Here is the baseball regional preview.

HARPER WOODS vs St. Clair Shores Lake Shore @ Hazel Park

The Pioneers are back into the super regional after dominating their two respective opponents in St. Clair Shores South Lake and Detroit Southeastern by a combined 32-0. The Shorians have been dominant in their district winning it for the first time in 15 years by outscoring Hazel Park, Warren Lincoln, and Center Line by a combined 49-3. The winner will take on either Orchard Lake St. Marys or Dearborn Divine Child in the regional final at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron. This should be a really interesting matchup in Hazel Park.

LAKE ORION vs Port Huron Northern @ Rochester

The Dragons have had ton of bad luck lately but they managed to survive tense dramas against Rochester and Adams winning 2-1 and 7-4 respectably in the districts. Lake Orion will be back at Rochester against Port Huron Northern. The Huskies upset New Baltimore Anchor Bay 3-0 in the district finals winning their first district crown in eight years. The winner will see either Fenton or Davison in the regional final in Grand Blanc. This should be a really interesting matchup.

GROVES vs Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit @ Groves

The Falcons won their district outscoring both Warren Mott and Royal Oak by a combined 16-2. They will be back at home taking on a Cubs team that won their district pretty handily. It will be a really tough matchup for Groves going up against a really good Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit team. The winner will play Grosse Pointe South or Detroit Western in the regional final at Brownstown Woodhaven.

WEST BLOOMFIELD vs Lakeland @ West Bloomfield

The Lakers had no issues winning their district winning over Walled Lake Central in a hard fought 5-4 game and then won 2-0 over Walled Lake Western. They get Lakeland in a really interesting matchup. The Eagles had to survive a pitchers duel winning 1-0 over Waterford Kettering and had no problem with Walled Lake Northern winning 10-0. This should be a really interesting matchup in the Swamp. The winner will take on either defending State Champion Northville or Plymouth in the regional final at Novi.

Written Saturday May 31st at 6:24 PM

Here is the regional preview for Girls Soccer.

Region Two @ Grand Blanc

Brighton vs Northville

This is a really interesting matchup of two KLAA West foes. Northville has been solid all season long but they have not been able to solve Brighton. The Bulldogs beat the Mustangs 2-0 early into the season and 4-3 a few weeks ago. It’s always hard to beat a team three times which Brighton has that opportunity to do. This should be a really interesting matchup.

OXFORD vs Hartland

The Wildcats stunned the district with upsets of Davison, Lake Orion, and Clarkston. Hartland ended the unbeaten streak of Bloomfield Hills with a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks. Oxford is battle tested having faced a strong Red schedule but the Eagles bring a different challenge. This should be a really interesting matchup.

SAMMY PICK: I don’t see anyone beating Hartland in this district. Give me the Eagles moving on.

Region Four @ Rochester

BERKLEY vs Macomb Dakota

This round is very new for both of these teams. The Cougars won a really tight district that had New Baltimore Anchor Bay and won over Chippewa Valley. The Bears went through the White but this is very much new for them in this round. It should be a really interesting matchup to see which team meets up against a proven State power in the regional finals.

TROY ATHENS vs Utica Eisenhower

This will be a fun matchup between two State powers that have been ranked all season. Utica Eisenhower is riding with a ton of confidence coming into this game as Coach Merhdad Nekoogar got his 300th career win as head coach with a 3-0 district final win over Adams. Troy Athens has been a powerhouse for a long time. The Red Hawks had to survive arch rival Troy in penalty kicks. The Eagles as mentioned went through the city of Rochester beating Stoney Creek, Rochester, and Adams becoming the defacto Rochester city champs. This game could go to penalty kicks.

SAMMY PICK: The winner of the Troy Athens/Utica Eisenhower semifinal matchup should win this regional. I think Troy Athens has been there done that. I trust the Red Hawks.

Written Saturday May 31st at 6:15 PM

The Knights dominance in girls track and field continues.

Oak Park won the Division One State crown in girls track and field for the fourth straight year scoring 86 points on Saturday afternoon at East Kentwood winning their ninth State Crown in 11 seasons.

The Knights scored 23 points in the 400 meter dash and won three of the four relays along with scoring 21 points in the 100 and 300 hurdles respectably.

West Bloomfield took fourth behind the sprinting of Kamryn Tatum who won the 100 and 200 meter dashes.

Ellie Mendoza finished second in the discus for Rochester who tied for eighth with 21 points.

Farmington tied for 26th with 7.5 points, Royal Oak was tied for 37th with four points from thrower Jada Ewell in the discus, and Adams along with Oxford were tied for 45th with two points each.

On the boys side at East Kentwood, Oak Park tied for fourth with 28 points while Clarkston was 13th with 19 points, Groves was 16th with 15 points behind the discus win from Ray Glory Ejoyokah, Troy and Adams tied for 24th with nine points, West Bloomfield was tied for 33rd with six points, Troy Athens and Stoney Creek behind Spencer Beckeman was tied for 41st with four points, and Bloomfield Hills was tied for 53rd with two points.

In Division Two at Hamilton, Harper Woods boys tied for 18th with 10 points and Ferndale tied for 56th with two points. In the girls Ferndale was tied for 49th with three points.

Overall it was a great day on the track for the OAA. Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

Written Tuesday May 20th at 1:15 PM

The Cougars will have a new boys basketball coach this winter.

Stoney Creek named Marko Tomich as their new boys basketball coach according to the D-Zone basketball who confirmed the news. Tomich takes over for Coach Jeff Olind who was let go last month.

Olind went 19-47 in his three years with the program. This is what Tomich will be tasked with in turning around but the competition will be a lot more tougher.

Tomich was an assistant at Royal Oak Shrine under Coach Mike Maryanski but he is well known with in the basketball community.

Tomich will have a huge challenge awaiting him at Stoney Creek. He has to get on the same page with the parents. The parents demand a lot from the coaching staff. Tomich will have a ton of proven talent in KJ Schuster, Anthony Arlinghaus, Quentin Rangi, Jack Fredenburg, Charlie Carson, and Joey Miller coming back. Program strength looks to be solid for the Cougars but the challenge will be at the Junior Varsity and Varsity levels with the program.

Stoney Creek will be in the White after a rough go in the Blue the last three years. They will have Adams, Rochester, Waterford Mott, Oxford, and Lake Orion in the division. The districts have not been announced yet but it is likely they could have Romeo, Utica Eisenhower, and their city rival schools (Adams and Rochester) in them.

It will be really interesting to see how Tomich handles the transition period.

Stay tuned to OAA Now on the latest on this developing story.

Here is the tweet from Stu Carrolton of the D-Zone

https://x.com/TheDZoneBBall/status/1924829705372397914