Did You See That? (April 22-28)

April 30, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The clouds finally began to break last week. And as expected, teams in every spring sport quickly got started catching up on what they'd had to put off most of this month. 

Read on for some of the top headlines from all over the state, plus our favorite story – which highlights a pair of officials who will be recognized this weekend for their dedication to high school athletics. 

Good Read of the Week

Father/Daughter rule the diamond: Ralph Burr will be among those celebrated by the MHSAA this weekend for 50 years of service as an official. But the past 20 have been his favorite – his daughter and umpiring partner Jackie will be recognized this weekend for her two decades of service. (Muskegon Chronicle).

Softball

McClure strikes again: Manchester pitcher Katie McClure moved into ninth in MHSAA history with 511 career strikeouts after totaling 27 more at Saturday’s Concord Invitational. Her team won the event by beating the host 3-1 in the final. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)

One vs. One: In what has become arguably the best softball rivalry in the state, Stevensville Lakeshore swept Mattawan 4-2 and 9-4 on Thursday in a matchup of top-ranked teams. Lakeshore is ranked No. 2 in Division 2, while Mattawan holds the top spot in Division 1. (St. Joseph Herald-Palladium)

Another Clinton ace: That’s Cami Prater, who has taken over for graduated standout Tierney Nelson and no-hit the No. 5-ranked host at Saturday’s Springport Invitational. Prater hit a home run as Clinton won last season’s Division 3 championship game. (Adrian Daily Telegram)

Snowbirds down No. 1: Gaylord St. Mary scored in the bottom of the seventh inning to upset Division 4 No. 1 Onaway 2-1 a week ago before settling for a hard-earned split. (Gaylord Herald-Times)

Girls Lacrosse

“Play Day” perfection: Rockford hosted its fourth “Play Day” on Saturday, and the Division 1 top-ranked Rams finished it with wins over No. 2 Hartland and No. 3 Brighton. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, No. 2 in Division 2, also beat Hartland, along with Troy Athens and Division 2 No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer. (Grand Rapids Press)

Boys Golf

Upper hand, DCC: Detroit Catholic Central won what is one of the most competitive regular-season events every spring, claiming the Division 1 portion of the Traverse City Central Invitational by edging reigning champion Muskegon Mona Shores. Mona Shores finished third and DCC sixth at last season’s MHSAA Division 1 Final. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)

Baseball

Long time coming: Gladstone earned its first wins 4-3 and 5-0 over Negaunee on Friday, and those also happen to be the program’s first victories in more than a half century. The Escanaba Daily Press reports this as Gladstone’s first baseball team in 54 years. (Escanaba Daily Press)

East Lansing rises at Dow: East Lansing needed just about every one of its 16 runs over the final two games of Saturday’s Midland Dow Invitational, but came away with the championship after beating Division 3 No. 4 Saginaw Nouvel 8-7 in the final. East Lansing advanced with an 8-6 win over Dow. (Saginaw News)

Weisenberger throws no-no again: Sanford Meridian had three wins after Thursday, and two were no-hitters by pitcher Jonah Weisenberger. He threw his second in that night’s opener against Beaverton. (Midland Daily News)

Portage Northern rallies: The Huskies look like they could be an emerging force again from the Kalamazoo area, and moved to 5-2 by winning their home invitational Saturday. Portage Northern defeated Division 4 No. 2 Gobles in the championship game. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Track and Field

Hornets buzz: Williamston’s boys, who tied for ninth at last season MHSAA Division 2 Final, won the Spartan Classic at Michigan State University, finishing eight points ahead of Division 1 power Rockford. Reigning Division 1 girls champion Grosse Pointe South won its side of the meet by a much more significant 51 points. (Playmakers.com (full results), Lansing State Journal)

All-Battle Creek is all Lakeview: Battle Creek Lakeview continues to dominate its city’s track and field scene, and again won its all-city meets Friday. The girls won despite not running standout Sarita Dotson, who was out with an injury. (Battle Creek Enquirer).

Football

Stoney Creek celebrates Fisher: A Rochester Hills Stoney Creek football coach remembered Thursday how Eric Fisher was 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds as a high school freshman. That night, Fisher was selected first in the NFL draft out of Central Michigan University by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Detroit News)

MHSAA.tv Schedule Includes Boys Soccer Matchups with League Title, District Seeding Implications

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

September 28, 2021

With the boys soccer season drawing to a close over the next two weeks, MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will feature a number of matchups in that sport that will impact league championship races and possibly the seeding of the top two teams in each District, the latter to be announced Sunday (Oct. 3).

A pair of games appearing on MHSAA.tv this week will have significant impacts on the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title race. On Tuesday (Sept. 28), league leader St. Joseph (11-0-2) hosts Stevensville Lakeshore (4-4-2), and on Thursday (Sept. 30) second place Richland Gull Lake (13-1) hosts tied-for-third Portage Northern (7-4-3). Also Tuesday, Ottawa-Kent Conference White leader Grand Rapids Christian (9-4-1) takes on East Grand Rapids (6-2-5) in a matchup of the only two teams undefeated in league play, and Oakland Activities Association Red co-leader Troy (10-0-3) faces third place Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (9-3-3).

The majority of regular-season games will be played by the end of next week, with District play to begin Oct. 13. Seeding of the top two teams in each District bracket – determined by Michigan Power Rating (MPR) – will be determined from results through Saturday (Oct. 2) and announced Sunday (Oct. 3) on the MHSAA Website.

Week 6 of the football regular season again will see more than 150 games broadcast on MHSAA.tv, in addition to the weekly live streams by MHSAA media partners Bally Sports Detroit and State Champs Sports Network. On Friday, Bally will travel to East Grand Rapids for its annual rivalry matchup with Lowell; game time is 7 p.m. with the broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit PLUS, online and on the BSD app. On Saturday, State Champs will stream live the 1 p.m. matchup of Madison Heights Madison at Warren Fitzgerald.

See below for links to a number of notable events on the Network this week:

FOOTBALL
Oct. 1, 6 p.m.:
Clare at Marquette
Oct. 1, 6:45 p.m.: Paw Paw at Edwardsburg
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Clarkston at West Bloomfield
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Sterling Heights Stevenson at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Grosse Pointe South at Macomb Dakota
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Climax-Scotts at Adrian Lenawee Christian
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Detroit Catholic Central at Warren De La Salle Collegiate
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Cadillac at Traverse City Central
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Centreville at Cassopolis
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: St. Joseph at Portage Central
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Central Montcalm at Reed City

VOLLEYBALL
Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m.:
Plymouth Christian Academy at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
Sept. 28, 7 p.m.: Lake Orion at Clarkston
Sept. 29, 6:30 p.m.: Cadillac at Petoskey

BOYS SOCCER
Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.:
Stevensville Lakeshore at St. Joseph
Sept. 28, 6:45 p.m.: Grand Rapids Christian at East Grand Rapids
Sept. 28, 6:55 p.m.: Troy at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Sept. 30, 6:40 p.m.: Portage Northern at Richland Gull Lake

The MHSAA.tv schedule total includes more than 300 volleyball and more than 100 boys soccer matches this week. Click the links below to see all three sports’ listings in full:

Football – Volleyball – Boys Soccer

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.