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
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)