Friday Highlights: Royal Oak Baseball Wins Pitchers’ Duel

* home team in all CAPS

Baseball

A little bit of rain wasn’t going to slow down Royal Oak starting pitcher Dominic Valente.

Valente in an Oakland Activities Association Blue division game. The senior only allowed three-hits over seven shutout innings and finished the game with 10 strikeouts.

Rain started coming down in the fifth inning, but the inclement weather didn’t spoil what was a terrific pitchers’ duel between Valente and Colts starter Michael Thomas.

“The last two innings were difficult,” Valente said of the conditions. “I couldn’t land at all and it was tough to throw strikes with my curve ball.”

Valente walked Matt Oppenlander to start the bottom of the seven inning and then hit John Wassel with a pitch. With no outs and two runners on, Valente dialed up some added heat on his fastball to get out of trouble.

“I just had to rear back and give it a little extra,” Valente said. “I have to save it for times like that.”

Pinch-hitter Kevin Simono struck out looking for the first out. Oppenlander was forced out at third on Luke McColskey’s grounder. Troy’s leadoff hitter Derek Verbruggen watched a third strike go by him to end the game.

It was the fourth time the Colts (6-4; 2-2 OAA Blue) left runners stranded in scoring position. Troy had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth inning and couldn’t even advance the runners.

“All day we had runners in scoring position and we couldn’t string a hit or two together to make a difference in the game,” Troy coach Jim Ellis said. “Couldn’t move runners over when we needed to do, couldn’t do the little things. Wasted a pretty good pitching performance by out pitcher today.”

Lacrosse

Birmingham United over GROSSE POINTE SOUTH, 13-4

The Birmingham United girls lacrosse team, made up of players from Groves and Seaholm, defeated Grosse Pointe South Friday in the pouring rain.

Top scorers for Birmingham were Annie Sevac and Kathy Quigley, both of whom had three goals a piece.

Birmingham United's record is now 3-2.

Lacrosse

TROY over Avondale, 19-0

With a 19-0 win over Avondale on Thursday, Troy surpassed its win total from last season. The Colts only had four wins last season and already are 5-2 this year. They were coming off a big 17-2 win over Oxford earlier in the week on Tuesday.

Against the Yellowjackets. sophomore Jay Darish led Troy with five goals. Fellow sophomore Justice Bigelow had four and senior Nick Kondoleon had three. Ten different Colts players registered at least one goal in the win.

Tennis

BERKLEY over Harrison, 5-3

The Berkley High School girls tennis team won a close match at home on Thursday over Harrison 5-3.

The teams split the four singles matches, but the Bears won three of the four doubles flights to take home the win.

After losing the first set, Berkley’s No. 1 double’s team Caroline Baron and Claire Barna came back to beat Devon Henderson and Aneesha Yande in three sets, 3-6, 6-3 and 7-5.

Singles

• 1. Carmen Gaddis (Harrison) over Lexi Northcross (Berkley), 6-1, 6-3
• 2. Stephanie Wagner (Harrison) over Erica Fox (Berkley), 6-4, Default
• 3.  Jessica Gross (Berkley) over Allison Ronan (Harrison), 6-6 (7-3) 6-1
• 4.  Marla Krasnick (Berkley) over Tina Wheeler (Harrison), 6-1  6-2

Doubles

• 1.  Caroline Baron & Claire Barna (Berkley) over Devon Henderson & Aneesha Yande, 3-6  6-2, 7-5
• 2. Jordan Franke & Devon  Franke (Harrison) over Ellie Krasnick & Rachel Bornstein (Berkley), 6-1  6-3
• 3. Jessica Leshman & Danielle Muench (Berkley) over Daniella Mulbauer & Cierra Benom (Harrison), 6-4  6-0
• 4. Marlee Rothman & Daniella Silver (Berkley) over Deana Astephan & Ashley Jackson (Harrison), 6-2  6-3

Soccer

SEAHOLM over Harrison, 4-1

Three first half goals powered the Seaholm High School varsity girls team to a 4-1 win over Farmington Harrison on Thursday.

