Oxford baseball coach Dave Herrick knows this week will offer quite a measuring stick for his squad, which thus far this spring has arguably been the state’s most pleasant surprise.
Starting the season with a junior- and sophomore-laden roster that didn’t have much experience playing varsity games, Oxford has been red-hot, starting 18-2 and vaulting all the way to No. 4 in the Division 1 state coaches association rankings last week.
There also have been good wins in that stretch, with Oxford taking two out of three from Lake Orion, winning twice against Rochester and beating Romeo. Lake Orion and Rochester were both ranked in the coaches association to start the year, while Romeo has started the season off strong and is currently ranked No. 9 in Division 1.
This week will offer the ultimate litmus test for Oxford, with it having a three-game Oakland Activities Assocation Red series against Rochester Adams, which has been ranked No. 1 in the coaches rankings all spring and was the News’ top-ranked team in Metro Detroit entering the season.
The teams are scheduled to play single games at Oxford on Monday and Tuesday, and at Adams on Thursday. Oxford also has a home makeup game against Rochester on Tuesday.
“That is going to really tell us a lot about us as a team,” said Herrick, who is in his 12th season at Oxford and recently picked up his 200th career coaching win. “Rochester Adams is consistently one of the best teams in the state in every area of the game. Their lineup one through nine, everyone is a great hitter. They play great team defense. Their pitchers, not only do they pound the zone with strikes, they have velocity. They have everything a coach could want. They’re a complete team, so for us, it’s going to be really fun to go out and compete against them.”
Oxford isn’t loaded with future college players at the moment, but have showcased balance and depth in all phases.
Senior shortstop Jack Hendrix (.456 OBP) has signed with Northwood and is the team’s No. 3 hitter, junior Bradley Bieniasz (4-1 record, 1.30 ERA, 28 strikeouts) has been the team’s ace on the mound, sophomore Ezra Flores has emerged as a pitcher (4-0, 0.80 ERA, 22 strikeouts) who threw a no-hitter last week against Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, and junior third baseman Greyson Boyle (.439, 20 RBIs in last 17 games) has provided power at the plate.
Those have been the core players, but contributions have come from everywhere.
“Everybody has done a great job this year, stepping into win a job or if they need to get a bunt down or whatever,” Herrick said. “Not one person cares who gets the job done as long as it’s getting done.”
With just six seniors and three sophomores on the roster, the future certainly looks good for Oxford.
As is the case with most programs, building up to high school success for Herrick and his staff has been a grassroots effort within the community, strengthening the interest in the travel/youth leagues and developing from there.
“We try to be involved in and and as much as we can with the youth,” Herrick said. “Establishing youth camps and trying to get as many kids around to games. Have has many high school players go to youth games in the community as we can. It kind of has been a grassroots thing. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of players who have been involved with a lot of great summer organizations as well. They’re getting coached well when they’re not with us as a program.”
Garden City ace dominates in matchup of heavyweights
April 22 featured a terrific matchup of one of the state’s best teams vs. arguably the state’s best pitcher, and the pitcher won the battle in convincing fashion.
Garden City senior right-hander Ethan Armstrong, who has signed with Michigan, was untouchable against a potent New Boston Huron lineup, tossing a complete-game shutout and striking out 11 in a 5-0 win.
It was the only loss of the season so far for New Boston Huron, which moved up to the top spot in the Division 2 state rankings in the latest coaches association poll.
Armstrong could be someone that pro scouts keep a further eye on this spring in preparation for this summer’s draft. He has touched in the mid-90s with his fastball and also features a potent slider and curveball.
His presence has helped Garden City get off to a 17-5 start, which also has included a win over Dexter, ranked No. 6 in Division 1.
Catholic League Central Division race heads into stretch drive
The Catholic League Central Division has been as good as advertised this year, and believe it or not, this already will be the last week of the regular season before the league tournament takes place the following week.
A big move was made in the standings this week by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which first swept a doubleheader Wednesday at Birmingham Brother Rice in a matchup of teams that are their usual powerful selves.
St. Mary’s is ranked No. 2 in Division 2, while Brother Rice is No. 2 in Division 1.
St. Mary’s earned 2-1 and 7-2 victories over Brother Rice, riding five total hits in the doubleheader from senior Hudson Brzustewicz (Notre Dame) and three hits and three RBIs in the second game by senior Drew Tribul (Michigan State).
St. Mary’s then swept Toledo St. John’s Jesuit on Saturday, recording 7-0 and 4-3 wins. Jack Plachta threw a 3-hit shutout in the first game for St. Mary’s, which leads the league with a 14-4 record.
Brother Rice is right behind with a 13-3-2 league mark.
Also in the mix to make the league tournament semifinals with a good final week of the regular season is Novi Detroit Catholic Central, ranked 13th in Division 1, and Warren De La Salle, which has kept its head above water playing a brutal schedule.
The league semifinals are scheduled for May 12 and the finals May 16.
Update on defending champions
Baseball might be the hardest sport to see repeat team champions in given its fickle nature and single-elimination tournament format, but thus far last year’s champions appear to be strong again this spring.
Defending Division 1 champion Hartland was No. 14 in last week’s coaches poll, but has spent most of the year ranked in the top five.
In Division 2, Ada Forest Hills Eastern is ranked No. 16 in Division 2 and has its top two pitchers back from last year’s title winning team in Cam Pallo (Michigan State) and Colton Brinks.
Last year’s champion in Division 3, Traverse City St. Francis, has shown no drop-off so far and is ranked No. 1 in the latest poll, while defending Division 4 champion Portland St. Patrick is ranked No. 2 behind Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
The only repeat champion ever in Class A/Division 1 was Bay City Western in 2014.
Stevensville Lakeshore repeated as champion in Division 2 in 2018, Madison Heights Bishop Foley was the last repeat champion in Division 3 back in 2013 when it won the last of three straight titles, while the last repeat champion in Division 4 was Beal City two years ago.
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Metro Detroit high school baseball notes: Oxford fueled by balance, depth
Reporting by Keith Dunlap, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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