Today in the MHSAA: 6/9/17

June 9, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Half of this season’s MHSAA girls soccer semifinalists were determined in Regional Finals on Thursday, with a first-time title for one school and some last-second heroics for a few more champs.

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.

Girls Soccer

Trailing by two early, No. 4 Grand Blanc came back with five goals to beat No. 13 Walled Lake Northern 5-2 in a Division 1 Regional Final – Flint Journal

Natalie Belsito scored her Division 2 Regional Final’s only goal with 23 seconds to play to push No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern past No. 15 Spring Lake 1-0 – Grand Rapids Press

No. 16 Muskegon Catholic Central won its first girls soccer Regional title, downing No. 7 Elk Rapids 2-1 in Division 4 – Muskegon Chronicle

Haley Balkema scored both goals as No. 8 Kalamazoo Christian downed Holland Black River 2-0 in Division 4 Regional Final – Kalamazoo Gazette

No. 10 Utica Ford will play in its second MHSAA Semifinal in four seasons thanks to a 2-1 Division 1 win over No. 19 New Baltimore Anchor Bay – C&G Newspapers

Holland Christian got past No. 13 Marshall 2-1 with a shootout to advance in Division 2 – Holland Sentinel

No. 2 Hudsonville Unity Christian will return to the season’s final week after a 3-0 win over No. 12 Grand Rapids Catholic Central in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press

No. 11 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett also advanced in Division 4, with a 5-0 win over Marlette. 

Today in the MHSAA: 6/7/16

June 7, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Action was light as the second-to-last week of 2015-16 began Monday. But that allowed us the opportunity to catch up on some of the incredible District title streaks extended or ended over the weekend, including one stretching three decades.

Baseball

Holt continued to ride its wave after beating rival Grand Ledge in their Division 1 District by beating Mason in a Capital Area Diamond Classic semifinal to earn a championship game matchup with the Comets on Wednesday – Lansing State Journal

From Saturday, Rudyard clinched its seventh straight District title with a 7-1 win over St. Ignace in Division 4 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Girls Soccer

From Saturday, Pinconning won its first District title, downing Roscommon 2-1 in Division 3 – Bay City Times

From Saturday, Montrose, in Division 4, won its first District title since 2001 and in doing so ended Saginaw Nouvel’s 18-year run of District championships – Saginaw News

Softball

From Friday, Custer Mason County Eastern nearly saw a 30-season District streak end while trailing Brethren in the seventh inning of the championship game, but won 5-4 in eight innings to extend the streak to 31 – Ludington Daily News

Gladstone extended its streak of District titles to 14 with a win over Ishpeming Westwood in their championship game – Escanaba Daily Press

Good Read

It’s hard to tell what’s most intriguing about Monroe baseball standout Naruki Okamoto; that’s he’s moved back and forth between Japan and the U.S. three times, that he’ll graduate this week as a junior because he has that many credits, or that he almost didn’t make the team but has hit .343 as the starting second baseman – Monroe Evening News