Preview: Opportunities to Celebrate
June 13, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Two reigning champions will return this weekend to the MHSAA Baseball Finals at Michigan State University.
They’ll be joined at McLane Stadium in part by seven teams seeking their first title in this sport – and with Division 3 guaranteed to offer one of those teams a chance at celebrating the ultimate prize.
See below for a schedule of this weekend’s games, plus glances at all 16 teams that will take the field beginning Thursday.
Semifinals – Thursday
Division 1
Grosse Pointe South vs. Midland, 2:30 p.m.
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Birmingham Brother Rice, 5 p.m.
Division 2
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Stevensville Lakeshore, 9 a.m.
Saginaw Swan Valley vs. DeWitt, 11:30 a.m.
Semifinals – Friday
Division 3
Gladstone vs. Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 2:30 p.m.
Riverview Gabriel Richard vs. Schoolcraft, 5 p.m.
Division 4
Gaylord St. Mary vs. Beal City, 9 a.m.
Unionville-Sebewaing vs. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, 11:30 a.m.
Finals – Saturday
Division 1: 11:30 a.m.
Division 2: 9 a.m.
Division 3: 5 p.m.
Division 4: 2:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $8 per round and include admission to softball games those days also at MSU’s Old College Field. Radio broadcasts of all games can be heard online at MHSAAnetwork.com. All games will be streamed live online at MHSAA.TV and viewable on subscription basis. Click to order tickets in advance and for a parking map.
All statistics below are through Regionals, except Gabriel Richard and Woodhaven’s include their Quarterfinals. (Click for links to brackets and scores.)
Division 1
BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 31-8, unranked
Coach: Bob Riker, 21st season (578-202)
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Central
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), three runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Reese Trahey, sr. CF (.380, 38 RBI, 14 SB); Jack Orlowski, jr. 3B (.407, 14 2B, 31 RBI, 14 SB); Tito Flores, jr. RF (.395, 45 R, 15 2B, 40 RBI, 16 SB); Jack Brockhaus, sr. P (7-1, 1.54 ERA, 4 SV).
Outlook: Brother Rice emerged from the frequently powerful Catholic League Central to earn this first Semifinal trip since finishing runner-up in 2013. The Warriors downed No. 11 Northville in the Quarterfinal and own a recent one-run win over possible championship game opponent Grosse Pointe South. Brockhaus has dominated, and Rice also has junior Tyler Sarkisian (5-0, 2.42 ERA) among others capable on the mound. Senior catcher Gabe Sotres (.345, 9 HR) and senior first baseman Mac Menard (.330) are two more key bats.
BROWNSTOWN WOODHAVEN
Record/rank: 33-5. No. 9
Coach: Corey Farner, fourth season (121-24)
League finish: First in Downriver League
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Drew Szczepaniak, sr. P/1B (.368, 29 RBI, 9-1 pitching, 1.09 ERA, 113 K); Colin Czajkowski, jr. P/OF (.388, 32 R, 16 2B, 32 RBI, 6-0 pitching, 1.03 ERA, 85 K); Justin Charron, sr. C/P (.450, 10 2B, 21 RBI, 5-1 pitching, 1.00 ERA); Kyle Ray, jr. C/OF/P (.380, 34 R, 10 2B, 25 RBI, 4-1 pitching, 0.00 ERA).
Outlook: This historic run has included Woodhaven’s first Regional title and now first trip to the Semifinals, and the Warriors are loaded for a final push. Szczepaniak will continue his career after this spring at Western Michigan, and Czajkowski will sign with University of Michigan, and they provide an obviously daunting 1-2 pitching punch. Woodhaven has reached this weekend with wins over No. 10 Saline in the Regional Final and then No. 6 Grand Ledge in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal.
GROSSE POINTE SOUTH
Record/rank: 31-12, unranked
Coach: Dan Griesbaum, 35th season (808-436-2)
League finish: Second in Macomb Area Conference Red
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2001, runner-up 2014.
