Ramping Up for Prepapalooza 2014
May 27, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Over the next five days, thousands of teams representing more than 700 MHSAA high schools will compete for championships at the District, Regional and Finals levels in 11 sports in what annually is the busiest week in Michigan high school sports.
MHSAA.com and Second Half are the places to be for results, coverage and live video from championship events all over both Peninsulas.
Total, 26 Finals champions will be crowned in girls and boys tennis, girls and boys track and field and Upper Peninsula girls and boys golf, with 36 Regional champions rewarded in girls and boys lacrosse and Lower Peninsula boys golf and 320 winners earning trophies in softball, baseball and girls soccer. All tournament rounds combined, more than 8,000 medals will be presented to individual winners or contributors on those team champions.
Game scores as they are reported for baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse will be available on the MHSAA Score Center throughout the week. Full results from golf Regionals also will be posted over the next five days, as will Finals tennis and golf results as we receive them from Lower and Upper Peninsula hosts (Lower Peninsula tennis opening rounds late Friday evening). Track and Field Finals results will be posted Saturday evening.
All MHSAA Finals from both peninsulas will be covered with stories and photos on Second Half by a crew of valuable correspondents from around the state. Second Half will continue its coverage at the Lacrosse and LP Boys Golf Finals on June 14 and the Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer Finals from June 19-21.
Live championship races from all seven sites of MHSAA Track and Field Finals will be available on a subscription basis on MHSAA.TV, beginning with the 3,200-meter relays at 10 a.m. at each site. The rest of the Upper Peninsula races then will continue, with Lower Peninsula championship races beginning again at 1 p.m. Highlights from this week's golf and tennis championship events will debut on MHSAA.TV in July.
PHOTOS: (Top) Runners push toward the finish during the 2013 LP Division 3 Final. (Middle) Members of the Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart tennis team hold up number ones to signify their place at last season's LP Division 4 Final.
Sacred Heart Adds 1st Title in 30 Years to Coach's 57-Year Celebration
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2026
EAST LANSING — This was quite an anniversary present for longtime Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart baseball coach Earl Hartman.
On Saturday, his team’s matchup with Marcellus in the Division 4 championship game also happened to fall on the same day as his 57th wedding anniversary.
The Irish provided a nice gift, winning the school’s third Finals championship and first since 1996 with a 10-0 win in five innings over Marcellus.
“We were here (39) years ago in 1987, also on our anniversary, but we were runner-up,” said Hartman, who just finished his 43rd year as head coach. “Took a long time to make amends.”
Always one of the state’s top-ranked programs in Division 4, the biggest thing for Sacred Heart this year was getting past powerhouses such as Beal City and Portland St. Patrick before getting to the Semifinals.
The Irish finally did so again this spring, and went on to earn dominant wins in East Lansing. Sacred Heart had defeated Royal Oak Shrine Catholic in its Semifinal, 4-0.
“We still had to dial it in, but once we got over that St. Patrick and Beal City hump, it was smooth sailing from there,” said Sacred Heart senior Brady Davis, who was the standout in Saturday’s Final.
On the mound, he allowed just one hit while throwing all five innings, striking out eight.
At the plate, Davis hit his first-ever home run, sending a shot over the big wall in right field with a man on in the fourth inning to give the Irish a 7-0 lead.
“I’ve always dreamed of hitting a bomb like that,’ Davis said. “So it was great.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Davis came up with the bases loaded and one out with Sacred Heart up 9-0. He then sent a deep fly ball to the outfield to bring home the 10th run and end the game on the run-differential rule.
The Irish wasted little time getting going Saturday, scoring four runs on two hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Senior Teegan Duffy had an RBI single, junior Hank MacDonald an RBI groundout and then freshman Jaxon Moore had a two-run single to comprise the rally for Sacred Heart.
Marcellus had a threat in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs before Davis got out of the jam with a strikeout.
Beyond that, Davis was in full control.
Marcellus (22-12) was making its first appearance in the championship game.
“That team is unreal,” Marcellus head coach Christian Hutson said. “That’s a buzzsaw.
“Nobody believed we could make it this far. It’s an amazing experience. There’s nothing to be ashamed of for this group.”
Indeed there wasn’t for Marcellus, but the day belonged to Sacred Heart’s team and the anniversary celebration for its longtime coach.
“It’s huge for the whole community and everybody showed up,” Davis said. “For Coach Hartman, It’s been a while since we’ve been back here, so we wanted to do it for him.”
PHOTOS (Top) Sacred Heart's Noah Zeien (3) sprints to first base during the Division 4 Final on Saturday. (Middle) The Irish's Maxim Boykin Lynch crosses the plate as the ball lands in front of Marcellus catcher Eli Torres.