Mold Remediation in Bloomfield, MI

Bruce Hefflinger Michigan Senior Writer

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With 2024 now in the past, Prep Baseball Michigan is eagerly anticipating bringing the state the best high school coverage that can be found anywhere in 2025. Starting in February, we began releasing team previews for squads across the state. Ahead, we will have Preseason All-State Teams as well as the Preseason State Rankings coming your way.

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2025 Spring Team Preview: West Bloomfield

WEST BLOOMFIELD - An impressive pitching staff has West Bloomfield being considered among the elite teams in the state this season.

“The strength of the team will be our arms,” noted fifth-year head coach Josh Birnberg, who has a 115-42 record with two league titles in his time in charge of the program. “We have enough high-level arms that should make us tough to score on. With that being said, we have some newcomers to the weekly rotation in Jalen Payne and Connor Zaborny that will need to give quality innings.”

It would be hard to find a team in the state with a better one-two punch than Michigan commit Slade Moore and Michigan State signee Stevie Fountain. Moore, the fourth-rated 2025 left-handed pitcher in Michigan, fanned 92 in 48 innings on the mound a year ago, with a 1.75 ERA. Fountain, the 11th-ranked senior right-handed pitcher in the state, threw 47 innings with 72 Ks and a 0.745 ERA.

Kalamazoo College recruit Cam Laflamme, the 34th-rated senior RHP in Michigan, was on the hill for 26.2 innings in 2024 with 40 strikeouts and a 2.362 ERA while Brady Scheidt, a New York University commit ranked 79th among 2025 right-handed pitchers in the state, struck out 21 in 17 frames with a 2.471 ERA.

Payne, a southpaw, and Zaborny, along with Brody Pikur, the 16th-ranked 2025 RHP in Michigan, provide depth for the Lakers, which lost pitchers Myles Sorn (Lansing CC, 44.2 innings, 2.037 ERA) and Mitch Rebtroy (Macomb, 2.227 ERA) to graduation.

Pikur, Fountain and Laflamme are all key returnees in the batting order for West Bloomfield. An uncommitted senior, Pikur hit .352 with three home runs and 25 RBIs a year ago. Fountain batted .333 with 16 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs while Laflamme had a .311 average with five triples while driving in 15.

Sophomore Logan Scheidt is another returnee after batting .407 in limited time a year ago.

“We are replacing half of our lineup from last year,” pointed out Birnberg. “A few of our best hitters graduated so we are going to need some guys to step up offensively in order to put pressure on opposing teams.

“Logan Scheidt is a newcomer to watch. He was called up to varsity as a freshman toward the end of last year, but this will be his first full year on the squad and he will be doing a lot of the catching. I also expect guys like Jalen Payne, Connor Zaborny, Keith Hopkins and Kevin Hopkins to have bigger roles this year.”

Jaxon Stapf, who led the Lakers in batting average at .440, must be replaced in the lineup along with Max Gross, but Birnberg is confident this year’s squad can be a good one.

“I like that we are an older team,” Birnberg said. “We have a lot of experience that I think will really help us come playoff time. This will be a lot of our guys third or fourth year on varsity, so there should be no environment that they aren’t comfortable in.”

The formula for success remains the same according to the head coach.

“I’d like to think we are known for always competing hard,” Birnberg explained. “Most teams have a bad game here and there, especially during a 38-game season, but the majority of the time we play everyone very tough. We respect all opponents and take no team lightly. Every opportunity we have to compete we take advantage of.”

The belief is the Lakers have the makings of a team to watch out for in 2025.

“We have to take the season one day and one game at a time,” Birnberg concluded. “We need to try and get a little bit better each and every day. The regular season will serve as a 38-game tryout to see what our best lineup will be come playoff time. We expect to compete for another league title and the goal is to make a playoff run all the way to East Lansing.”