Today in the MHSAA: 5/23/17

May 23, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The last week of the regular season for most in baseball, golf, soccer and softball got rolling with a bevy of championship matchups, both for high-powered leagues and across regions – with Gaylord’s boys golf team continuing an especially impressive tournament run.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Baseball

Byron Center won the second game of a split with No. 2-ranked Holland Christian, 3-2, to win the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title ahead of the reigning Division 2 champion – Holland Sentinel

Detroit Western International came back from a 3-0 deficit to win its 10th straight Detroit Public School League championship with a 5-4 victory over Detroit Martin Luther King – Detroit News

Mount Pleasant held on to first place in the Saginaw Valley League, but now only shares the lead with Midland after splitting with Division 1 No. 19 Saginaw Heritage – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

St. Johns opened the 56th Capital Diamond Classic with a 5-4 eight-inning win over Division 4 No. 6 Fowler – Lansing State Journal

Girls Golf

Upper Peninsula Division 1 Houghton continued its latest surge with another invitational title Monday, this time at L’Anse Golf Club with Kaaren Liston shooting a 43 to finish first individually – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Boys Golf

Charlevoix locked up the Lake Michigan Conference championship shooting a 322 at Grayling Country Club – Petoskey News-Review

LP Division 2 No. 3 Gaylord upped its winning streak to eight straight tournaments with a victory at the Traverse City Central Invitational – Gaylord Herald Times

Girls Soccer

Division 3 No. 10 Birch Run shut out No. 9 Frankenmuth 1-0 to regain a share of first place in the Tri-Valley Conference East – Saginaw News

Plainwell got past Division 3 No. 11 Otsego 3-0 to claim a share of the Wolverine Conference title – Kalamazoo Gazette

No. 17 New Baltimore Anchor Bay upset No. 2 Utica Eisenhower in a meeting of top teams in the Macomb Area Conference Red and statewide Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Division 1 No. 7 Rochester Adams downed Rochester 2-0 to claim the Oakland Activities Association Red title – Oakland Press

From Saturday, Division 4 No. 7 Madison Heights Bishop Foley got past No. 20 Royal Oak Shrine 1-0 in the Catholic League Division II-III title game – Oakland Press

Softball

Division 3 No. 4 Napoleon broke up a close game in the fifth inning in downing Parma Western 5-0 to win the Al Glick Tournament at Spring Arbor – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Division 2 honorable mention Eaton Rapids followed the shutout pitching of freshman Grace Lehto to the Mid-Michigan area’s Softball Classic championship with a 4-0 win over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal

Houghton and Lake Linden-Hubbell combined for 60 runs over a doubleheader, the Lakes winning the first game 20-15 and the Gremlins the second 14-11 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Warren Regina won a matchup of recent state powers, downing Farmington Hills Mercy 14-6 to claim the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship – Macomb Daily

Division 4 honorable mention Waterford Our Lady downed Wixom St. Catherine 5-0 in the Catholic League C-D final thanks to a no-hitter by Hannah Davies – Oakland Press

Division 2 No. 6 Stevensville Lakeshore swept Niles to claim the outright Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West title – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Track & Field

From the weekend, the LP Division 1 top-ranked Rockford girls clinched their 20th straight Regional title finishing ahead of Okemos and Grand Ledge in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

Good Read

Born without a left hand, Stockbridge freshman pitcher Carson Robinson has always shown plenty of determination and had his share of success. This spring, he has dominated on the mound – after also playing football and basketball this school year – Lansing State Journal

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