Players to watch: Joe Naporano, sr. C/IF (.389, 13 2B, 29 R, 4-1 pitching, 2.31 ERA); Davis Graham, sr. C/OF (.386, 10 2B, 9 HR, 45 RBI); Drew Maccagnone, jr. IF (.353, 22 RBI); Jacob Hinkle, sr. OF/IF (.355, 11 2B, 44 R, 14 SB).
Outlook: After two seasons away, South will play in its third Semifinal in five seasons. The Blue Devils clearly earned it with wins against No. 2 University Liggett and No. 12 Macomb Dakota along the way. This season’s District title was the 24th over 35 seasons under Griesbaum, who entered this season eighth in MHSAA history for career baseball wins. He has 17 seniors, including seven starting hitters and expected Semifinal pitcher Nathan Budziak (5-1, 2.31 ERA). Senior Cam Shook (6-2, 1.82 ERA) is another reliable thrower.
MIDLAND
Record/rank: 30-11, unranked
Coach: Eric Albright, 16th season (416-159)
League finish: Third in Saginaw Valley League.
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 1998).
Players to watch: Jeff Landis, jr. P/1B (.429, 11 2B, 30 RBI, 6-2 pitching, 3.16 ERA); Martin Money, sr. IF (.375, 11 2B, 29 RBI, 30 SB); James Harris, jr. C (.370, 36 RBI); Garrett Willis, sr. P/OF (.351, 15 2B, 33 RBI, 10-2 pitching, 0.90 ERA, 74 K).
Outlook: Midland will play its first Semifinal since the Division 1 championship season in 1998, having beaten top-ranked Bay City Western and No. 19 Saginaw Heritage along the way. The Chemics previously were swept by Western and split with Heritage, both in league play, but haven’t given up more than two runs in a postseason game these last three weeks. Money, who made the all-state second team in 2017, is one of six regulars who was hitting at least .337 entering the week, and he, Harris, Landis and Willis all had crossed the plate at least 39 times this season while holding down the first four spots in the lineup.
Division 2
DEWITT
Record/rank: 27-6, No. 7
Coach: Alan Shankel, ninth season (225-92-3)
League finish: Second in Capital Area Activities Conference Red
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 1993), two runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Nolan Knauf, sr. IF/P (.404, 10 2B, 33 RBI, 4-0 pitching, 0.21 ERA); Mark Connelly, sr. IF (.418, 26 R, 22 RBI); Kade Preston, sr. C/1B (.396, 30 RBI); Logan Simon, jr. OF/P (6-1, 2.39 ERA).
Outlook: The Panthers are back at the Semifinals for the third time in five seasons with a veteran group that also has added to a streak of five straight District titles. DeWitt defeated No. 16 Tecumseh in the Quarterfinal to earn this trip and has won eight of its last 10 games. Three more starters are hitting at least .338, and seniors Josh Robinson (4-1, 2.45 ERA) and Garrett Larner (5-1, 1.98) are two more reliable arms; Robinson made the all-state second team last season.
ORCHARD LAKE ST. MARY’S
Record/rank: 28-12, No. 4
Coach: Matt Petry, eighth season (177-131)
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic League Central
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2015), three runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Carter Macias, sr. 3B (.385, 10 2B, 49 R, 16 SB); Blake Bean, sr. CF (.358, 42 RBI); Dillon Kark, jr. IF (.372, 5 HR, 32 RBI); Logan Wood, soph. P (9-2, 2.45 ERA, 110 K).
Outlook: The Eaglets will join Brother Rice at the Semifinals from the Catholic League Central, coming off a fourth straight District title and sixth in seven seasons. St. Mary’s eliminated No. 2 Detroit Country Day during this run and has outscored five playoff opponents by a combined 50-8. Sophomore Anthony Fett (5-1, 2.79 ERA) combines with Wood to give the team a pair of impressive sophomore lefties on the mound, and seven regulars total were hitting at least .308 entering the week.
