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Division 3 Team Of The Week: Week 6 - Detroit Edison

DETROIT - So just how good is Detroit Edison this season? If Saturday is any indication, the Pioneers are state title contenders once again.

Wins over a pair of Division 1 ranked teams, Grosse Pointe North (12-1) and Grosse Pointe South (9-5), followed up a split with Frankenmuth and a sweep of Traverse City St. Francis, helping make Edison the Prep Baseball Report Division 3 Team of the Week.

“We’re a really young team, I didn't think we’d get off to this fast of a start with the teams we are playing,” admitted Edison head coach Mark Brown. “The way these guys are staying together and playing together has really impressed me.”

Beating teams rated the 23rd and 17th in the PBR Michigan Power 25 is impressive to more than just the head coach of the Pioneers, whose team had only played one game in two weeks prior to this past week’s action.

Jordan Jones had a big week for Edison, going 9-21 with two triples, three doubles, a home run, three walks and seven RBIs. The junior three-hole hitter has a team-high 19 RBIs while batting .405.

While the 11th-rated 2024 third baseman in the state was tearing it up at the plate, Marwynn Matthews was getting the job done on the mound allowing two hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in a 5-0 win against Frankenmuth and coming back to toss a two-hitter with six Ks and no free passes in a six-inning effort against GP North.

“Our pitching has really been impressive this season,” noted Brown, with Memphis commit Kole Waterman 5-0 after beating St. Francis in Thursday’s opener. The fourth-ranked sophomore left-handed pitcher in Michigan has struck out 52 in 26 innings with 11 walks and a 1.35 ERA. The 6-3 190-pound southpaw has shut out Detroit Western and beaten Grand Blanc, Ann Arbor Huron and Lakeland this year.

Matthews is 3-0 with a 1.10 ERA, fanning 24 in 16 innings with a pair of saves. Senior Daveion Williams stands 4-2, including a 3-2 loss to Drew Titsworth (Clemson commit/No. 1 2023 RHP in Michigan) and Frankenmuth on Wednesday.

“I really like the way our starting pitchers have pitched,” Brown pointed out. “Those three have been tremendous and junior left-hander Ace Royster is also 2-0.”

With just two seniors on the roster and Williams the lone starter, the Pioneers have had to rely on youth and the results have been more than can be expected en route to a 14-3 record following a 4-3 loss to Livonia-Franklin on Monday.

Freshman JonTae Wright Jr. bats cleanup and is hitting .385 with one home run and four doubles while driving in 17 runs.

“He’s had a very impressive season,” Brown said of the 6-0 250-pound 15-year-old.

Matthews, a Western Michigan commit rated eighth in the state among junior shortstops, “leads off and sets the table” according to Brown, with a .375 average to go along with two triples, three doubles and 18 stolen bases.

With last year’s outfield trio of Greg Pace (Michigan), Caleb Sanders (Dayton) and Keith Smith (Wilberforce) now playing in college, the seventh-year head coach of Edison is pleased to find such strong replacements in Royster, Waterman and Deshawn Williams. The center fielder, Royster has 17 RBIs with Waterman, the two-hole hitter, playing right and Williams left.

“These guys have really stepped it up,” Brown related. “Defensively they have been solid and Royster has really been clutch in RBI situations.”

A game with Fenton on Saturday at the Saline Tournament will be followed by a matchup with either the hosts or Lake Orion as the tough schedule continues for Edison.

“We play Division I teams for the most part which definitely benefits us getting ready for the state tournament,” Brown noted. “When you see a good D-3 pitcher you’ve already seen five or six other kids like him so you're not overwhelmed by them.”

The state tourney for the ninth-rated team in PBR Michigan’s Power 25 ratings begins on June 3 versus Detroit Osborn.

“Our goal every year is to get to East Lansing, that’s not a secret,” explained Brown, whose Pioneers lost to Buchanan 3-1 in last year’s D-3 state title game. “Solid pitching and solid defense are the keys. That wins championships and we’ve got to continue doing it to get to East Lansing.

“Staying together and trusting the others is also a key. If we do that we have a good chance to get back to East Lansing.”