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High 5s: 6/12/12

June 14, 2012

A few thousand teams began this spring on MHSAA fields and courts. Heading into the final weekend of the 2011-12 school year, that number is down to 100 and change.

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to athletes and a team based on their accomplishments the previous week or throughout the season. Below are an athlete and team who will be looking to finish this season with one last win.

Josh Vyletel
Howell senior
Pitcher

Vyletel threw a complete-game no-hitter as Howell beat rival Brighton 4-3 in a Division 1 Quarterfinal on Tuesday to advance to the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time. Vyletel improved to 15-2 this spring, which ties him for 10th in the MHSAA record book for most wins in one season. He’ll take the ball again Friday for the Highlanders against Warren DeLaSalle at Battle Creek’s Bailey Park.

My kind of pitcher: “I want to be a pitcher that’s a go-to guy. I always want to be consistent. I know how to throw strikes; I don’t walk too many batters. I know if I get it over the plate, good things will happen. I’m not really the kind of pitcher that will blow it by you. My game is hitting the corners and such, and when I do it pretty well and locate my pitches, I believe in myself.”

He winds up and delivers: “My fastball moves by itself, and I usually keep them off-balance with the curve. My fastball and curveball I can locate the best.”

No. 1 highlight: “Against Brighton, the last game we played. It was crazy. There was a big crowd, and every pitch the parents and students were just going out cheering. It got my adrenaline going.”

I learned the most about baseball from: “My dad (John) has always been there for me. He’s always backing me up on baseball. He was never a great baseball player, but he says if you believe in yourself you can go far in life. He taught me to believe in myself.”

Up next: Vyletel will attend Lansing Community College beginning this fall and join the Stars’ baseball team. 

Grandville Calvin Christian girls soccer

Calvin Christian will play for its first MHSAA championship Saturday at Michigan State University. Last weekend, the Squires (24-2-1) knocked out two ranked teams in last week’s Division 4 Regional – first No. 8 St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic 7-0 and then No. 2 Kalamazoo Christian 7-2. The Squires entered the postseason ranked No. 4.

This spring's previous honorees

Traverse City St. Francis' Tyler Thompson (2) runs back to his dugout after crossing the plate during the Division 3 Final on Saturday.

St. Francis Makes Good on Great Expectations by Completing Repeat Run

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 13, 2026

EAST LANSING — Repeating as an MHSAA Finals champion in baseball might be more difficult than any other sport given its fickle nature.

But from the start this spring, Traverse City St. Francis appeared capable. 

After claiming the Division 3 title last year, St. Francis returned both its best pitchers and a core of eight seniors from the 2025 squad. 

It’s no wonder why a repeat was expected by many – and the Gladiators fulfilled those expectations Saturday.

St. Francis (34-5) finished its mission with a 9-0 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the Division 3 Final at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium. 

“Yeah, we had confidence the entire season,” said Gladiators senior Lanse Vos. “We knew there was a good group. Having this group again, we’ve grown up together. We only expected this. Our goals were only this.”

Vos was a big reason why St. Francis repeated, allowing just three hits and no runs in six innings of work in what was an unexpected start until Thursday’s Semifinal against Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest – which he also began on the mound.

With St. Francis holding an 11-1 lead over Lutheran Northwest, Gladiators head coach Tom Passinault pulled Vos before he exceeded the 49-pitch limit that would have prevented him from throwing Saturday. 

The plan worked out brilliantly for St. Francis, which got to start Vos and bring on senior Tyler Endres in the seventh inning to close the game. 

The Gladiators' Lanse Vos delivers a pitch during his winning performance on the mound.“We watched Kalamazoo Christian on Thursday, and they are a tremendous fastball-hitting team,” Passinault said. “Since we had Lanse available, he is our best combination of fastball and off-speed. He had them on their front foot all day. It was a huge bonus to be able to throw him today.”

Vos also was instrumental to the team’s offense, contributing two hits and four RBI.

A week earlier, it didn’t look like the Gladiators would even make it to East Lansing when it trailed Sanford Meridian 10-7 going into the last inning of their Regional Final. 

St. Francis rallied to score four runs in the seventh to win, and never looked back.

“Once we got here to East Lansing, I just thought we were rolling,” Passinault said. “We were playing great baseball.”

Making its first trip to a Final, Kalamazoo Christian finished 26-9.

“There’s a lot to be able to reflect on and enjoy,” Kalamazoo Christian head coach Russ Meyer said. “But it stings now. They believed in it. They believed they had a chance to be in this game. It just didn’t happen to go our way.”

The Gladiators jumped all over Kalamazoo Christian early, scoring two runs in both the first and second innings to take a 4-0 lead. 

St. Francis scored the first pair on a walk with the bases loaded and an RBI sacrifice fly by freshman John St. Peter, and added the next two in the second inning on a two-run double by Vos. 

The Gladiators added a run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Vos, and then put the game away by scoring four in the bottom of the sixth inning – the big blow of that rally a two-run single by senior Evan Belanger.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis' Tyler Thompson (2) runs back to his dugout after crossing the plate during the Division 3 Final on Saturday. (Middle) The Gladiators' Lanse Vos delivers a pitch during his winning performance on the mound.