Linked Up: 10/28/11

October 28, 2011

Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.

See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.

Akron-Fairgrove and Owendale-Gagetown eager for long-awaited playoff games in first season of eight-man football bracket (Bay City Times)

These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.

Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)

I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.

Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)

This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.

Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
 
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.

Today in the MHSAA: 6/8/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 8, 2023

1. GIRLS LACROSSE Brighton earned its fifth-straight Finals appearance with a 13-10 win over Bloomfield Hills in Division 1, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern earned its title game berth with a 10-2 win over Hartland – Livingston Daily Press & Argus | Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. BOYS LACROSSE Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice reached its 18th-straight Final with a 26-1 win over Clarkston in Division 1, while Detroit Catholic Central edged reigning champion Hartland 10-9 in another Division 1 Semifinal – Detroit News | Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. GIRLS LACROSSE East Grand Rapids will return to the Division 2 Final after a 15-7 win over Haslett/Williamston, and will meet Detroit Country Day thanks to the Yellowjackets’ 19-10 win over Ann Arbor Skyline – Lansing State Journal | State Champs! Sports Network

4. BOYS LACROSSE Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central advanced to the Division 2 Final with an 18-5 win over Lowell, and Detroit Country Day downed Grand Rapids Catholic Central 12-7 in another Semifinal – FOX 17

5. BASEBALL Unranked Rudyard advanced in Division 4 with a 5-0 Regional Semifinal win over top-ranked Indian River Inland Lakes – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

6. BASEBALL Unranked Novi upset Northville 6-2 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Oakland Press

7. BASEBALL Unranked Lake Orion extended its impressive tournament run with a 9-4 win over No. 8 White Lake Lakeland in Division 1 – MLIVE-Detroit

8. BASEBALL Unranked Mattawan advanced in Division 1 with a 6-3 win over No. 6 Zeeland East – Kalamazoo Gazette

9. BASEBALL Unranked Macomb Dakota moved on in Division 1 with a 4-2 win over No. 11 Sterling Heights Stevenson – Macomb Daily

10. BASEBALL No. 8 East Jordan advanced in Division 4 with a 9-6 victory over No. 9 Gaylord St. Mary – Petoskey News-Review

Also of note …

MEDIA The Port Huron/Blue Water and sports media communities are mourning the death of past Croswell-Lexington standout Calli Newberry, who had started The Sports Report at the start of the 2022-23 school year and died Tuesday after a car crash the day before – Port Huron Times Herald