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High 5s: 11/28/12

November 28, 2012

The final MHSAA championships of the Fall 2012 season give us our final High 5s before heading into winter. This week, we recognize both an individual and a team that achieved new heights. 

Drake Harris
Grand Rapids Christian junior
Football

A 6-foot-4, 180-pound receiver who has committed to play both football and basketball at Michigan State beginning in 2014, Harris posted one of the finest receiving season in MHSAA history capped by playing a huge role in his team's first MHSAA championship. The Eagles beat Orchard Lake St. Mary's 40-37 in overtime Saturday for the Division 3 title. His eight catches for a Finals-record 243 yards and a touchdown put his unofficial season totals at 91 catches for 2,015 yards and 25 scores. Once confirmed, the season yardage will rank as the most in MHSAA history and 12th nationally for one season (his yards per game rank fourth and yards per catch sixth on the NFHS lists). Harris also ranked fourth for catches and second for touchdown catches on the MHSAA single-season lists.

Just ducky: "I'm probably more energized now after he hit that kick," Harris said after teammate Joel Schipper's winning field goal Saturday. "I was probably more tired a little bit during the game. But we condition all practice. We play fast. We play like Oregon, move the ball, (at) a high tempo. We're all in condition, so we really weren't that tired." 

Bring on the new guy: Harris has caught more than 3,000 yards worth of passes from senior Alex VanDeVusse over the last two seasons, but will play with a new quarterback in 2013. "I've been with Alex since sophomore year. I guess I have to start over and work hard all next season and hope to get back here."  

Be like Calvin: "Calvin Johnson, I want to be just like him when I get older. I know I'm a little skinny right now, but when I get to college, I know they'll put weight on me. I watch film on him all the time, watch him running routes. So I take my game after him. He's the best wide receiver in the NFL right now, probably one of the best wide receivers to play the game, in my opinion." 

Click to read more. 

Portland football

The Raiders, unranked despite entering the postseason 8-1, finished with their first MHSAA title won in their first trip to the Finals. Portland defeated Grand Rapids West Catholic 12-9 in the Division 5 championship game after knocking out 2011 champion Flint Powers Catholic in the Regional Final. For the playoffs, Portland outscored its five opponents 169-66 while holding three to nine or fewer points. In finishing 13-1 and setting a school record for wins, the Raiders beat nine playoff teams total including eventual Division 3 Semifinalist DeWitt. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate after clinching the Division 1 title Saturday at McLane Stadium.

Detroit Catholic Central Baseball Seniors Put Stamp on School's Success

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 13, 2026

EAST LANSING — Throughout their entire high school tenure at Detroit Catholic Central, you couldn’t blame the seniors on the school’s baseball team for looking around at all the Finals championships won by other Shamrocks programs and wondering, “When will it be our turn?”

“A lot of fans and outsiders doubted us and we were like, ‘This year is going to be OUR year,’” Catholic Central senior Bennett Thompson said. “We’re going to buy in. Everyone’s going to give it their all. We’re such a senior-led team. We knew it was our season this year.”

Indeed it was.

For the first time since 1999, the Shamrocks won a Finals championship in baseball, earning a 7-0 win over Rochester Adams in the Division 1 title game at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.

Catholic Central rode an offense that reached the record books and brilliant pitching from senior Mikey Laser to glory.

The offense broke the championship game record for most triples, hammering five of them, four during the first two innings. 

That was more than enough offense for Laser, the team’s No. 2 pitcher, whose plans for the future do not include playing college baseball, but attending Michigan State as a student only.

Laser was masterful, allowing just four hits in his shutout.

“I’ve got 18 guys going to (play baseball in) college, and we threw the one guy out there that’s just going to college to be a student,” Catholic Central head coach Ryan Rogowski said. “What a pitcher he is and what an outstanding job.”

The Shamrocks’ Kyle Davis (19) throws to first base while Adams’ Matt Toeppner attempts to advance.For Adams, it was more championship game heartbreak 30 years after it last made an appearance.

Adams lost in the 1995 and 1996 Class A Finals, and those teams also were coached by this year’s leader, Andy Lamkin.

In his second stint as the head coach of the Highlanders, Lamkin led them back to the biggest stage.

“We haven’t done that all year long,” Lamkin said of his team getting just four hits. “You’ve got to give him a lot of credit. He pitched fast. When we did hit the ball hard, it was at people. They outhit us. They took it to us at the beginning, and nobody has done that to us this year.” 

The seeds for Catholic Central’s tournament run were sown during the Catholic League tournament, when the Shamrocks lost a semifinal on its home field to Warren De La Salle Collegiate. 

Motivated by that defeat, Catholic Central made sure it wouldn’t lose again in the MHSAA Tournament, punctuated by a terrific performance in the championship. 

Thompson set the tone right off the bat, hitting the first pitch of the game into the left-center gap for a triple. He scored when senior Dylan Fairchild did the same thing, hitting a triple to the gap in left-center to put Catholic Central up 1-0. The Shamrocks went up 2-0 on an RBI groundout by senior Nicholas Garnick.

In the second inning, Fairchild came up with two outs and two on and hit another laser into the left-center gap, a two-run triple that gave Catholic Central a 4-0 lead. 

In the fifth inning, Thompson led with his second triple of the game and the team’s fifth, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. Cam Swearingen followed that up with an RBI single to put the Shamrocks up 6-0. 

They went up 7-0 in the seventh inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by junior Jaxon Gatt. 

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate after clinching the Division 1 title Saturday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) The Shamrocks’ Kyle Davis (19) throws to first base while Adams’ Matt Toeppner attempts to advance.