Katherine Johnson, Allison Loeffler and J Bess Ruby all scored before halftime to give the Maples a 3-0 lead. Loeffler scored again in the second half before Harrison got on the board with a goal from Allie Schwartz. Lisa White had four saves for Seaholm in the win.

The Maples are now 4-2-1 (3-1-1 Oakland Activities Association White). Their next game is at Southfield Lathrup at 5:30 p.m. April 24.

ANDOVER and North Farmington, 1-1 Tie

The Bloomfield Hills Andover High School varsity girls soccer team battled to a second straight tie Thursday.

Anna Kaleen scored in the first half for the Barons against North Farmington. The Raiders tied the game in the second half and that’s where the score stayed.

Andover is now 1-4-2 and 1-3-2 in the OAA White.

ROYAL OAK SHRINE over Cranbrook-Kingswood, 3-2
In a Catholic League crossover game, the two teams battled to a 0-0 first half score. pulled out to a 2-0 lead after a solid first 15 minutes. Cranbrook fought back hard and scored two goals with 12 minutes remaining. Both teams counter-punched attacks over the next 10 minutes when Shrine scored its final goal with 1 minute left on the clock.

Shrine's Hanna Burgess scored two goald and Emma North had one.

Shrine had another solid team performance with contributions and good defense by many, and great goaltending.

Shrine improves to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the league.

Baseball

West Bloomfield over HARRISON, 17-3 (six innings)

Everything went right for the West Bloomfield varsity baseball team against Farmington Harrison on Thursday in a 17-3 win.

Freshman Chandler Sadat pitched six strong innings. He only gave up two runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out five batters.

Timo DeYoung was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. At one point, Joey Hartfelder, Sadat and Zack Ohara hit three triples in a row.

The Lakers are now 6-5 and 2-2 in the OAA White.

Lacrosse

CRANBROOK KINGSWOOD over Flint Powers, 13-8

Bloomfield Hills — led 4-0 after the first quarter and 8-4 at the half.  Christopher Brown led the Cranes with 3 goals on 12 shots and 4 assists; Jeff Martin had 3 goals on 5 shots with 2 assits and 3 ground balls; Taylor Ghesquirre added 3 goals on 6 shots. Blake Manginell led the defense with 5 ground balls acquired and Ryan Clair earned the win in net for the Cranes.   Cranbrook is now 4-3 overall and 2-0 in Catholic League play.

Lacrosse

HARRISON over West Bloomfield, 17-9
 
The West Bloomfield girls lacrosse team made a run at Harrison in the second half in a 17-9 loss on Wednesday.

In the first half, the Lakers only scored two goals, but made a strong comeback attempt with seven in the second half.

West Bloomfield goalie Erika Schneeberger had 12 saves. Olivia Sax scored four goals. Rachel Harnish  and Lindsay Czinder each scored twice.

Birmingham United over TROY ATHENS, 18-6

Birmingham United (2-2) won a road game Wednesday night at Troy Athens, 18-6.

Sarah Feiten led Birmingham with five goals. Annie Sevec and Kathy Quigley each had three. Goaltender Kate Leary had seven saves in net. The Red Hawks' top scorer was Jill Dougherty with two goals.

The next game for Birmingham is Friday night at Grosse Pointe South. Troy Athens hosts Sacred Heart on Friday.

Baseball

CLAWSON over Sterling Heights, 4-1

The varsity baseball team won its first Macomb Area Conference Silver division game 4-1 Wednesday over Sterling Heights.

“This was our first league win today and a giant win for Clawson,” assistant coach Scott Weaver said. “It’s always a great day when we can beat a big school like Sterling Heights.”

David Harlukoicz pitched 6 1/3 innings to get the win. He struck out two batters and scattered six hits. At the plate, he was 1-for-2 with two stolen bases. Justin Smith got the last two outs in the seventh inning for his second save of the season.

The Trojans 6-2 (1-0 MAC Silver) host Madison Heights Madison at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Berkley over SOUTHFIELD, 11-5

Berkley doubled up Southfield on Wednesday night, beating the Blue Jays 11-5.

