Troy Baseball's 2-0 Start a Change from 2011

The baseball team is hoping to avoid the kind of slow start that hurt it last season.

So far so good.

The Colts (2-0) opened the year by on Wednesday night, 10-0 and 6-0.

“It was my first year at Troy last year and we really got off to a slow start,” coach Jim Ellis said. “We only had two or three practices outside before May and we (the coaching staff) really didn’t get to know what we had.”

Poor weather prevented Ellis and his staff from seeing his players in a real baseball environment for most of March and April. Ellis was shifting players around the diamond until May.

“It was definitely a learning process,” Ellis said. “It took us awhile to get everybody in the right position. It wasn’t so much the (batting) lineup, it was figuring out where players were the strongest in the field.”

All the pieces fell into place by mid-May and the Colts started playing a lot better. They finished the season 15-16-1 (8-8 Oakland Activities Association Red) and made it to the district finals. 

Ellis doesn’t expect to have any of those problems this season.

He knows his junior and senior players a lot better. Ellis called this year’s squad a “nice mix” of returning and new players. Troy has nine first-year varsity players and eight players back from last season.

The fantastic spring weather in March has allowed the group to get a good jump on practicing outside. The Colts scrimmaged with a couple of other schools before its season opener.

“We are as prepared of a team as I’ve ever coached,” he said.

Leading the way for the Colts will be a trio of seniors - John Wassel, Matt Oppenlander and Tyler Horne - who have been on varsity since their sophomore year. The three are the Colts co-captains this season.

Horne was second on the team in hitting last season. He will pitch and play third base this year. In game two of the double-header on Wednesday, Horne didn’t allow a hit in five innings and had five strikeouts.  

Wassel will also pitch and play in the infield for Troy while Oppenlander will start at catcher.

He started off the season off by going 3-for-3 with an RBI in the early game on Wednesday.

The seniors will try to bring the Colts their first league title since 2007 and district championship since 2008.

Both the division and district Troy competes in were realigned in the offseason. The Colts move from the OAA Red along with and Avondale to the Blue, which is now grouped together based on geographic location. The schools join Andover, Lahser and Royal Oak.

“We won’t play some of the stronger teams (in northern Oakland County), so that will help,” Ellis said. “I think it’s going to be a very competitive district talent-wise.”

The Colts get to avoid playing powerhouses like Lake Orion and Clarkston during the regular season.

For the districts, both Troy high schools move a little south. The schools were in a district with Utica Eisenhower, Utica and Rochester last season. Athens will host a district with Troy, Avondale, Pontiac and Adams.  

“We’re expecting big things,” Ellis said. “We are eager to get out there.”

OAA Baseball Season Previews