Did you see that?

April 30, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

It's only the end of April. But a number of Michigan's contenders already are in championship form.

Check out our best of results, news and notes from the week that was April 23-28.

Boys Track

What a toss: Walled Lake Central junior Cullen Prena tossed the discus an incredible 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at the Oxford Invitational by nearly 36 feet. In fact, the toss would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Earlier in the week he broke the Oakland County record as well. He also won the shot put at Oxford. (Oakland Press)

Girls Track

South still on top: Reigning MHSAA Division 1 champion Grosse Pointe South earned a strong early win at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational ahead of a field that included annual powers Rockford and Williamston and a strong DeWitt team. Bay City Western won the boys meet. (Playmakers.com)

Baseball

Flint Final set: Goodrich’s Bob Foreback and Davison’s Timm Rye will bring more than 1,000 victories worth of experience into this season’s Greater Flint Area Baseball Tournament championship game when their teams face off on Memorial Day. The two will meet after emerging from the field this weekend. (Flint Journal)

How do you score that: Most telling lines from the Kalamazoo Gazette’s story about Comstock turning a triple play and three double plays in one game came from Comstock coach Rich Bailey: “We have not played particularly good defense. In fact, our defense has been a problem. The skill is there; the execution hasn’t been.” (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Girls Soccer

Poll position: Rochester Adams continued to affect the Division 1 rankings while moving up itself. Adams likely helped to knock rival Rochester out of this week’s honorable mentions with a 2-0 win Thursday. The Friday before, Adams downed then top-ranked Troy 4-1. The Highlanders have opened 7-0 and are ranked No. 3 in Division 1. (Oakland Press)

Boys Basketball

Flint Powers coach moves on: Tim Herman led the Flint Powers Catholic boys basketball program only seven seasons, but they were seven of the Chargers’ most memorable. Herman resigned his post last week after more than 100 wins and the team’s only MHSAA championship, in Class B in 2009. (Flint Journal)

Football

Michigan's finest take next step: At least nine former MHSAA athletes were drafted by NFL teams (by my count) over seven rounds Thursday through Saturday. They were:

DE Nick Perry (Detroit Martin Luther King/University of Southern California) Green Bay, first round
DT Mike Martin (Detroit Catholic Central/University of Michigan) Tennessee, third round
QB Kirk Cousins (Holland Christian/Michigan State University) Washington, fourth round
WR Keshawn Martin (Westland John Glenn/Michigan State University) Houston, fourth round
CB Chris Greenwood (Detroit Martin Luther King/Albion College) Detroit, fifth round
S Trenton Robinson (Bay City Central/Michigan State) San Francisco, sixth round
LB Audie Cole (Monroe/North Carolina State University) Minnesota, seventh round
RB Edwin Baker (Oak Park/Michigan State University) San Diego, seventh round
K John Potter (Grand Haven/Western Michigan University) New York Jets, seventh round

Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].

Whiteford's Alyssa VanBrandt cranks a pitch during her team's Semifinal win Friday.

Softball

Standish-Sterling, Whiteford Aces Set for Season-Finale Face-Off

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

June 16, 2023

EAST LANSING – The final game of the 2023 MHSAA Softball Tournament has the makings of a pitchers’ duel for the ages.

Standish-Sterling senior Devri Jennings and Ottawa Lake Whiteford junior Unity Nelson were equally dominant in Friday evening’s Division 3 Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium, setting the stage for a Saturday night showdown.

“Two great pitchers are going to duel tomorrow, that’s for sure,” said fourth-year Whiteford coach Matt VanBrandt. “But at the same time, both teams can hit the ball. So it should be very interesting.”

In the first game, Jennings stymied a Ravenna offense that already had earned several entries in the state’s record book, limiting the Bulldogs to three singles in a 10-1 win.

Nelson was even more impressive in the second D3 Semifinal, keeping her perfect record and minuscule ERA intact with a two-hitter in an 8-0 win over Laingsburg.

Standish-Sterling (37-7) will be shooting for its first softball state championship, while Whiteford (37-4) will be looking for its first since 1987 when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

In addition to outstanding pitching, both teams also got their bats operating late in Friday’s semis.

All eyes are on the next pitch as the Bobcats rally against Laingsburg. Whiteford, which lost in the Division 4 Final last year and hasn’t missed a beat in a larger-school division, gradually pulled away from Laingsburg – scoring three runs in the third inning, three more in the fifth and capping the scoring with two runs in the sixth.

Junior Kaydence Sheldon led the way for the Bobcats, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Patrina Marsh ripped two hits and two RBIs and Karlei Conard also knocked in two runs.

That was more than enough offensive production behind Nelson, who kept her perfect season record intact at 23-0. She also boasts a scant 0.53 ERA and added 11 strikeouts Friday, bringing her season total to 305, which is more than two strikeouts for every inning pitched.

“I definitely came in with my A game today,” said Nelson. “My screwball was my go-to pitch, and I was hitting it on the inside corner.”

Laingsburg (36-7), which had a breakthrough season this spring by winning its first Regional title since 1978, received hits from Ashley Bila and Addyson Buchin. Buchin went the distance and took the loss, allowing just two earned runs.

Whiteford, which knocked off No. 2-ranked Algonac in the Quarterfinals, has won three softball state titles. The Bobcats have finished runner-up four times since the 1987 championship run.

VanBrandt said his players were excited when they learned they would be moving up to D3 this season.

“A lot of our players were excited for the challenge – that’s the way these girls are,” said VanBrandt. “We got to see some new teams, and we stepped up to the challenge.”

Click for the box score.

Standish-Sterling 10, Ravenna 1

Ravenna came into the Semifinals boasting eye-popping offensive numbers, but the Bulldogs bombers met their match in Jennings.

She set the tone from the start, striking out five of the first six batters she faced as her team seized control.

“We have worked so hard since winter, and it feels great to be here and to show everyone what we’ve got,” said Jennings, who tossed a three-hitter with no walks and seven strikeouts to completely shut down the Ravenna machine. She improved her season record to 26-2.

Standish-Sterling’s Devri Jennings winds up during her team’s Semifinal win. Instead, it was the Panthers’ offense which applied steady pressure up and down the batting order to build a 5-0 lead after five innings, then put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Senior Lexi Mielke went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Addi Fetters and Jennings both went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Macy Fegan added two hits, and Sami Kopasz knocked in two runs.

The Panthers (37-7), who knocked off No. 1-ranked Evart during Regionals and then No. 5 Gladstone in the Quarterfinals, were in the Semifinals for the third time in the past four years. They now will play in the softball championship game for the first time in school history.

“We worked really hard on how we were going to pitch those batters,” explained ninth-year Standish-Sterling coach Rich Sullivan. “Devri Jennings was awesome. She hit her spots, and she was able to do what we needed her to do to stop that offense.”

Ravenna (36-6), in the Semifinals for the first time since 2005, scored its lone run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Emma Gillard, who was the starting pitcher.