Coming off a big game Tuesday, Ian Kobernick was at it again for the Bears against the Blue Jays. He was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a double. He also was the winning pitcher. Kobernick allowed four runs and struck out four over six innings.

Taylor Morrissey also had a big night. He hit a two-run homerun and finished the night 3-for-5 with three RBIs.  Dugan Fernandez was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks.

Berkley improved to 5-0 on the season with the win.

Softball

ANDOVER over Southfield, 16-1 (four innings); 19-0 (three innings)

The Andover High School varsity softball team pounded Southfield in a doubleheader on Wednesday 16-1 (four innings) and 19-0 (three innings). The Barons needed just seven innings to score 35 runs in two games. Both games ended on the mercy rule.

In game one, Mary Olesnavich pitched a one hitter. She struck out nine of the 12 batters she faced and walked one.

Mary Owens, Mujan Seif, Sarah Durecka and Rachel Kammerzell each were 2-for-3 in the first game.

Olesnavich also won the second game. She pitched three scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing only two hits.

Durecka was 2-for-3 in the second game with three RBIs and Rachel Kammerzell was 3-for-3 with three runs scored.

SEAHOLM over Berkley, 10-0 (Six Innings); 16-1

The Seaholm High School varsity softball team swept a doubleheader over Berkley on Wednesday night 10-0 in six innings and 16-1. It was both teams’ opener in the Oakland Activities Association Blue division.

Jordan Lenington had a huge day for the Maples, going 8-for-9 with five RBIs and a homerun in two games.

Carolynn Gregg threw a shutout in the first game. Lenington was 3-for-4 and teammate Lexi Hamilton was 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

In the second game, Elena Brown pitched a complete game, striking out nine batters. Lenington was 5-for-5 and knocked in all five of her RBIs in the nightcap. Riley Miller was 4-for-6 with three RBIs.

Seaholm (6-0; 2-0 OAA Blue) blew the game open with 10 runs in the seventh inning.

Athens over GROVES, 5-2; 4-2

Athens starting pitcher Haley Zemmer frustrated Groves batters in a doubleheader on Wednesday. She helped the Red Hawks sweep the Falcons 5-2 and 4-2.  

“She pitched well,” Athens coach Dave Marr said. “She only had one inning where she struggled.”

Zemmer pitched complete games in both the early and late matchup. In the first game, she struck out 13 batters and both of Groves’ runs were unearned. She also hit an RBI double.

The game was tied 2-2 going into the sixth inning, when Meg Richter hit a ground ball that scored a run. It should’ve been a fielder’s choice, but the ball was thrown away twice and two more runs scored.

In the second game, Zemmer gave up five hits, one earned run and struck out six.

Richter went 3-for-3 in game one with two RBIs and was 2-for-3 in the second game. Sarah Watson was 2-for-3 with an RBI in the second game.

The Red Hawks are now 5-3 (2-0 OAA White) and the Falcons are 5-3 (0-2 OAA White).

Baseball

Berkley over HARRISON, 10-6

The varsity baseball team’s bats found a groove on Tuesday against Farmington Harrison in a 10-6 victory.

Four Bears had two hits each led by Ian Kobernick who reached base four times. He went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, two walks and two steals. Joey Leider was 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a stolen base.

Riley Klein pitched two scoreless innings in relief to get the win. He only allowed two base runners to help Berkley improve to 4-0 on the season.

Clawson over MT. CLEMENS, 20-0 (three innings)

The Clawson High School varsity baseball team made quick work of Mt. Clemens on Tuesday. The Trojans needed only three innings to mercy Mt. Clemens 20-0.

Jake Smith was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Craig Bynum was 2-for-2. Matt Pike was the winning pitcher with five strikeouts.

Clawson is now 5-2 and hosts Sterling Heights at home on Wednesday in its first league game.

West Bloomfield over LIVONIA FRANKLIN, 5-3

The West Bloomfield High School varsity baseball teams scored two runs in the sixth inning to win on Tuesday night 5-3 over Livonia Franklin.

