For about four hours last Saturday, it was mind over matter for the crowd of a couple hundred spectators entertained by the boys of Michigan-style springtime high school baseball battling the elements and each other.

Appropriate winter clothing, not yet mothballed, helped the assembly of parents, friends and fans ward off the effects of a 10-20 mph breeze producing a wind chill in the mid-30s.

They were distracted from their discomfort, and perhaps even sensing warmth emanating from the intensity of the confrontation between Catholic League Central Division foes Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Warren De La Salle.

In the end, it was a draw. De La Salle came from behind for a 7-3 victory in the first game. Brother Rice responded with a 4-2 decision in the second game.

Pride was at stake for both squads. In a pre-season poll by the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association, De La Salle, the 2016 Division 1 state champs, was ranked third in Division 1, and Brother Rice an uncharacteristic 16th.

Seven weeks later, Brother Rice (10-6, 8-3 CHSL) moved up to third, one spot ahead of De La Salle (7-7, 5-6 CHSL) who certainly will be lower in the next poll.

In addition, the Warriors have their sights set on a seventh consecutive Catholic League championship, an honor the Pilots haven’t celebrated since 2011.

Rice’s first four batters – catcher Gabe Sotres (Michigan State-bound), centerfielder Reese Tracey (also MSU), junior third sacker Jack Orlowski, and junior rightfielder Tito Flores – combined for four hits, a walk, a double steal and a sacrifice fly to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead after five innings.

De La Salle came right back with a five-run eruption in the top of the sixth. A bases-clearing double by Max Gordon, a double by Mac Graybill (his third of the game), singles by Jacob Badalamenti and Brendan Hertel and three walks accounted for the scoring.

Coach Bob Riker, in his 20th year managing the Warriors, called on five pitchers to try to keep the Pilots in check, while De La Salle first-year coach Dave Zelmanski let senior Kyle Jones (Toledo) go the distance. He chalked up 14 strikeouts, including 10 to batters five through nine in Rice’s order, on a fastball that reached 88 mph and a nasty slider.

Zelmanski also allowed his other ace, senior right-hander Easton Sikorski (Western Michigan), to go all the way in the nightcap.

Rice pounced on Sikorski for all of its runs in the first inning. Flores drove in two runs with a blast to straightaway center, then slid home safely from third on a double steal. Josh Anschuetz cracked an RBI double for the fourth run.

Sikorski tamed the Warriors the rest of the game, scattering three hits and striking out four.

De La Salle scored a run off freshman Blaise Wilcenski in the second inning. Badalamenti tripled and scored on an error. The Pilots’ other tally came in the sixth off lefty reliever Jack Brockhaus. Nolan Schultz’s single plated senior shortstop Bryce Bush (Mississippi State), who beat out an infield ground ball to start the inning.



Brother Rice was scheduled to face Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (11-3, 7-3 CHSL) this past Wednesday, May 2, that could decide the Central Division title.

Full disclosure: your scribe spent the four hours in a cozy press box. No, I don’t feel guilty. It’s a stress-filled duty we journalists have. Besides, I had to walk from my car to the field and to the refreshment stand between the games. No valet or maid service.

Hey, someone has to do this!

Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].