SAGINAW SWAN VALLEY
Record/rank: 32-8-3, No. 17
Coach: Craig Leddy, first season (32-8-3)
League finish: First in Tri-Valley Conference Central
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2001.
Players to watch: Mitchell Jebb, soph. IF (.438, 46 R, 31 RBI, 23 SB); Victor Mancini, soph. IF (.331, 46 RBI, 11 SB); Avery Goldensoph, fr. P/IF (5-0, 1.51 ERA); Hunter Goldensoph, sr. P/OF (6-1, 1.70 ERA).
Outlook: This will be Swan Valley’s second trip to the Semifinals, joining the 2001 title run. But although the Vikings will graduate five players, the future is bright with two juniors and 10 underclassmen on the roster and many in prominent roles. Senior infielder Cameron Schroeder (.344, 18 SB) and sophomore catcher Easton Goldensoph (.324) are two more key hitters, and Brian Ross (.311, 3-1 pitching) is another strong sophomore. Swan Valley has shut out three of five postseason opponents.
STEVENSVILLE LAKESHORE
Record/rank: 25-14, No. 12
Coach: Mark Nate, 13th season (334-148-1)
League finish: Second in Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2017).
Players to watch: Trey Thibeault, sr. IF (.460, 42 R, 32 SB); Jared Evans, jr. OF/C (.398, 34 R, 35 RBI); Cam Dalrymple, jr. IF (.440, 12 SB); Connor Brawley, sr. OF/P (.402, 37 R, 26 SB, 9-4 pitching, 1.43 ERA).
Outlook: Seven starters are back from the lineup that won last season’s Division 2 championship, and Brawley earned the pitching win in the 2017 Semifinal. He made the all-state second team last season and leads a staff that also includes seniors Joel Brawley (6-1, 2.37 ERA) and Logan Morrow (4-2, 2.41 ERA). Sophomore Oli Carmody (.344) is another returning starter who helps fill out a strong lineup. Lakeshore opened this run by eliminating top-ranked Edwardsburg and also has beaten No. 13 Sturgis during the postseason.
Division 3
GLADSTONE
Record/rank: 32-4, No. 6
Coach: Don Lauscher, sixth season (158-49-1)
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Clay Cole, sr. OF/P (.467, 31 R, 4-1 pitching, 2.07 ERA); Braeden Lamberg, sr. IF/C (.351, 37 R, 26 RBI); Cody Frappier, jr. OF (.432, 36 R, 31 RBI); Carson Shea, jr. IF/P (7-1, 1.02 ERA).
Outlook: Gladstone is back for its third Semifinal in five seasons after getting past No. 15 Standish-Sterling and top-ranked Traverse City St. Francis, among others during this postseason. The Braves also return this weekend with their highest win total since the program was restarted six seasons ago. Junior Jared Crow (6-0, 0.82 ERA) is another successful thrower from a strong pitching staff, and he’s also one of seven regulars hitting at least .303.
MADISON HEIGHTS BISHOP FOLEY
Record/rank: 18-17-1, unranked
Coach: Tim McEvoy, 18-17-1
League finish: Third in Detroit Catholic League AA
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 2017), one runner-up finish.
Players to watch: Mason Minzey, sr. C; Benjamin Alderson, jr. P/1B; Ethan Hoffman, sr. P/OF. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Reigning champion Bishop Foley got over .500 by downing No. 4 New Lothrop in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal, and has outscored its five postseason opponents by a combined score of 43-4. Minzey and senior third baseman Evan Ludwick started in last season’s championship game and are among seven seniors. The Ventures have won eight straight games.
RIVERVIEW GABRIEL RICHARD
Record/rank: 26-3, No. 5
Coach: Mike Magier, fifth season (record N/A)
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League CD
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1994.
