Today in the MHSAA: 5/31/17

May 31, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This spring’s first night of baseball, softball and girls soccer Districts enjoyed more drama than usual, with a number of upsets changing how brackets were expected to look this weekend – especially in the Bay City and Oakland County areas.

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

Bay City Central scored two runs in the seventh inning to upset Bay City Western 3-2 in Division 1 – Bay City Times

Also in Division 1, Ann Arbor Skyline upset No. 10 Brighton 1-0 in nine innings – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

No. 14 Holt downed Battle Creek Lakeview 7-1 in a matchup of teams currently or formerly ranked in Division 1 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Battle Creek Harper Creek got past Marshall 2-1 in nine innings in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Bloomfield Hills earned a stunning 5-2 win over No. 3 Birmingham Groves in Division 1 – Oakland Press

In Flint Southwestern’s final regular-season doubleheader ever, Chris Jones broke the school’s single-season stolen base record with his 50th in 54 tries – Flint Journal

Boys Lacrosse

Canton followed a seven-goal comeback against Saline with a five-goal comeback to beat Plymouth 8-7 in overtime in a Division 1 Regional – Observer & Eccentric

Girls Soccer

No. 9 Middleville Thornapple Kellogg opened with perhaps the most stunning win on the first night of the soccer tournament, taking down No. 5 Richland Gull Lake 4-1 in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press

After the teams split during the regular season, No. 17 Portage Central won the Division 1 District game 1-0 over Mattawan – Kalamazoo Gazette

Saginaw Heritage downed Bay City Western 2-1 in overtime in Division 1 after falling to the Warriors 5-1 earlier this spring – Saginaw News

After seeing a two-goal lead dissolve late, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian downed No. 9 North Muskegon 3-2 with a shootout in Division 4 – Muskegon Chronicle

After falling to Marine City in the District the last two seasons, Richmond downed the No. 18 Mariners 1-0 in overtime in Division 3 – Clinton Township Voice

Division 2 No. 16 Stevensville Lakeshore came back from two goals down to beat Vicksburg 3-2 – St. Joseph Herald Palladium

Softball

Barely a week after being swept by Bay City Western, Bay City Central upset the Warriors 7-4 in Division 1 – Bay City Times

Holland scored in the seventh inning to down Grand Haven 5-4, also in Division 1 – Grand Haven Tribune

No. 3 Escanaba jumped to a 7-0 lead on honorable mention Petoskey in Division 2 and finished with an 8-2 victory – Petoskey News-Review

Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16

October 19, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.

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.

Cross Country

The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News

The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune

Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review

Boys Soccer

Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette

Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram

Girls Swimming & Diving

LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post

Volleyball

Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press

Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press

Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald

Good Reads

The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News