Finals Pitchers' Duel Falls Foley's Way
June 17, 2017
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Casey Peterson had allowed one run all season.
That total doubled with one swing of the bat.
Mason Minzey’s two-out, two-run triple in the fifth inning was the difference Saturday as Madison Heights Bishop Foley defeated Traverse City St. Francis, 3-0, in the Division 3 Final at McLane Baseball Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
It was the fourth championship for Foley (25-12-1), all coming since 2011.
Peterson, a junior left-hander and one of a plethora of stingy hurlers on the Gladiators roster, entered the tournament with a miniscule 0.15 earned run average. St. Francis pitching had recorded seven consecutive shutouts – and 17 (the fourth-highest total in MHSAA history) on the season -- leading up to Friday’s 3-2 Semifinal win over Schoolcraft.
Peterson was cruising in the fifth inning when he surrendered back-to-back singles with one out to Evan Ludwick and Payton Schuster, and then Minzey’s hard-hit triple that went directly over the head of St. Francis’ centerfielder.
“I told our assistant coach, Tom (Schuster), ‘This game is going to be won on a mistake,’” second-year Foley coach Greg Fettes said. “The centerfielder lost his footing, and that’s what wins us the baseball game. Between two great teams, that’s what’s going to happen. One mistake is going to cost you a game.”
Minzey’s triple broke a scoreless tie, the Ventures added another run on a Justin Campbell RBI single, and then Campbell did the rest on the mound. The lanky 6-foot-4 senior lefthander, who has signed with Tulane, struck out eight and did not walk a batter in firing the complete-game shutout.
“That’s Campbell in a nutshell right there,” Fettes said. “That’s the guy you’re going to get day in and day out. That’s why I love when he’s on the mound. I’m going to be extremely sad to see him go, but I know he’s off to bigger and better things at Tulane and I know they’re getting one heck of a pitcher.”
Peterson gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked only one in a strong effort.
While the Ventures eventually got to Peterson, however, Campbell seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. Four of St. Francis’ six hits came over the first three innings, and Campbell retired nine in a row at one point, a streak that ended when the Gladiators put two on with two out in the ninth inning to bring the potential tying run to the plate.
Campbell induced a game-ending fly ball.
“Very well-played game,” fourth-year St. Francis coach Tom Passinault said. “We knew going in that we’d have trouble scoring runs on the Campbell kid, so every pitch, every hit, every run was magnified. They strung things together at the right time, and we didn’t.
“Really proud of our kids. Been a great year.”
Conner Sweet had two hits to lead St. Francis, which finished with a school-record 38 victories against four losses.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bishop Foley pitcher Justin Campbell delivers during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) A Ventures hitter gets down a bunt.
Longtime Chelsea High School Administrator, Coach Bush to Join MHSAA Staff as Assistant Director
By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 21, 2022
Brad Bush, a highly-respected educator, administrator and coach over the last three decades, has been selected to serve in the position of assistant director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, beginning Jan. 17.
Bush, 52, taught and coached at East Kentwood High School for four years before beginning a tenure at Chelsea High School in 1997 that has included teaching, then serving as athletic director and later also assistant principal and leading the football program as varsity coach from 1997-2002 and again from 2004-18.
He also has served as a statewide delegate on the MHSAA Representative Council during the last year and provided leadership in multiple roles, including president, for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) since 2005.
Bush will serve as the MHSAA’s lead administrator for baseball and also among lead administrators for the officials program, which includes more than 8,000 registered officials in all sports. Bush also will be assigned additional duties in other sports based on his vast experiences. He was selected from a pool of 34 applicants.
“I’m incredibly excited to have Brad join our team,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. "He’s been an outstanding athletic director and coach who is highly-respected by those who know him.”
As Chelsea athletic director, Bush annually has supervised a staff of 110 coaches across 31 programs, with nearly 70 percent of the high school’s 800 students participating in athletics. As a teacher and assistant principal, he has served on Chelsea’s School Improvement Team and on multiple committees that provided instructional leadership including in the development of the district’s new trimester schedule. In his roles with the MHSFCA, Bush helped direct an organization with more than 2,200 members and also served as the association’s treasurer and liaison to the MHSAA.
Bush is perhaps best known, however, for his coaching success. Over 22 seasons, he led Chelsea’s varsity football team to a 169-60 record, 13 league championships, 18 playoff appearances, seven District titles and a Division 3 runner-up finish in 2015. During his break in tenure as Chelsea coach, Bush served as an assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator for Eastern Michigan University during the 2003-04 school year, and he has served as an assistant coach at Albion College the last four seasons contributing to the team’s two league titles and appearance in the 2021 NCAA Division III Playoffs.
“I feel like joining the team at the MHSAA is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Bush said. “The 26 years I spent at Chelsea were some of the best times of my life. It’s a professional transition that in the back of my mind, if this opportunity came, was something I needed to do.
“Over time, I’ve grown to care about the bigger picture of athletics and appreciate the role of the MHSAA in protecting high school athletics in Michigan.”
Bush is a 1988 graduate of Ypsilanti High School. He studied and played quarterback at Cornell University before returning and graduating from EMU after majoring in history and minoring in social studies. He earned his physical education endorsement from EMU in 2000 and his master’s in physical education and sports management from EMU in 2002. He has earned continuing education credits in sports management from Drake University and completed the Path to Leadership program from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP).
Bush was inducted into MHSFCA Hall of Fame and Ypsilanti High School Hall of Fame both in 2019. He and his wife Laura have three adult children, two daughters and a son.
PHOTO Chelsea coach Brad Bush directs his team during the 2015 Division 3 Final at Ford Field.