A wild pitch scored the first run and Mark Hartfelder knocked in the other. Matt Curtis picked up the win in relieve, pitching two scoreless innings.

Marcus Armstong was 3-for-4 for the Lakers with an RBI and two runs scored.

West Bloomfield (5-4; 2-1 Oakland Activities Association White) plays a division game at Harrison later this week. The game is currently scheduled for Friday, but might be moved to Thursday.

Royal Oak Shrine over FRANKEL JEWISH ACADEMY, 15-1 and 15-0

The Royal Oak Shrine swept a double-header over Frankel Jewish Academy on Tuesday, winning 15-1 and 15-0.

Connor Francek was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Nick Pollack was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in game one. In the second game, Stevie Erwin went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Grant Moceri was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Track and Field

Troy over Farmington, 76-52

The Troy boys track team improved to 3-0 on the season in the OAA White with a 76-52 win over Farmington on Tuesday. The Falcons dropped to 1-2.

Event winners:

• DT - Farm; 135' 2" Ferguson
• SP - Troy; 46' 7" Powell
• HJ - Farm; 5' 10" Riley
• LJ - Troy; 18' 9.5" Wunderlich
• 4x800 - Troy; 8:32.9 Przslawski, Schenk, Golinski, Yau
• 110 HH - Troy; 15.5 Jordan
• 100 - Troy; 11.4 Jordan
• 4x200 - Farm; 1:35.7
• 1600 - Troy; 4:40.8 Yau
• 4x100 - Farm; 45.9
• 400 - Troy; 52.7 Wunderlich
• 300H - Troy; 40.2 Jordan
• 800 - Farm; 2:06.0 Fields
• 200 - Farm; 23.9 Edu
• 3200 - Troy; 10:21.0 Miros
• 4x400 - Troy; 3:38.6 Jordan, Wunderlich, Yau, Leonard

Soccer

SEAHOLM over Groves, 1-0

Lilly Salvin’s first half goal was enough to give the Seaholm High School varsity girls soccer team a 1-0 win on Tuesday over city-rival Groves.

Maples goalie Lisa White had five saves and picked up her third shutout of the season. On the season, Seaholm is 3-2-1. Its next game is April 19 against Farmington Harrison at 7 p.m.

FERNDALE over Pontiac, 8-0

The varsity girls soccer team looked like it wanted to get home for the Red Wings game Tuesday night.

In the second half, the Eagles ended the game early by mercy rule with about 30 minutes left on the clock when they went up 8-0 over Pontiac.

“We did everything we needed to do,” coach Mike Kuznair said.

Ferndale’s starters scored five goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. Kuznair went to his bench and had his subs play the rest of the half. The starters came back in to start the second half and needed only 10 minutes to add three more goals.

Lexi Brisson-Fast scored four times to push her season total to 15. Kelsey Wilson scored three goals and sister Karly Wilson also scored. Emma Whipple and Lily Arnett combined for the shutout in net.

The Eagles are 7-2 (5-0 Oakland Activities Association Blue division) on the season.

“We are getting ready to play Farmington and have three tough games coming up,” Kuznair said.

Ferndale hosts Farmington at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Andover vs. OXFORD, 2-2

The Andover High School girls varsity soccer team battled back in the second half to force a 2-2 tie at Oxford in an OAA White division game.

Raquel Tambak scored with 15:16 left to go in the game on an assist from Ashley Silbert to even the score.

“We fought back and showed a lot of heart,” coach Aaron Seaton said.

In the first half, Silbert put the Barons ahead 1-0 with a goal 10 minutes into the game. Oxford tied it up less than two minutes later and then opened the second half with a goal to go up 2-1.

Andover is now 1-4-1 (1-3-1 OAA White) and host North Farmington on Thursday.

Lacrosse

CRANBROOK KINGSWOOD 17, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard 5

The Cranes jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead and ballooned that to an 11-1 halftime lead in Catholic League action Tuesday evening at Cranbrook. The Cranes improved to 3-3 on the season.