Players to watch: Kevin Tuttle, jr. C/IF (.438, 32 R, 32 RBI, 10 SB); Matthew Silka, jr. P/IF (6-0, 0.91 ERA, .311 hitting); David Zubor, soph. OF (.421, 30 R, 27 RBI); Jacob Gosen, jr. OF/P (.489, 44 R, 25 RBI, 4-1 pitching, 1.08 ERA).
Outlook: Gabriel Richard won its second straight Regional title and will play in its first Semifinal since the 1994 run, after also winning its fourth straight league and District titles. The Pioneers defeated No. 14 Michigan Center in the Quarterfinal to advance, and the future is bright as well as the roster is filled by all juniors and sophomores. The team boasts an impressive 1.37 ERA, with juniors Niko Maloney (4-1, 1.57) and Frank Klamerus (4-0, 0.00) and sophomore Cole Atkinson (4-0, 1.52) among others who have had success.
SCHOOLCRAFT
Record/rank: 22-11, unranked
Coach: Larry Phelps, sixth season (151-46)
League finish: Fourth in Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Jett Gott, fr. P/OF/IF (.413, 31 R, 19 SB); Alex Thole, fr. P/OF/IF (.375, 5-0 pitching, 1.70 ERA); Connor Nutt, jr. P/1B/OF (.362, 11 2B, 4-2 pitching); Marc Shaink, sr. P/3B (.346, 3-3 pitching, 2.56 ERA).
Outlook: Schoolcraft won its third straight Regional title and will play in the Semifinals for the second straight season, but with a much different cast – Shaink is the only returning starter. The Quarterfinal win over No. 20 Buchanan was the team’s 12th straight. Six starters are hitting at least .309, including senior Wyatt Adams (.309, 31 R, 16 SB), and he and Shaink are two of four seniors in the lineup.
Division 4
BEAL CITY
Record/rank: 21-8, No. 14
Coach: Steve Pickens, second season (50-18)
League finish: First in Highland Conference
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2010), two runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Kollin Sharrar, sr. IF (.470, 10 2B, 20 RBI); Brett Upton, sr. P/IF (.415, 37 R, 22 RBI, 8-2 pitching, 0.81 ERA, 107 K); Keegan Haynes, jr. P/IF (.394, 5-2 pitching); Ryan Schafer, sr. P/OF (.368, 34 R, 3-2 pitching, 2.26 ERA).
Outlook: Beal City was Division 4 runner-up in both 2013 and 2014, and this Semifinals will be its first since the latter run. The Aggies didn’t give up a run in the postseason until beating No. 15 Muskegon Catholic Central 9-2 in the Quarterfinal and have outscored their five playoff opponents by a combined 44-2. Juniors Colby Berryhill and Nate Wilson are also among regulars hitting at least .333, Berryhill (.366, 32 R) from the lead-off spot.
GAYLORD ST. MARY
Record/rank: 26-5, No. 4
Coach: Matt Nowicki, 14th season (241-170)
League finish: First in Ski Valley Conference
Championship history: Class D runner-up 1988-89.
Players to watch: Drew Long, sr. P/C (.494, 29 R, 30 RBI); Drew Koenig, soph. P/C (.368, 10 2B, 34 RBI, 11-1 pitching, 1.90 ERA); Brady Hunter, soph. CF (.364, 31 R, 24 SB); Quinn Schultz, fr. 1B/P (.356, 23 RBI, 2-1 pitching, 2.93 ERA).
Outlook: Gaylord St. Mary will play in its third straight Semifinal – and keep an eye out moving forward as well. There are two seniors; the rest of the Snowbirds are freshmen and sophomores. Even then, four starters are back from that 2017 Semifinal, with Long a returning all-state first-team selection. St. Mary eliminated No. 10 Onaway and No. 18 Indian River Inland Lakes on the way back to MSU.
ST. JOSEPH LAKE MICHIGAN CATHOLIC
Record/rank: 27-3, No. 2
Coach: Dale Beeney, third season (82-14)
League finish: First in Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference White
Championship history: Division 4 runner-up 2010.
