Troy baseball skipper Frank De Vito and his stable of Colts might have started the season slow, but lately they've effectively smoothed out the wrinkles and appear ready to finish the year strong. The Colts, two seasons removed from the D1 Final Four, moved their overall record to just two games below the .500 mark (10-12) with a sweep of out-of-conference foe, Waterford Kettering on Saturday afternoon. Taking the first game of the twin-bill 4-1 and the second game 14-4, De Vito's diamond cutters looked sharp as a knife the entire day. Ricky Hamilton had three hits and three RBI in the opener, while Steve Maki went the distance on the hill to pick up the pitching –victory. In the nightcap, Brandon Walls got the win on the mound and Bobby Pardun and Adam Johnson had three hits and three RBI apiece to lead the Colts' hot-hitting offense.

On the subject of intriguing non-conference prep baseball affairs that went down on Saturday, it was nice to see Rochester snare a win over powerful MH Lamphere (ranked number 1 in the state in D2) in a double-header on the road. Despite getting a little roughed up in the first game – an 8-3 Lamphere 'W', highlighted by a galactic 3-run blast by junior and Kentucky-signee, Greg Fettes – the Falcons roared back in the closing game to squeak by the Ram, 8-7, in a slugfest. Rochester was sparked by Jimmy Kingley's three doubles and two RBI and is now 13-14.  Lamphere is 19-4 and getting prepared for a run at a state title in June. Burney's boy and brand new skip, Eric Magiera is doing one heck of a job with the boys in blue this summer, getting the program back turned in the right direction.

The Berkley Bears are competing in one of the lesser-powerful divisions of the OAA this year, however that didn't seem to matter when they matched-up with the big bad Birmingham Groves Falcons on Saturday for a doubleheader. The Bears devoured their opponents and served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with come tourney time in a couple of weeks. Taylor Morrisey's home run and Derek Lehman's four hits headlined Berkley's 10-5 thrashing in the first game and Conor Reid pitched and hit the team to victory in the finale, a narrow 3-2 win. Reid was 2-for-4 from the plate and threw a complete-game, striking out eight and only allowing one walk. THE BEARS ARE 20-5.

If you ask Burney, Novi is simply TOO GOOD for words to express this season. The Wildcats kept sizzling like a burning flame on Saturday by picking up two more wins (12-9 over Lakeland and 10-6 over Dearborn Heights Annapolis) and in the process raised their record to 22-5, good for the number 8 ranking in the state.

GET SUPERCRAZY BUSY MY MAIN MAN, RICKY "THE TIGER" ENRIGHT. i've decied to nickname Enright "The Tiger" because of his ferocity in overcoming cancer...er.......KICKING ITS BUT LIKE HE DOES IT ON THE FIELD TO OPPOSING PITCHERS and getting back on the diamond for the first time in two seasons. AND NOT JUST MAKING IT BACK, BUT DOING IT IN STYLE - i.e. a 430 batting average and a on-base percentage topping the .505 mark.  Way to go, "Tiger"! Now, go rip some more pitchers' heads off for your homeboy, Burney!