The Warrior Report — Week 1
Brother Rice Opens Strong as Spring Baseball Returns to Detroit
There’s a point every year where you don’t need a calendar to tell you baseball is back.
You can feel it.
The air shifts. The days stretch. The fields start to thaw. And in a city like Detroit—when the Detroit Tigers are playing meaningful baseball again—you can sense the energy building.
For anyone who’s played this game, this is the time of year that brings everything back.
And in Metro Detroit, that feeling showed up in full yesterday.
Brother Rice Sets the Tone on Opening Day
Brother Rice opened its season at Oakland University against one of the top teams in the state—and left no doubt about the standard they’re playing to early.
They took both games.
The first was tight. The second, more decisive. But both told the same story.
Game One — Winning Without Needing Volume
Brother Rice took game one 4–3, despite being out-hit.
They only collected three hits on the day—but found ways to manufacture runs early and control the game from there.
They struck first in the opening inning, capitalizing on situational execution—pushing across runs on a ground ball and a productive out. An inning later, plate discipline showed up, with a walk extending the lead to 3–0.
They added one more in the third on a sacrifice fly—again, not flashy, but effective.
And that was enough.
Cole Duhaime set the tone on the mound, going four innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out seven and walking none. The combo of him and Broder Katke is not fair for a high school baseball battery.
Offensively, contributions were spread out:
Tristan Turner, Michael Stanton, and Broder Katke each recorded a hit
F Beyer drove in a run
The group drew six walks, showing early-season discipline
It wasn’t about overpowering St. Mary’s.
It was about playing clean baseball—and letting the game come to them.
Game Two — Letting the Offense Open Up
Game two flipped the script.
After falling behind early, Brother Rice responded immediately—and never looked back, winning 8–3.
They answered a three-run deficit with a steady, controlled offensive approach:
Michael Stanton got things started early
Tristan Turner delivered a game-tying hit in the second
In the fourth, Maksim Neshov broke the game open with an RBI single
Stanton followed with a double to extend the lead
From there, they kept pressure on.
Brother Rice finished with nine hits and applied constant stress on the defense:
Stanton, Katke, and Beyer each collected two hits
Turner, Stanton, and Katke all drove in two runs
The team added five stolen bases, showing aggressiveness on the basepaths
On the mound, the group did enough early and let the offense take over. Grady Preston started the game, striking out 5 over 3 innings, and Ethan Reidy threw two hitless, shutout inning to get the save.
Two games. Two different styles.
Same result.
A Program Built to Sustain This
What you’re seeing at Brother Rice right now isn’t new.
It’s the result of a system.
Head coach Bob Riker has built one of the most respected high school programs in the country—not just by stacking talent, but by creating alignment.
Around 60 players are brought into the program each year. Not separated by labels, but connected through a standard.
That’s an important distinction.
Because what shows up on opening day isn’t built in a week. It’s built over years—through repetition, accountability, and consistency.
Talent That Reflects the Culture
The roster features some of the top players in the state, highlighted recently by Michigan Prep Baseball Report.
But what stands out isn’t just the talent.
It’s the way they carry themselves.
Junior Broder Katke (Vanderbilt commit), one of the top prospects in the country, plays with a presence that goes beyond his age. When he joined me on the Up & In Show, one thing came through clearly—he’s invested in the group.
He wants to win with these guys.
And that shows up on the field.
Paired with Duhaime, who leads more quietly but just as effectively, this team has something you can’t fake—players who genuinely play for each other.
That matters more than anything in March.
The Ecosystem Around It
Programs like this don’t operate in isolation.
What’s happening at Brother Rice is supported by a larger structure:
DJ LeMahieu helping elevate resources and vision
Daily development work at the Stevens Complex
Paul Fry bringing a major league standard to strength and conditioning
Integration with Warrior Baseball at the youth level
Ongoing pitching development through Mike Steele
This is what a fully connected development system looks like.
And it’s starting to show.
From Youth to Varsity — The Next Layer
That connection is what this Warrior Report is built to track.
Because the varsity team isn’t the starting point.
It’s the current stage and the next group is already on its way.
The Warrior Baseball Club Orange 11U team moved to 25–0 this past weekend, winning a tournament and continuing one of the strongest starts you’ll see at that level.
Lucas Tocca, JJ Lupienski and Andrew Kives are leading the offensive charge. Tocca is batting .621 with 5 HR and 40 RBI, Lupienski is batting .552 with 4 HR and 25 RBI, while Andrew Kives is batting .465 with 4 HR and 29 RBI.
On the bump, Graeme Kisabeth is leading the way with a 0.00 ERA, but what impressed me the most…. his strike-out to walk ratio: 32:9. And the 32 K’s in 14.2 IP is very impressive, equating to a wile 19.6 K/9.
Kisabeth has also only allowed one hit so far in those 14+ innings, which means there are basically no base runners when he is on the bump!
For full team stats, check out their team GameChanger page.
These players are the players that are working with Mike Steele and myself weekly to instill the baseball habits needed to play every day, all while they are also learning how to compete now.
And in a few years, they’ll be stepping into environments like the Brother Rice program—playing meaningful games, in meaningful moments.
What Else This Could Be Building Toward
This is also bigger than a season.
What’s happening across Metro Detroit—at the youth level, at Brother Rice, and with summer experiences like the Leprechauns—is building toward something that hasn’t fully existed here before.
A complete pathway.
And eventually, it could lead to something like a Metro Detroit Development League.
A place where:
high school players
college players
former pros
and players still chasing opportunities
All share the same field with real at-bats, competition, and evaluation.
And when that happens, it won’t feel new.
Because the players, the stories, and the development will already be documented here.
Early Takeaway
It’s week one of the high school season.
But it’s a clear one.
Brother Rice didn’t just win on opening day.
They looked like a team—and a program—that understands what it takes to sustain success.
And as the weather continues to turn, and the season starts to unfold, that’s what we’ll be tracking here.
Not just results.
But development.