Taylor Ghesquiere 5 goals on 9 shots, 0 assists; Jeffrey Martin 5 goals on 8 shots, 0 assists, and 4 ground balls retrieved; Matt Giampetroni 2 goals on 6 shots, 3 assists and 3 ground balls retrieved; Ryan Clair winning goalie for Cranbrook.

Lacrosse

ANN ARBOR PIONEER over Bloomfield United, 16-15

The Bloomfield United girls lacrosse team lost a close game at Ann Arbor Pioneer on Monday night, 16-15.

Bloomfield led at the half, but Ann Arbor came back to win. The offense for Bloomfield was led by sophomore Emma Mucci with five goals and five assists. Junior captain Margaret Metzger scored five goals and added four assists.

Freshman goalie Annie Reed had 12 saves in the first half and Angelica Kunz had six saves in the second.

Baseball

LAHSER over Andover, 3-2

Reilly Manz hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Lahser a 3-2 win over Andover on Monday.

Charlie Dauch hit a single to lead off the inning for the Knights and then stole second. On a close play at the plate, Dauch scored on Manz’s single.

Lahser starter Jonathan Watkins pitched six strong innings, scattering six hits and two walks. Conor Wahl came in for the Knights in the seventh and recorded his first save of the season.

In the second inning, Patrick Monahan gave Lahser a 2-0 lead with a two-run RBI double. Monahan finished the game with three hits. Andover erased the deficit with runs in the third and the sixth.

BERKLEY over Ferndale, 6-3

The Berkley High School varsity baseball team improved to 3-0 (2-0 Oakland Activities Association Gold division) with a 6-3 win over Ferndale on Monday.

Nick Bauer struck out nine Eagles’ batters and gave up two runs over five innings to pick up the win.

“He came out strong,” Bears coach Jordan Gruppen said of his pitcher. “It was a very good game for us overall. We were very fundamentally sound.”

Berkley was up 4-0 until the fifth. Ferndale scored two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Bears added two insurance runs to keep the Eagles at bay.

WEST BLOOMFIELD over Seaholm, 8-6

The West Bloomfield High School varsity baseball team won 8-6 over Birmingham Seaholm on Monday in an Oakland Activities Association White Division game.

The Maples erased a 5-0 deficit with one run in the third inning and five in the fourth. Josh Leitman hit a three-run homerun in the inning and finished the game 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs.

But the Lakers quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and an insurance run in the fifth.

Joey Hartfielder was the winning pitcher for West Bloomfield. He gave up six runs, four earned, over four innings, including Leitman’s homerun. The senior gave up seven walks and struck out three.

Softball

Troy over ATHENS (at Troy), 5-4

Katy Krajenta made sure her fielding mistakes didn’t cost the varsity softball team the game on Monday.

Krajenta hit a game-winning RBI single to score Clemons LaCarter in the top of the seventh against city-rival Athens. Her clutch hit put the Colts in the driver’s seat with a 5-4 lead.

“It was a huge hit for Katy,” Troy coach Tom Calnen said. “She made a couple of defensive miscues and to come back and get the game-winning, hit that was pretty great.”

Krajenta came out in the seventh inning to finish off the Red Hawks on the mound and get the win. She scattered five hits over seven innings, striking out 10 and walking three. Three of the four runs she allowed were unearned.

LaCarter finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

The top hitter for Athens was Melissa Palmer, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Calnen called Palmer an “absolute phenomenal player.”

Monday’s game was played at Troy High School because of problems with Athens’ field. The Red Hawks were still the home team and batted last.

The Colts improve to 3-0 on the season while Athens is still looking for its first win at 0-3.

From the Weekend

Track and Field

Royal Oak Raven Relays (at Royal Oak)

The varsity track team hosted and competed in the Royal Oak Ravens Relays on Saturday.

Boys and girls from , , Hazel Park, and joined the Ravens for the competition.

On the boys side, Royal Oak edged out Rochester Adams for first place. The Ravens finished the day with 43 points, Adams had 37 and Troy Athens finished in third with 16.

The girls standings weren’t nearly as close. Adams placed in every event to give it 60 points, doubling up second-place Royal Oak. The Ravens girls finished in second with 29. Ferndale finished in third place with 15.

