Today in the MHSAA: 5/11/18
May 11, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
1. Girls Tennis: Midland Dow, the top-ranked team in Lower Peninsula Division 1, swept every flight to claim a 21st straight Saginaw Valley League championship – Midland Dow
2. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 15 Plymouth dealt No. 3 Brighton its first loss of the season, 1-0 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
3. Baseball: Division 1 No. 3 Rockford came back from being swept by No. 6 Grandville on Tuesday to win their third game against each other this week and pull within a game of the Bulldogs’ league lead – FOX 17
4. Girls Tennis: LPD2 No. 7 Traverse City Central locked up its seventh straight Big North Conference championship – Traverse City Record-Eagle
5. Baseball: Unranked Saginaw Heritage won the opener 1-0, but Division 1 No. 2 Bay City Western won the second game 3-0 in a matchup of Saginaw Valley League contenders – Bay City Times
6. Softball: Ubly swept Harbor Beach to earn a share of the Greater Thumb Conference East title – Huron Daily Tribune
7. Baseball: Tucker Zacharda’s walk-off sacrifice fly earned Holton an 8-7 win over White Cloud and coach Jim Giddings his 300th career victory – Local Sports Journal
8. Track & Field: Rapid River’s boys won their 41st annual home invitational by two points, while Felch North Dickinson repeated as the girls champion – Escanaba Daily Press
9. Golf: The Escanaba girls and Gladstone boys claimed Escanaba Invitational titles, the Braves shooting a 311 and Paxton Johnson finishing as girls medalist at 77 – Escanaba Daily Press
10. Football: Former Grand Ledge standout and Homer coach Joe Brya has been hired to take over Eaton Rapids – Lansing State Journal
Also of note …
Boys Basketball: Frankfort coach Reggie Manville will not return next season after leading the team to a 129-41 record over the last seven – MI Sports Now
Baseball: Ada Forest Hills Eastern coach Ian Hearn was honored Thursday for winning his 500th career game a week ago – Grand Rapids Press
Did you see that? (June 3-9)
June 10, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.
See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.
Girls lacrosse
Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Boys Lacrosse
East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Girls Soccer
Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)
Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)
Baseball
Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)
MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)
Softball
Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)
Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)
Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Boys Golf
SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)
DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)
Boys Basketball
CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)