Today in the MHSAA: 4/29/16

April 29, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Thursday’s rain couldn’t wash out a record-breaking performance and a league title celebration in April.

Baseball

From Wednesday, Calumet played the first baseball games in school history, and won both over Houghton – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Boys Golf

Ludington shot a stellar 145 to win the Lakes 8 Activities Conference jamboree at its home course, Lincoln Hills – Ludington Daily News

Boys Lacrosse

Utica Ford’s Nick Iannuzzi unofficially broke (will be official with confirmation by the school) the MHSAA record for goals in a game with 16 in his team’s 20-3 win over Warren Cousino – Macomb Daily

Girls Soccer

Rochester rose to the top of the Oakland Activities Association White with a slim 1-0 win over contender Berkley – Oakland Press

Softball

Clinton’s Renee Hoffman threw her second five-inning no-hitter this season, this one against Petersburg-Summerfield – Adrian Daily Telegram

Milan’s Bethany Hogg threw a six-inning perfect game as her team finished a sweep of Grosse Ile – Ann Arbor News

Also from Wednesday, Escanaba shut out Rapid River by a combined 14-0 over two games, with Taylor Rathe picking up a no-hitter for one of the wins – Escanaba Daily Press

Girls Tennis

The calendar hasn’t turned to May, but we have a league champion as Sturgis claimed the Wolverine Conference South with a win over Three Rivers – Sturgis Journal

Good Reads

Anika Yarlagadda is one of the top tennis players her age in the Midwest – and unlike some others among the elite, she’s also chosen to play on the high school team. She’s having a great time as the top singles player at West Bloomfield, for reasons many individual-sport athletes would understand – Detroit Free Press

Today in the MHSAA: 6/6/16

June 6, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Another busiest week – and busiest day – in MHSAA sports is in the books. So too are Finals champions in track & field and girls tennis, and hundreds of District champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer and Regional champions in girls and boys lacrosse.

We touch on the statewide media coverage of just some of the highlights below.

Baseball

Top-ranked Coldwater won its fifth straight District title, downing No. 10 Marshall 8-4 in the championship game in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Unranked Beaverton emerged from a Division 3 District that included No. 2 Sanford Meridian and No. 3 Clare – Midland Daily News

Birmingham Groves got past Birmingham Brother Rice 8-6 in Division 1 to win its first District championship since 2005 – Oakland Press

Boys Lacrosse

Birmingham Brother Rice received a rare scare before downing Clarkston 9-6 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Okemos won its second straight Division 2 Regional title by surviving Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 9-8 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Lacrosse

Reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids needed overtime to survive, 11-9, against Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Fox17

Rockford just edged Grand Rapids Forest Hills United 9-8 to move on in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Soccer

Division 3 No. 6 Freeland won its seventh straight District title, this time with a 4-1 championship game clincher over Alma – Midland Daily News

Division 4 No. 2 Elk Rapids moved to 21-0 this season with an 8-0 championship game win over No. 14 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Softball

Blissfield downed No. 6 Dundee to start Saturday, but top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central beat Blissfield 4-1 in 10 innings in the Division 3 championship game – Adrian Daily Telegram

After seeing a 10-year District streak snapped in 2015, New Baltimore Anchor Bay made it 11 in 12 seasons with a 2-1 avenging of last year’s loss to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Fulton won its first District title in this sport, downing rival Fowler 8-3 in the Division 4 championship game – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Girls Tennis

Four MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis teams won championships: Midland Dow in Division 1 after finishing runner-up in 2015, Bloomfield Hills Marian in Division 2 for the first time since 2013, Detroit County Day in Division 3 breaking a five-year hold on the title by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in a repeat in Division 4 – Second Half

Girls Track & Field

We covered all seven championship meets across both peninsulas, with the following teams winning titles: Oak Park, Lansing Waverly, Ithaca, Fowler, Marquette, Ishpeming and Ontonagon. Ithaca and Lansing Waverly's titles were their first, and Ontonagon’s its first since 1974 – Second Half

Boys Track & Field

We also covered all seven boys meets, with the following champions: Oak Park, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Sanford Meridian, Saugatuck, Marquette, Ishpeming and Rapid River. Oak Park’s title was its first in the sport – Second Half