This last week has been a hectic one for both college and high school sports. We will take a look at a few teams that are having good starts to their high school sports seasons, a ouple players that have either declared for the NBA Draft or will be returning for another season, and what’s going on with Lions’ safety James Ihedigbo.

1. Stevenson Baseball is the Best Team in the State

Sterling Heights Stevenson is off to a hot start this year. This year’s baseball team is now 9-1 after a 13-1 victory against rival Utica Eisenhower. This team is ranked #1 in the state and #126 in the nation by maxpreps.com. They are led by star pitcher Brandon Williams, who has 2 complete games under his belt this year. The offense has scored 88 runs this season in just 10 games. They are led by Riley McCauley who has been the Titans best hitter this season, batting .438 with 12 RBIs.

2. Fraser Baseball Continues Winning Ways

Fraser baseball is sitting at the top of the MAC Gold division with a 4-1 record and an overall record of 10-5. In the Ramblers most recent game (wed), senior pitcher Jordan Pannecouk threw a gem against Marine City. He pitched all 7 innings, giving up only 5 hits and striking out 4 batters. Another surprise for the team is how good Josh Strader has been the last week for Fraser. Strader has started all year on junior varsity, but because senior center fielder Dylan Walker was on vacation, he was called up by Dave Kuppe. He had 2 hits and drove in 3 runs for the Ramblers on Wednesday. Although he doesn’t look like he’ll be up there much longer, he will definitely get a call up for Districts.

3. Skip Crane: hall of fame inductee

Our very own Skip Crane will be inducted into the Macomb County Coaches Hall of Fame on April 30th. Skip was a beloved member of the community and the voice of Rambler basketball and football for 25 years. Skip helped with the Fraser Booster club as well and he is one of 3 Fraser members who are getting inducted. The other two inductees are coach David Kuppe and Marshall Wandrei. This year’s hall of fame class has a total of 18 inductees.

4. Fraser Girls Soccer 

Fraser girls soccer is now 6-2 on the year after winning 2-1 against Grosse Pointe North on Wednesday. The win was paved by goals from junior Tyler Ledford and senior Liz Girard. Senior goalie Julia Stewart had 8 saves in the contest. The win gives the Lady Ramblers their first win in the MAC White division. They’re now 1-1 in conference play and have their next game on Monday, April 27th. They will be traveling to L’Anse Creuse North. The game starts at 7pm and is a conference game for Fraser.

5. Taelor Moore scores 4 goals

Wednesday marked a great day for Warren Mott soccer player Taelor Moore. She had a 4 goal game for the Lady Marauders, in what would be a 8-0 trouncing of Marysville. This is a huge accomplishment as it’s rare to see such a game like this for a high school player. Her excellent play of late has helped the Lady Marauders to a 5-0 overall record as well as a 3-0 record in the MAC Gold division.

6. Caris LeVert Returns

University of Michigan guard Caris LeVert will return for his senior year. After missing the team’s last 14 games and suffering a foot injury, Caris has decided to stay for his final year. LeVert has been an instrumental part for this team for the last few years. The 2 key factors that played a role in LeVert’s decision was getting his degree like his mom has always wanted as well as he wanted to be a for sure 1st round pick. LeVert didn’t want to take a chance declaring and becoming a 2nd round pick. Most mock drafts had him near the end of the first round and the beginning of the second round because of his foot injury. Instead LeVert will be back for his final year and projects to be the number 1 option in John Beilein’s offense next season.

7. Michigan Football 2016 Recruiting Class

Jim Harbaugh and co. are off to a good start for next year’s recruiting class. They already have 6 recruits and are in the race for dozens of other prospects. Harbaugh has commitments from three 4-star recruits as well as three 3-star recruits. One recruit who looks to be a big part of this team in the next few years is 6’7″ OT Erik Swenson. Swenson is a 4-star (rating comes from 247sports) offensive tackle from Downers Grove, Illnois. He’s also 15th at his respective position and projects to be on the starting line in a couple of years. Another noteable is Southfield’s own Matt Falcon. Falcon is a 4-star (rating comes from 247sports) running back out of Southfield High School and sits at 12th at his position. Falcon is one of many high profiled running backs to commit to Michigan in recent years and figures to have a pivotal role in Michigan’s offense once he arrives in the fall of 2016. Below are the highlight tapes of both Erik Swenson and Matt Falcon.–>http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1601282/erik-swenson

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3949971/matthew-falcon

8. Messiah DeWeaver Commits to MSU

Mark Dantonio may have found his future quarterback this week when Messiah DeWeaver committed to the Spartans. DeWeaver is a 3-star quarterback from the class of 2016. With Connor Cook playing his last season at Michigan State, DeWeaver could come in during his freshmen year and take over where Cook left off in the fall of 2016. DeWeaver is the 12th best pro style quarterback courtesy of 247sports.com. DeWeaver held offers from 12 division 1 schools including Arkansas, Mississippi State, and fellow in-state rival Michigan, but ultimately chose the Spartans because of how hard Dantonio recruited him. You can watch DeWeaver’s highlight tape here. –>http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1872096/messiah-deweaver

9.  Stanley Johnson Declares for Draft

University of Arizona’s Stanley Johnson declares for the draft. Why should you care? Because as of right now the Detroit Pistons have the number 8 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and are in the market for a small forward. While the Pistons have to sign Reggie Jackson and Greg. Monroe, it’s likely the Pistons lock up Reggie Jackson as he is a restricted free agent. This means any team can offer him a contract, but the Pistons have the opportunity to match it. It seems likely that Monroe is out the door so the Pistons need a true starter at both forward positions. With no real depth at forward, picking Johnson, if he’s still available at 8, seems like an obvious choice. In his lone season at Arizona, Johnson averaged 13.8 Pts, 6.5 Rebs, and 1.5 Stls. He stands tall at 6’8″ and weighs around 245lbs. Johnson has a unique combinations of size and speed that can only be compared to one player. Lebron James. While he’s no Lebron James, Johnson projects to be a solid scorer and rebounder at the next level. If the Pistons Pick him at 8, they will be getting a solid player and quite possible their starting small forward for the next 15 years.

10. Lions’ Safety James Ihedigbo Wants a New Contract

James Ihedigbo had a solid season last year, posting 71 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles. Ihedigbo was a huge playmaker for the Lions last year, forcing 7 turnovers for the team. Because of that play he wants an increased salary. That and the fact the Lions decided to pay his back up Isa Abdul-Quddus more money than him. Isa Abdul-Quddus will be making about $400,000 dollars more than the man he plays behind on the depth chart. Ihedigbo’s agent told WXYZ Detroit that he informed the Lions that James will not be participating in any off season activities until he gets a new contract. It seems highly unlikely that Ihedigbo gets a new contract especially since the team is cap strapped and must still sign the rookies they will be drafting next Thursday at the NFL Draft.

Thank you all for the read. If you have any comments or questions I can be contacted at [email protected]