Mourning Those Who Contributed Much
April 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend was a sad one for those who work in Michigan high school athletics or have appreciated the contributions from three who gave significantly to our games but died after long fights with cancer.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Keisha Brown, Grand Haven's Robin Bye and Haslett's Jamie Gent left memorable legacies in their passing – Brown on Thursday, Gent on Friday and Bye on Saturday.
Following are just a few details of their contributions to schools and sports, followed by a handful of Twitter posts celebrating their commitments.
- Brown in 2006 became the first and only female coach to lead a boys team to the MHSAA Basketball Finals, guiding the Irish to the Class D Final before they fell to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. She also served as principal and athletic director at Sacred Heart and coached the boys basketball team to a 114-30 record before taking over the Alma College women’s program, which she coached through this season. Click to read the memorial column from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun’s Jim Lahde.
"RIP Keisha Brown. What a truly inspiring human being that battled cancer with courage and strength. My thoughts are with her family.” – Oakland Press reporter Drew Ellis, formerly of the Morning Sun
“Rest in Peace Keisha Brown #TrueWarrior. Words cannot express my sadness #HeartBroken.” – Alma College Sports Information Director Mike Hanson
- Bye worked in the Grand Haven school system for 34 years, including the last two-plus as athletic director after formerly serving as an assistant and a girls basketball coach. He also had been a middle school art teacher in the district, and last year received its “Spirit of Grand Haven” award for commitment and dedication to Grand Haven schools. Click to read the story on his passing from the Muskegon Chronicle’s Scott Brandenburg.
“Thinking of the Bye family tonight. Robin will be missed. As a person and an AD, he made me want to be better a person/coach. God Bless.” – Grand Haven boys basketball coach Steve Hewitt.
“I will miss Robin Bye. He made a big difference for the youth in our town, more than an athletic director; an inspiration.” – Grand Haven parent Pat McGinnis
- Gent began his career at Haslett in 1967 as a middle school teacher and high school coach in three sports. He was head coach of the track and field, boys basketball and football varsity teams at different times and began his second stint as the school’s athletic director in 1991. He also was an MHSAA registered official for more than 15 years and a mentor to many both in the Lansing area and statewide through his contributions to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He received the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Award in 2008. See below for a video posted that year in honor of Gent as he retired as athletic director, and click for Dick Hoekstra's piece in the Lansing State Journal posted today.
“Sad to hear of the passing of Jamie Gent, long time Haslett HS athletic director. Really great guy, very kind hearted.” – former Haslett athlete, current White Pigeon teacher/coach Kurt Twichell
“Jamie Gent was one of the best ADs I had the privilege to know. A great loss tonight for the Haslett community.” – Chelsea football coach Brad Bush
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Former Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown comforts one of her players after the Irish fell in the Class D Final in 2006. Jamie Gent, left, receives his Charles E. Forsythe Award from Negaunee's Jim Derocher during the 2008 Boys Basketball Finals. Grand Haven athletic director, Robin Bye, is recognized as an assistant coach on the 1981 girls basketball team inducted into the Grand Haven sports Hall of Fame.
Richard Pitchers Rise to Occasion Versus High-Scoring Beal City in D4 Clincher
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2022
EAST LANSING – Riverview Gabriel Richard baseball coach Mike Magier admitted he was a little nervous while preparing to put in a freshman at a crucial point in Saturday’s Division 4 championship game.
“You talk to him in the dugout, we’re going back and forth and he doesn’t seem fazed,” Magier said, chuckling. “I don’t know if he knows the situation or not. But he says, ‘I'm ready Coach.’ He throws a lot of strikes, and we had our best defense behind him when he’s on the mound.”
Drew Everingham entered in relief with a runner on and one out in the seventh inning. He hit his first batter, gave up an RBI single, then got a game-ending double play as Gabriel Richard edged Beal City, 4-3, for its second Finals title in five years. The Pioneers also won the Division 3 title in 2018.
The pitching victory went to senior Ashton Nowak, who started and went 6 1/3 innings before having to leave the game due to the pitch count rule. He was in center field when the final outs were recorded.
“That’s exactly what we needed,” he said. “It feels amazing. It took everyone, even the entire school coming out to watch us, to get that win.”
The Pioneers (17-12) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Brendan Hills doubled and scored on a single by Connor Silka. Richard added two more runs on a double to the left-center field gap off the bat of catcher Bryan Tuttle.
Beal City, which finished the season having averaged an MHSAA-record 12.5 runs per game, scored twice in the sixth inning on a bases-clearing triple by Jack Fussman to make the score 3-2. But Richard added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Nick Wisniewki.
The Aggies (30-3) had one more comeback try, trailing by two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Jake Gauthier walked to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a single by Brayden Haynes. But the rally fell short.
“Like I told them after the game, they battled,” Beal City coach Steve Pickens said. “They battled all year. They’re a great group of guys. I’d go to war with them. It bounced a little different today than it usually does, but that’s baseball.”
For the Pioneers, a season of ups and downs ended at the pinnacle.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Tuttle, who was behind the plate for all but three innings this season for the Pioneers. “This is what we’ve dreamed of since the beginning of the season, and now that it’s come true, it’s unbelievable.”
PHOTOS (Top) Brenden Hills crosses the plate for Riverview Gabriel Richard on Saturday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) Pioneers catcher Bryan Tuttle puts a tag on Beal City’s Konnor Wilson during the third inning.