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: 9/17/15

September 17, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s know-your-sports checklist includes catching up on impressive feats by some of the state’s top-ranked girls golf teams and enjoying a pair of inspirational stories about leading soccer scorers.

Girls Golf

Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 4 Lake Orion won the Oakland County Division 1 Tournament for the second straight season, edging No. 6 Novi by one shot and No. 1 Rochester by two – Oakland Press

Three Spring Lake golfers carded three birdies apiece to lead the LP Division 3 No. 1 Lakers to a 53-stroke win in the Lakes 8 jamboree on their home course – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Soccer

Freeland improved to 11-1 with its first win over Saginaw Swan Valley in three seasons, also handing the Vikings their first loss this fall – Saginaw News

Boys Tennis

Midland Dow, No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, fell to No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at the Midweek Classic, but still won the tournament thanks to No. 6 Detroit U-D Jesuit’s win over FHC – Midland Daily News and Saginaw News

Volleyball

Ionia swept reigning Capital Area Activities Conference White champion Williamston, beating the Hornets for the first time under sixth-year coach Jeanna Kraatz – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Niles emerged as the biggest winner from the SMAC 6-Pack Tournament on its home floor with victories over Battle Creek Lakeview, Battle Creek Central and Richland Gull Lake, all in two games – Niles Daily Star

Bay City John Glenn improved to 9-1 with a win over Tawas, opening North East Michigan Conference play as the reigning champion and with nearly the same lineup as in 2014 – Bay City Times

Good Reads

We’re big fans of athletes who play multiple sports, and Port Huron’s Jon Miller is one of the latest – he’s the soccer team’s leading scorer and the top field goal kicker in school history, plus one of the football team’s leading receivers. A great line from the story: “But if there’s one kid that can take this on, it’s the kid that’s loading his senior year with as many memories as possible.” – Port Huron Times-Herald

Andrew Shippell is Marshall’s leading scorer this season, and after three years of fighting is preparing to celebrate a milestone – the end of his chemotherapy in February – Battle Creek Enquirer