Today in the MHSAA: 4/17/19

April 17, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Big-time matchups in soccer, baseball and softball highlighted a busy day of spring sports action across the state Tuesday.

2. Girls Soccer: No. 6 Hartland scored a major win over No. 10 Brighton, 3-1, in a matchup of top teams in Division 1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Baseball: Two-time reigning Division 2 champion Stevensville Lakeshore claimed a pair of one-run wins over Division 1 No. 9 Portage Northern – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

3. Softball: South Lyon East handed Division 1 honorable mention Walled Lake Northern its first loss, but Northern came back to take the second game of the doubleheader – State Champs Sports Network

4. Softball: Traverse City West and Kalkaska each handed the other its first loss in a doubleheader split – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Baseball: Hudsonville won the first game and was leading the second against Division 1 No. 16 Rockford in a key Ottawa-Kent Conference Red matchup – FOX 17

6. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United came back from a halftime deficit to edge Petoskey 8-7 – MI Sports Now

7. Track & Field: Alpena’s boys defeated Traverse City Central 92-71, highlighted by Gabe Bullis breaking his school pole vault record by seven inches at 15-7 – Alpena News

8. Baseball: Division 2 No. 10 Detroit Country Day emerged from a matchup of sharp pitchers to down Birmingham Groves 3-1 – Observer & Eccentric

9. Softball: Division 2 honorable mention Chelsea improved to 7-0 in handing Dexter its first losses of the season – Chelsea Sun Times News

10. Baseball: Kingsley earned what could become a key Northwest Conference sweep over Frankfort – WPBN

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker has stepped down to take a job at University of Alabama under Nate Oats, who formerly coached at Romulus before turning Buffalo into a mid-major power – MLive-Detroit

Wrestling: Hudson’s Jordan Hamdan was named Mr. Wrestler by the Michigan Wrestling Association – Adrian Daily Telegram

Today in the MHSAA: 5/6/19

May 6, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Finishes both close and historic highlighted the first weekend of May as top teams navigated the rain in many places in kicking off the final month of the regular season.

1. Softball: Grace Lehto nearly threw a perfect game as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids edged Division 3 top-ranked Millington to win the “marquee matchup” of the MI Stars Tournament – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Golf: By way of a fifth-golfer tie-breaker, Gaylord – No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 6 Grosse Pointe South to win its invitational with a near-school record score – Gaylord Herald Times

3. Track & Field: Zeeland West’s boys won their 12th-straight Holland West Ottawa Von Ins Relays, while Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and No. 7 West Ottawa’s girls shared their meet championship – Holland Sentinel

4. Boys Golf: Nathan Taylor finished as medalist to lead Muskegon Mona Shores to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, 30 years after his father won the same tournament – Muskegon Chronicle

5. Track & Field: The Muskegon Reeths-Puffer girls won their 10th straight GMAA title, and the Fruitport boys won their sixth straight – Local Sports Journal

6. Softball: Division 3 No. 7 Standish-Sterling edged No. 3 Sanford Meridian 5-4 to win Meridian’s invitational – Midland Daily News

7. Softball: Division 2 No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore defeated Schoolcraft in the final to win its invitational for the first time – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Golf: Troy edged Rochester by 12 strokes to win the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

9. Softball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Division 2 No. 5 Oakridge both won their fourth straight GMAA softball titles – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Track & Field: A total of 61 teams including a number of the best from multiple divisions participated at the Triangle Invitational at Saline – Athletic.net