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Highlight Reel: Friday Baseball/Softball Semis

June 17, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director 

The field for the 2016 MHSAA Baseball and Softball Finals are now set, with the last four teams in each sport posting Semifinal victories Friday at Old College Field on the Michigan State University campus.

Below are links to video highlights from Friday’s games. Click on the final scores to watch them in their entirety and purchase DVDs.

Baseball

Division 3

New Lothrop 6, Jackson Lumen Christi 1 

Mogel Makes It A Tie Game - Connor Mogle drove the ball into the gap in the third inning for Jackson Lumen Christi to plate a run and tie things up at 1-1 in the third inning.

Wendling’s First RBI Single - Putting New Lothrop in the lead to stay was Max Wendling, with RBI singles in back to back innings. 

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 9, Mason County Central 0

Bases-Clearing Double - The big hit in a four-run second inning for Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett was a bases loaded double by William Morrison.

Division 4 

Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 5, Centreville 1

Eagles Take Flight - Sterling Heights Parkway Christian jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Centerville in its first at bat, featuring a two-run single by Jacob Bambrick. 

Centreville On The Board - Centreville scores in the seventh inning on this two-out single by Collin Kirby to plate Michael Kool.

Portland St. Patrick 2, Gaylord St. Mary 0 

St. Patrick Scores In First - Portland St. Patrick got the only run it would need in the opening inning when Dan Mackowiak bunted for a single, scoring Brendan Schrauben.

Andrews Catches Them Stealing - Gaylord St. Mary catcher Gage Andrews ended two Portland St. Patrick innings by catching runners stealing. Here's the play to end the third inning, when he retired Brendan Schrauben at third base.

Softball

Division 3

Grandville Calvin Christian 4, Millington 2 

Cardinals Go Up In Fourth - Millington took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on this RBI single by Kayli Leix, who had two hits in the contest.

Big Hit By VanDenBerg - Driving in the game-winning runs in the sixth inning for Grandville Calvin Christian was shortstop Marissa VanDenBerg with a triple to centerfield. 

Defense-Defense-Defense - Here's a series of great defensive plays by Grandville Calvin Christian against Millington. The first and third plays are great catches by shortstop Marissa VanDenBerg, and the middle play from third baseman Sarah Elderkin was nice as well.

Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 13, Gladstone 0 (5 inn.) 

Brooke Goes 3 For 3 - Brooke Angerer was one of two players for Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central to pick up three hits against Gladstone. Here's a first inning RBI single.

And Garst Goes 3 For 3 - The other player for Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central with three hits against Gladstone was Kenna Garst, who laced this run-scoring triple in the second inning. 

Division 4

Unionville-Sebewaing 12, Morenci 3 

Borton Bounces Two Runs Home - Morenci took a 2-1 lead on Unionville-Sebewaing in the second inning when Hannah Borton bounced one over the second baseman.

Cady Can Do - Alexis Cady smacked a two-run double in the sixth inning for Unionville-Sebewaing against Morenci. She finished the game with three hits. 

Indian River Inland Lakes 2, Holton 0

Pitcher Wins Her Own Game - Cloe Mallory of Indian River Inland Lakes did it all against Holton, striking out 13 and blasting a two-run homer in the second inning for the only runs of the game.  

PHOTO: A Grandville Calvin Christian batter is about to make contact during her team's Division 3 Semifinal win.

Otisville-LakeVille First SBP Using Pixellot

January 31, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director 

A challenge to schools wanting to stream live video of their athletic events to their communities is being able to adequately staff those productions.

“We had signed up for the School Broadcast Program over a year ago and we were really excited to get our games out to the community, and when it came to it, we just couldn’t get the manpower to run the equipment,” said Drew Johnson, the athletic director at Otisville-LakeVille High School in Genesee County. “That first day, we had everything lined up, we were ready to go, and two of our three kids missed school that day for being sick. It was just a hassle.

“So when we heard about Pixellot, it was a quick and easy decision.”

Just three weeks ago, LakeVille became the first school in Michigan and one of the first in the country to install a Pixellot unit in its gymnasium, automating the process of streaming live video on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network.

Pixellot is a unit equipped with four High Definition cameras that cover the length of the playing surface and then focus in on the ball and player movement to deliver the action.  The unit communicates with the scoreboard to insert a time and score graphic on the screen. Ambient audio is picked up by the device, but the play-by-play of an in-person announce team can also be patched in.

All that has to be done from a school’s perspective is type in the event schedule, and promote the fact that the games are available on MHSAA.tv. Pixellot does the rest. The unit can also be set up to isolate a camera on a fixed location, which allows for activities like wrestling to also be streamed.

“We’re going to do everything that takes place in our gym,” Johnson said. “We’re also excited about being able to record our practices as well.”

Johnson added that the school will look into installing additional Pixellot units at its middle school auditorium for musical events and LakeVille’s outdoor athletic fields in the future. 

In its eighth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. 

The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.  

All sporting events – Live or On-Demand – are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.

Here’s the schedule of events School Broadcast Program members plan to stream over the next week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv. 

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Wednesday, Feb. 1

Thursday, Feb. 2

Friday, Feb. 3

Saturday, Feb. 4

Monday, Feb. 6

Tuesday, Feb. 7

Be sure to check the Upcoming Events page at MHSAA.tv for schedule additions every day.

The NFHS Network has announced new pricing for 2016-17, eliminating the Day Pass and lowering the cost of a Month Pass to $9.95. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. Some schools also will be selling Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.

Fans also can access scores of games in-progress on the NFHS Network website via ScoreStream. Click on the Scores button in the upper right corner.

A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube is back for another year with highlights of selected games last week produced by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program.

This week’s highlights package consists of clips from last week’s Bark River-Harris at Powers North Central boys basketball game in which the Jets set a state record for consecutive boys hoops victories, an ice hockey game pitting Detroit Catholic Central at Brighton in a battle of two of the top teams in the state and a demonstration of Pixellot in action during a boys basketball game with Millington at Otisville-LakeVille. 

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

PHOTOS: (Top) A laptop shows the variety of angles for the Pixellot and the calibration of its four cameras. (Middle) This Pixellot hangs at midcourt at Otisville-LakeVille High School.