Players to watch: Matthew Defay, soph. P/IF; Kyle Juza, sr. P/IF; Jacob Kissane, sr. C. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Lake Michigan Catholic just missed making the Semifinals last season with a one-run Quarterfinal loss, but is back for the first time since the 2010 championship game run. Six seniors anchor the starting lineup, and the team carries a .386 average. The Lakers defeated No. 11 Decatur to win their Regional championship and have given up only five runs over five playoff games – and 1.45 earned runs per game this entire season.
UNIONVILLE-SEBEWAING
Record/rank: 21-15, unranked
Coach: Tyler Bader, sixth season (115-65-3)
League finish: Fifth in Greater Thumb Conference West.
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Cooper Kauffold, sr. C (.400, 11 2B, 20 RBI); Jalen Gangler, jr. DH/OF (.356, 19 RBI); Hunter Bohn, sr. SS/P (.330, 23 R, 4-3 pitching, 3.23 ERA); Brendan Prime, sr. P/CF (7-4, 1.56 ERA, 117 K).
Outlook: USA has won three straight Regional titles and will play in a Semifinal for the second straight season, but this one has to be a bit of a surprise as the team was just a game above .500 heading into the tournament. The Patriots eliminated No. 20 Ubly among others over the last three weeks and have navigated the postseason with six starters back from last season – including another top pitcher in senior Devin Riskey (7-6, 3.20 ERA, 80 K), an all-state first-team selection last spring.
PHOTO: Midland's Liam Grady unloads a pitch during Tuesday's Quarterfinal win over Holland West Ottawa. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Century-Old Postcard Inspires Researcher to Tell Story of Athens Baseball Dynasty
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
June 25, 2026
Shortly after graduation from little Athens High School in 1969, Larry DeBow had the chance to head east for a three-day music festival. Held that August on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Woodstock attracted some 400,000 and became one of the most famous cultural moments of the 1960s.
“I didn’t know what it was and blew it off,” he recalled. “I’ve always regretted that.”
That fall, DeBow left the Calhoun County village south of Battle Creek and made his way to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. There, he crammed four years of education into three, then, starting in Tecumseh, began a 41-year career in industrial sales with various companies and bounced around the world.
He retired in 2013, took up photography, and started a small business.
“In 2016 I added video when a friend and I decided to take a just-you-and-I road trip,” said DeBow, capsulating life’s path. Their destinations: Woodstock and the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“We were at Woodstock, and my friend Dave – he always talked like this – said ‘Dude, we gotta make a movie about this.’ So, I just started to snap pictures, and I used my iPhone taking video. Then I got home and go, ‘What am I going to do with this? I don’t know how to make a video.’ But on my computer was Movie Maker 7. I created my first video … I think it (runs) only about 10 minutes.”
After producing about 15 more videos, he found Movie Maker couldn’t keep up with his growing technology needs. Now tinkering with AI tools, DeBow is preparing to debut his latest work – a baseball documentary – in July.
Subject Matter
Following the road trip, DeBow experimented with technology and posted short films to YouTube. In 2017, at the suggestion of another Athens graduate, John Royer, they started assembling material for 1969 – A Celebration of Accomplishment, a documentary initially shared at Larry’s 50th class reunion. The Indians had fielded two pretty good sports teams during DeBow’s senior year.
“John was a year behind me (in high school). He was on the track team … and was (one) of the four guys who still hold the mile relay record for the school. I was on the basketball team, although I was the 12th man,” recalled DeBow, laughing. “I was far from a star. We were the first team to win a Regional game in school history that winter. In the spring, the track team took second in the state Finals.”
Running 26 minutes in length, the finished video included interviews, snapshots, memorabilia, and some old family 8mm film footage from the state track meet.
DeBow followed the production up with another documentary on the Athens’ 2022 girls volleyball team, runner-up in Class D in the annual MHSAA tournament. While digging around on that project, he came across a real picture postcard. It would set the stage for the current project.
