Highlight Reel: Division 3-4 Baseball Semifinals
June 12, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The second sessions of MHSAA Baseball Semifinals were played Friday at McLane Stadium at Michigan State University. Jackson Lumen Christi and Buchanan in Division 3 and Muskegon Catholic Central and Centreville in Division 4 advanced to Saturday’s championship games.
Click the headings below for highlights from all four Semifinals broadcasts on MHSAA.tv.
Division 3
Jackson Lumen Christi 7, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker 3
Super Cooper Chris Cooper drives in the first run of the game for Jackson Lumen Christi with this second inning triple.
Lakers' McCabe Doubles Austin McCabe gets Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker on the board in the fourth inning with a double in the gap.
Super Dooper Cooper Chris Cooper caps a fourth-inning, four-run rally for Jackson Lumen Christi with this bases-loaded two-run single.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Buchanan 6, Gladstone 4
Peterson's Poke Puts Braves On Scoreboard Jake Peterson delivered a two-run double in the third inning to get things started for Gladstone against Buchanan.
Buchanan Ties It Up Jarrett Thomas tied the score at 4-4 in the fifth inning with a two-run double. Buchanan would take the lead later in the frame.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 4
Centerville 4, Rudyard 1
Kool Cucumber Centreville attempts a double steal play and Michael Kool scores when the throw goes wild.
Brown Bloop Scoring Single Centreville scored its second run in the sixth inning on a bloop single down the third base line by Jalen Brown.
Rudyard Counters With Bloop Hit Rudyard got its own bloop single to produce its lone run of the game in the sixth inning, off the bat of James Rosebrock.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Muskegon Catholic Central 4, Ubly 1
Holt Makes It Happen Muskegon Catholic Central gets two runs in the first inning on this single by Nicholas Holt.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 7, 2021
Four levels above them, in the press box, a group of prospective broadcasters were touring the facilities. The high school students had spent the Fall sports season streaming games to the NFHS Network and now were learning about a career in broadcasting from Eric Vandefifer, a Montrose High grad currently serving as the radio voice of Saginaw Valley State University basketball and as a contributor to a variety of high school broadcast channels including the MHSAA Network.
Seven years ago, Vandefifer was in a similar situation. He was part of a field trip to Ford Field for the Finals that helped him realize sports broadcasting was a career he wanted to pursue. Those field trips were headed by Tom Skinner and Thom Lengyel, who became mentors to Vandefifer. As a high school junior in 2017, Vandefifer was named Best Student Broadcaster nationally by the NFHS Network.
“With Tom Skinner now deceased and Thom Lengyel retired from the broadcast business, I just felt like I had to continue this and their legacy,” Vandefifer said. “It was important to me to keep it going because when I was in school, it was something I looked forward to.”
Nearly 50 students from Lowell, Montrose, Lake Orion, Mount Pleasant and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools made the Nov. 26-27 trip to Ford Field. They were able to film highlights, interview players, practice announcing the games, meet other members of the press and more. For Vandefifer, giving back to students who are in the position he once was is very rewarding.
“We had the ability to feel like real media members for a day. I wanted to be able to give other students that same opportunity,” Vandefifer said. “Seeing kids who have a love for sportscasting and that drive to get better gives me real hope for the next generation in this business.”
And after the field trips were done each day, Vandefifer put his headphones on, got behind the microphone and called the two afternoon games for the MHSAA Championship Network.
PHOTOS (Top) Eighth grader Sam Belill, left, and freshman Owen Leitelt from Montrose practice calling a game from the Ford Field press box. (Middle) Mount Pleasant make a stop at the press conference room. (Photos provided by the Montrose and Mount Pleasant School Broadcast Programs.)