli throws in the high 80s and hits third in the lineup, batting .340 as a sophomore.
Other key contributors are 6-4, 210-pound junior right-hander Brandon Mann, who hits in the cleanup spot and also plays third base, and senior shortstop Jake Yarberry who will play football at Michigan Tech.
8. Trenton (Division 2, Downriver League)
Trenton advanced to the state finals at Michigan State in 2019, losing 3-2 to Grand Rapids Catholic Central in a Division 2 state semifinal.
Coach Todd Szalka returns a standout pitcher in Michigan State-bound Micah Ottenbreit, who was 8-1 with two saves and a 1.29 ERA (84 Ks, 59 IP) from that 2019 team.
Senior Ricky Kidd, who hits No. 2 in the lineup and throws 86 mph, joins Ottenbreit to form a strong 1-2 punch on the mound.
Trenton's lineup is led by junior outfielder/infielder Matt Cheetam, who is hitting .455 through the first seven games, junior catcher Brock Beaudrie (.476) and senior shortstop Al Szczechowski (.333).
9. Macomb Dakota (Division 1, MAC)
Dakota survived an eight-game losing streak back in 2019 when it suffered multiple injuries to key players before getting hot late to reach the Division 1 state semifinals, losing to Rockford in extra innings, 3-2.
Dakota would have returned 18 players from that 2019 team a year ago, but never had the chance to see what they would do because of the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the season.
Still, multiple players return from that 2019 team, led by Central Michigan-bound third baseman Greg Guzik, who hit .355 as a sophomore with two homers, 20 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
Seniors righthanders Jack Bommarito and Jack Blakestone, along with left-hander Alex Gwyn lead the pitching staff with sophomore Will Demasse also expected to make an impact on the mound.
Other key players include shortstop Justin Kozlowski, catcher Colin Gasman, center fielder Kevin Moore, and second baseman Ben Moore.
10. Woodhaven
(Division 1, Downriver League)
Corey Farner has built Woodhaven into a state power, advancing to the Division 1 state title game in 2018, a loss to Grosse Pointe South, then becoming the first team in Downriver League history to win five straight conference championships in 2019.
Gone are such great players as right-handed pitcher Drew Szczepaniak (Western Michigan) and left-handed pitcher Colin Czajkowski (Michigan, Wabash Valley), but Farner has senior right-hander Ryan Szczepaniak (Michigan State) back.
Sure, Szczepaniak is the ace of the staff, but Woodhaven has other strong pitchers, including Gavin Darnell who threw a no-hitter in his first varsity start this past week against Dearborn Edsel Ford, striking out 11 while walking two in the five-inning 10-0 win with Szczepaniak also showing he can do damage with the bat, hitting a three-run homer in the opening inning.
Szczepaniak threw seven innings of shutout ball in Woodhaven's 2-0 extra innings win over Allen Park, striking out 18.
Other key players include Zach Phillips, Josue Gutierrez and Kyle Harris.
Other teams to watch — Brighton, Canton, Chippewa Valley, Grosse Pointe South, Lake Orion, Northville, Plymouth, Romeo, St. Clair, Sterling Heights Stevenson, Utica Eisenhower.