A Baseball Dynasty
The image features members of a team riding on a horse-drawn wagon. Inscribed is, “Athens High School State Champions, 1910, Base Ball Team.”
“Tom Doubleday doesn’t like the title,” states DeBow. “I give it to him anyway. He’s like the curator of the sports section at the Athens Area Historical Society. He asked, ‘Can we do something with this (to tell their story).’ “
DeBow immediately recognized the challenge. “If this is all we’ve got, I can’t do anything with that.”
With Doubleday’s assistance they dug into the Society’s archives. The story grew. Intrigued, DeBow was quickly hooked. But this one would highlight the challenges and requirements needed to tell a story cast over 100 years ago.
Sharing stories
For roughly 30 of the 45 years that I’ve delved into the history of high school sports, the vast majority of time was spent perched on a chair in a library, mostly in Michigan, occasionally somewhere in the Midwest, scrolling through the pages of microfilmed reels of newspapers and periodicals or scanning old school yearbooks, searching for data.
That frequently included trips from Muskegon to the State of Michigan Library in Lansing, where a warehouse of nearly pristine reels of microfilm is maintained for a majority of the state’s newspapers. Over the last 15 years, dramatic changes have allowed searchable scans of the nation’s newsprint to be moved online. Initially, it was a handful of smaller long-defunct publications. Today, the archives of most of the state’s largest dailies are now included in subscription databases, and the listings continue to grow.
One of the great joys of serving as the MHSAA historian is sharing knowledge and resources with sportswriters, coaches, players, school administrators – past and present. Often, individuals reach out, looking for information and guidance on projects on which they are working. Occasionally, we strike up friendships, mostly via telephone calls and email, where we each cheer on each other’s projects and share news of our successes and challenges. Sometimes we meet in person.
In February 2024, I received my first email from DeBow. With the subject line, “Athens Michigan HS 1907 thru 1918 Perhaps a Michigan Baseball Dynasty?”
Come July, I will meet Larry in Athens.
A Cutout
Tapping into the collection of the Athens Area Historical Society, they found additional postcards and artifacts that would visually expand the lost tale from the early days of prep baseball, featuring an interesting cast of characters.
“They found some posters or bills saying Athens was playing North Adams, or Athens was playing Marshall or Athens is playing somebody,” recalled DeBow. “These would be displayed in store windows. There was a poster for (a) 1909 (championship) game with Mt. Pleasant. I don’t know where they found it … but it was literally cut off a wall. None of us had really noticed it before in the historical society. It could have slapped you right in the face because it was right on the side of a doorway going from one section (of the building) to another. I’ve got a lot of that stuff in the documentary.”
Hitting the internet with searches on high school baseball from the era, DeBow came across a list prepared by Kevin Askeland, a staff writer at MaxPreps.
Using research from multiple sources, MaxPreps has retroactively chosen national champions back to 1910, designed to recognize a single champion for each year. The compiled list is a consolidation of previous work produced over the years by various organizations and historians, according to Askeland. MaxPreps credits those individuals and expands on their work via research using modern day access to online newspaper databases that now allow deeper dives into the scanned recorded print history of cities, towns, and villages, with tools previously unavailable.
DeBow asked Askeland if the list was malleable. Askeland said it could happen but would require documentation and detail that strongly made a case for a change.
Contact
DeBow’s conversation with Askeland added a new dimension to his research and led to our connection.
Shortly after his email, we spoke on the phone. At the time, DeBow’s initial newspaper research was limited to the Athens Times microfilm stored at Lansing’s State Library. Purchasing database subscriptions allowed DeBow to conduct research on the first two decades of the century behind a laptop without the road trip. He keyed in countless combinations of words and phrases in search of clues. Before long, he was waist-deep in a long-forgotten and expanding story. Hours flew by. By June of 2025, he had a strong outline, focused on the 10-year span 1907-1916.
