Difficult to defend

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

Warriors learn the hard way how tough it is to defend a state title,  falling in quarters

Bob Riker had heard the old cliché — that defending a championship is often more difficult than winning it the first time.

Well, the Birmingham Brother Rice baseball coach is now a firm believer.

In June of 2008, the Warriors rolled to a Division 1 title by cruising past Saline High 8-0 in the final. In June 2009, with almost the exact same team intact, the Warriors had their playoff journey cut short in the quarterfinals, dropping a 4-3 game to, of all teams, Saline High.

As for how tough it is to actually defend a title, well, it’s never been done in Division 1 baseball in Michigan.

 “Yeah, we had everybody back, and it’s fun to talk about and read about how we should repeat and how we have all the expectations,” Riker said. “But it’s hard enough to win that first one. Trying to win that second one, well, it’s pretty difficult.”

Riker made no excuses when asked about the way the season ended. At the same time, he wasn’t ready to call 2009 a failure, either.

“We enter every season with three goals,” he said referring to division, tournament and state championships. “We weren’t able to do any of those this season, and yes, that part is disappointing. But when you look at our overall record (29-9) and consider the level of competition we played on a daily basis, there’s still a lot these guys have to be proud of.

This was a season, I think, a lot of teams across the state would love to have.”

The Warriors’ lone weakness, which ended up costing them in the quarterfinals, was their inability to keep good teams at bay once they had the lead. Twice in the loss to Saline they had a lead, and twice Saline was able to fight back.

 “Of our nine losses, about five of them came the same way,” Riker said. “We’d get up on teams and then couldn’t find a way to maintain that. I don’t want to say Saline was hungrier than us in this loss, but they had 361 days to think about this game. They certainly made the most of the chances they got.”

Riker now has the daunting task of maintaining Brother Rice’s elite level of play while replacing nearly half his roster. After graduating only one senior from the 2008 squad — shortstop Andy Lentz — the 2009 squad bids farewell to nine seniors, including five starting pitchers.

“Honestly, I haven’t thought too much about next year, but we’re going to have some very talented guys coming back, some guys who will be four-year players,” Riker said. “At the same time, in a game where pitching is everything, we’re going to be very young at that position. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.”

With such an influx of youth and a reshaped roster in 2010, will those three goals remain the same?

“Oh yeah,” Riker said. “We’re going to be competitive. We’re going to have the same focus and goals we do every year.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.