2012 Falcon Invitational (at )

The 2012 Falcon Invitational was on Saturday featuring over a dozen track and field teams from the area.

won seven of the 13 events on the boys side to take first place with 132 points. Brother Rice finished in second with 68 and Harrison rounded out the top three with 41 points.

The Dragons used a strong performance in the relay races to dominate the competition. They won all four events including the 1600m (3:27.52; Deneau, Diaz, Arnold, Balavich), the Shuttle Hurdles (1:00.54; A.Roberts, M.Roberts, Talbert, Maurer), 400m (43.11; Ester, Leigh, Arnold, Balavich), Shuttle Medley Relay (2:32.18; Arnold, Ester, Dinow, Balavich) and 3200m (8:10.37; Carey, Modrak, Diaz, Arenz).

Other events winners were:

• 300m Hurdles - Lake Orion (39.14; Roberts, A.)
• 100m Hurdles - Lake Orion (14.34; Roberts, A.)
• 100m Dash - Brother Rice (10.90; Flynn)
• 800m Run - Brother Rice (2:01; Wile)
• 1600m Run - Lake Orion (4:28.24; Carey)
• High Jump - Harrison (6’2”; Quinn Culbertson)
• Long Jump - Berkley (20’0.25”; Sheppard)
• Shot Put - Brother Rice (49’9.5”; Anderson)
• Discus - Churchill (138’6”; Bartig)

The standings for the girls were a lot closer. Harrison finished third or better in over half of the events on Saturday to lock down first place. The Hawks finished in first with 68.25 points, Seaholm was second with 59 and North Farmington had 43.

Event winners were:

• 3200m Relay - Seaholm (9:56.37; Owens, Belf, Demko, Dadamio)
• 300m Hurdles - Harrison 47.18 (Simms)
• 100m Hurdles - Harrison (14.93; Simms)
• 100m Dash - Harrison (12.3; Parker)
• 800m Run - Seaholm (2:17.78; Wilberding, A.)
• Sprint Medley Relay - Churchill (3:02.9; Szuba, Anderson, Heinzelman, Hoffman)
• 1600m Run - West Bloomfield (4:58.30; Finn)
• 400m Relay - Harrison (50.78; Simms, Johnson, Parker, Hunter)
• Shuttle Hurdles Relay - North Farmington (1:13.24; Donaldson, Harvath, Miller, Graham)
• 1600m Relay - Seaholm (4:07.78; A.Wilberding, M.Wilberding, Callahari, Owens)
• High Jump – Pontiac (Owens; 5’0”)
• Long Jump – Berkley (Allen; 16’1.25”)
• Shot Put - Country Day (Mann; 42’6.5”)
• Discus - Country Day (Mann; 140’0”)

Boys Team Results:

1. Lake Orion, 132 points
2. Brother Rice, 68 points
3. Harrison, 41 points
4. Groves, 38 points
5. Churchill, 36 points
6. West Bloomfield, 27 points
7. Seaholm, 21 points
8. Andover, 20 points
9. Berkley, 16 points
10. Country Day, 13 points
11. Pontiac, 12 points
12. North Farmington, 6 points
13. Macomb Lutheran North, 1 point
14. (TIE) Cranbrook, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Southfield Christian, Bloomfield Lahser, 0 points

Girls Team Results:

1. Harrison, 68.25 points
2. Seaholm, 59 points
3. North Farmington, 43 points
4. Churchill, 41 points
5. Country Day, 39 points
6. Groves, 35.25 points
7. West Bloomfield, 34 points
8. Lake Orion, 29.25 points
9. Berkley, 26 points
10. Pontiac, 19 points
11. Andover, 17 points
12. Macomb Lutheran North, 10.25 points
13. Bloomfield Lahser, 6 points
14. Birmingham Marion, 4 points
15. (TIE) Cranbrook, Southfield Christian, 0 points

Do you have scores, photos or information to add? You can do so in the comments below or send an email to Patch sportswriter Mike Niziolek or to the local editor at the top of this website.