Today in the MHSAA: Softball Quarterfinals
June 13, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Girls Softball Finals will be played Thursday and Friday at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium. Below is a sampling of coverage of how the 16 qualifiers advanced.
Division 1: No. 2 Clarkston downed No. 1 Hartland 11-3 to advance – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Division 1: No. 3 Howell earned a return to Secchia Stadium with a big win over honorable mention Canton – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Division 1: No. 6 Warren Regina will play for another Division 1 championship after downing Garden City – Detroit News
Division 1: No. 7 Bay City Western got past Lowell 4-1 to earn a return to East Lansing – Midland Daily News
Division 2: No. 3 Eaton Rapids shut out Ida to move on, 2-0 – Lansing State Journal
Division 2: A freshman and junior pitched No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore past No. 6 Spring Lake, 3-1 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Division 2: Top-ranked Escanaba earned an opportunity to repeat as champion with a 2-0 win over honorable mention Freeland – Escanaba Daily Press
Division 2: Reese Ruhlman hit three home runs to lead North Branch past St. Clair Shores South Lake – Detroit News
Division 3: No. 7 Standish-Sterling hit a pair of home runs to get past No. 10 Negaunee – Iron Mountain Daily News
Division 3: A big sixth inning pushed No. 2 Dundee past Riverview Gabriel Richard 8-3 – Monroe News
Division 3: Honorable mention Schoolcraft won a high-scoring Quarterfinal over Grandville Calvin Christian 14-6 – Three Rivers Commercial News
Division 3: Top-ranked Millington booked its return to the Semifinals with a big win over Marine City – High School Sports Scene
Division 4: No. 1 Coleman earned another Semifinals trip with a big win over No. 7 Holton – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Division 4: No. 4 Rogers City edged Rudyard 2-1 to also return to the Semifinals – Alpena News
Division 4: No. 2 Kalamazoo Christian won big over Hudson to advance – Kalamazoo Gazette
Division 4: No. 9 Unionville-Sebewaing earned its 13th trip to the Semifinals over the last 14 seasons with a big win over honorable mention Allen Park Inter-City Baptist – Huron Daily Tribune
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)