Paying Tribute with Diamond Donation
May 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Rochester Adams and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood baseball players and coaches both had loved ones on their minds when they took the field at Comerica Park earlier this month.
And they paid tribute to those loved ones over their hearts and across the backs of their jerseys.
Together, the teams raised more than $3,500 for the Coaches vs. Cancer research initiative.
Instead of its usual brown and yellow, Adams wore jerseys of light blue with a green ribbon as the middle “A” in its name across the front in honor of those suffering with lymphoma, including 2011 graduate and former standout Matt Williams.
Cranbrook-Kingswood wore dark blue jerseys with a pink ribbon as the “A” in Cranbrook and with lime green writing on the back as the Cranes remembered longtime coach Jack Sanders, who died in 2012 after also battling lymphoma.
Sanders’ was among names adorning the backs of jerseys, along with other cancer victims the players and coaches knew.
Adams won the May 1 game, 18-3. Click to read more from the Oakland Press’ Keith Dunlap, who leading up to the game detailed both Williams’ fight and Sanders’ longtime contributions.
Net finder
Lake Fenton’s Jordan Newman will finish her high school soccer career later this spring as the top goal-scorer in MHSAA girls soccer history.
The Blue Devils’ senior forward broke the career record on April 28, scoring her 169th goal against Perry to pass the mark set by Newaygo’s Jaleen Dingledine from 2004-07. Newman also is a four-year varsity player.
Click to read more on her record run from the Flint Journal's Eric Woodyard.
5 K, 1 IP
The MHSAA doesn't keep a record for most strikeouts in an inning. But if it did, there’s a great chance Brighton’s Garrett Russell would top the list.
Against Ann Arbor Pioneer on April 5, Russell struck out five batters in an inning.
Yes, five.
Here’s how:
Russell struck out the first two batters of the inning swinging, leaving one out to get. He then struck out that third batter as well, but that batter reached first base because the third strike turned into a wild pitch.
The fourth batter of the inning was the only one to not strike out – he walked, putting runners on first and second base with two outs. Those runners advanced to second and third base, respectively, on a wild pitch thrown to the fifth batter of the inning.
That fifth batter then struck out swinging (which made it four strikeouts in the inning), but that third strike turned into a passed ball – and that batter ended up on first base, loading them for the sixth hitter of the inning.
But Russell found enough for one more K, striking out that sixth hitter swinging on a 2-2 pitch.
His line for the inning: 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 bases on balls, 5 strikeouts.
Brighton went on to sweep the doubleheader 12-4 and 11-1.
Family ties
Basketball clearly runs in a pair of families who have come through Corunna High School.
This winter, brothers M.J. and Mikhail Myles both scored their 1,000th career points – M.J., a senior, on Jan. 3 and Mikhail, a junior, in the team’s District Semifinal on March 5.
On Feb. 18, senior Payton Birchmeier became the fifth player in girls program history to score her 1,000th point – despite scoring only four points as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury in her first high school game. She became the first Corunna girl to score 1,000 since her sister Megan finished accomplishing the feat in 2010.
Payton Birchmeier went on to play her final three seasons also on varsity, and M.J. Myles also was a four-year varsity player. Mykhail Myles has played three on varsity with next season still to play. The Myles' stepsister Klarissa Bell this winter finished an outstanding career at Michigan State University and won the Miss Basketball Award as a senior at East Lansing High School in 2010, and stepbrother Devlin Bell also was a Trojans standout.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams players congratulate each other during their May 1 game at Comerica Park. (Middle) The Adams' first baseman and a Cranbrook-Kingswood base runner await the next pitch. (Photos courtesy of Rochester Adams baseball.)
Confidence High, Opportunities Growing as Ranquist Begins Repeat Pursuit
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
To say Jasmyn Ranquist grew up at a bowling alley is, of course, hyperbolic.
But only a little bit.
“My parents were in a small league at our local bowling alley, and I was up there since the week after I was born,” Ranquist said. “I was there all the time. The rule at our bowling center is, if you can sit through two games, you can join a league. Usually kids start at about 4, but my mom felt I was ready and I started at 3.”
All that time at Longshot Lanes in Bad Axe has paid off, as Ranquist is entering her junior season for the Hatchets as the reigning Division 4 Finals champion, and with all of her lifelong bowling goals well within reach.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to bowl in college and win as many tournaments as I can,” Ranquist said. “Starting my freshman year when I won Regionals, that really opened my eyes to the possibilities that could come.”
Several opportunities are coming more into focus for Ranquist, who said she already has been in contact with multiple schools about bowling at the next level.
A lot of that contact began at the United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships, which were held this past summer in Detroit.
As part of the event, which features bowlers from across the country and Puerto Rico, Ranquist said college programs, both varsity and club, are available to answer questions and give information about their programs. Some of that communication has continued into the school year.
Something else Ranquist is carrying over from the summer is the confidence that comes from bowling against that level of competition.
“I go to these different tournaments in the summer and fall, and at nationals, everyone there is the best of the best, and they’re all trying to do the same thing I’m doing, so you get used to competing at that level,” she said. “I definitely think it’s better for me to have the experience of these other tournaments. Some girls that go to states, they bowl in high school season and that’s it, they’re done. If I have the experience of going year-round, I know what to expect and what level I have to compete at.”
It has certainly served her well so far. After winning her Regional two years ago, Ranquist advanced to the quarterfinals of match play as a freshman at her first Finals.
This past season as a sophomore, she was fifth following qualifying at Northway Lanes in Muskegon and ran through the match play bracket, out-bowling her opponents by an average of 429-334. Her closest match was a 366-344 victory in the final against her friend, Lauren Castillo of Memphis.
Immediately after, the prospect of matching Morgan Brunner of Gobles – who in 2023 became the first female bowler to win three straight Finals titles – crossed Ranquist’s mind.
She admits that she’s taking a more day-to-day – or frame-by-frame – approach, though.
“I don’t necessarily think that’s going through my mind as much as I get through this year,” Ranquist said. “If it happens again, that would be amazing, but if it doesn’t, I’ll just work harder next year and hopefully do it again next year. It’s always a goal (to win another Finals title), but realistically, you never know what could happen. There could be someone there that’s committed to Nebraska, you just never know. All you can do is play it by ear and see what happens.”
Ranquist’s focus on what’s directly in front of her is evident in the goals she’s set for herself this season. And luckily, she bowls in the Thumb and Bay area, where there’s plenty of competition to keep her on her toes throughout the winter.
“The main goal is just to make it to states, first of all, because if you don’t make it there, you don’t have the opportunity to do anything there,” she said. “Also, within our conference, I want to win academic awards, high average, high game, stuff like that. That’s always the goal – it’s bragging rights, because it’s people around you. Also, for my team to make it to states this year. I truly believe that we could this year.”
As she chases down these goals, Ranquist can draw not only from the experience she gained this past summer, but from more than a decade spent bowling for bragging rights at Longshot Lanes.
“My dad and my mom would always go up there, and my cousins, we would all bowl together,” Ranquist said. “Between my family, it’s always a competition, like, ‘I can beat you.’ My mom is not necessarily as into it as my dad would be. I’d say it depends on the day if I beat my dad. I’m pretty sure my mom’s given up on the fact that she can beat me. (If I beat my dad) I brag for about two months after. It’s back and forth, just for bragging rights.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS Bad Axe’s Jasmyn Ranquist begins her approach and follows through during a frame last season. (Photos by Matthew Varner/Matt V Photography).