By August 2025, DeBow estimated he had viewed approximately 500 individual articles. Larger newspapers from nearby Battle Creek and Marshall included scores from games. Kalamazoo, Saginaw, and Detroit papers provided additional hints. The Times provided much of the color and detail.
Certain questions hovered above his research. Claims over eligibility of certain players often surfaced in newspaper game coverage. What were governing rules during those days? How did playing “summer ball” affect eligibility? Were there age rules?
Without question, baseball was the “national pastime” during the era. Reports of games in the state of Michigan appear in print as early as 1860. Old Reach and Spalding Baseball Guides help explain the hierarchy, structure, and importance of the sport in these years as foundry, city, independent, and semi-professional minor league teams dominated the landscape in many cities and towns.
The teams competed for talent. The game was popular in high schools, but certainly not sponsored by all schools. Initially governed by a subcommittee of the Michigan State Teachers’ Association, and then from 1909 through 1924 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) – both predecessors to the MHSAA – prep athletics at member schools voluntarily cooperated with regulations of eligibility pertaining to amateurism, enrollment, semesters of athletic competition, and school scholarship.
DeBow mentioned he had come across articles that spoke of state champions in track and field, football, basketball, tennis, and summer independent baseball … even MARBLES. But there was no mention of an official “state high school baseball champion” for the years he studied.
Outside of track & field championships, the MIAA did not sponsor postseason tournaments. Hence, all other titles claimed by schools in other sports were generally made by the press, school administration, and/or admiring followers, justified by outstanding results in the win-loss column. That led to challenges from other schools elsewhere in the state making similar claims, and often contests between the schools were arranged, meant to resolve the debate.
Utilizing modern tools, DeBow collected schedules and final results, and compiled folders full of detail. Slowly, he distilled data into a narrative covering forgotten games and players who represented Athens, and the opponents that they faced. His focus narrowed to a remarkable four-year span – 1909 through 1912 – where the Indians compiled a stunning 42-0 record. Before stellar crowds they triumphed over bigger schools including Dexter, Millington, Mount Pleasant, Battle Creek and Saginaw Arthur Hill.
In September 2025, DeBow penned an e-mail to Askeland, detailing the Athens seasons in a 51-page document. The 1909 team finished 12-0 after defeating Mount Pleasant, 1-0, in a title game at Athens, while 1910’s squad downed Arthur Hill in Saginaw in another 1-0 championship contest, to finish 11-0. Both teams featured the Fox brothers – Loyd, pitcher/outfielder, and Roy, catcher – perhaps the team’s top players. As a sophomore in 1910, Loyd struck out 16 in the title game – the first loss in three years for Arthur Hill.
So, DeBow pitched the 1910 squad to Askeland for consideration as a replacement to 9-1 Commercial High of Brooklyn, N.Y. as the list’s new national champion. Impressed with Athens’ accomplishments, this past February, MaxPreps updated its list accordingly.
Thrilled by the news, since then DeBow’s focus has been on final details to wrap up the documentary in preparation for release. Among the tools he’s used on this one is some limited AI.
He will bring the story to life with a public showing of the documentary at the village of Athens’ annual Homecoming, scheduled for July 24th – 26th.
After, DeBow plans to submit the story to a film festival. “My goal has been to keep this under 30 minutes,” he said.
Now that he’s near the end, he’s given up pretty much all the software subscriptions he’s used on the project – except one.
“I’m probably going to convince myself to keep Chat GPT,” DeBow noted, “just because I’m having too much fun doing other stuff!”
PHOTOS (Top) The 1910 Athens baseball team poses for a photo celebrating its championship season. (2) The 1910 team is welcomed during a parade through its hometown. (3) A sign advertises a matchup with Lansing that season. (4) Brothers Roy and Loyd Fox pose for a photo together in 1911. (Team photo courtesy of the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. All others were gathered by Larry DeBow and the Athens Area Historical Society.)