Flashback 100: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices
November 1, 2024
The 2024 Major League Baseball World Series showcased a distinct Michigan flair during its television broadcasts these last few weeks.
The Los Angeles Dodgers triumphed over the New York Yankees in five games, with viewers treated to the commentary of Joe Davis and John Smoltz, while Derek Jeter made appearances on the pre- and postgame shows. Notably, all three athletes hail from Michigan and have left their mark on the sports field.
Davis graduated from Potterville High School in 2006, where he earned honorable mention all-state honors as a quarterback while playing football for his father, Paul. He played four years of baseball at Potterville, too. After high school, he continued his football career at Beloit College in Wisconsin before transitioning to broadcasting. Today, he serves as the television voice of the Dodgers and covers both MLB and NFL national games for Fox.
John Smoltz, a graduate of Lansing Waverly in 1985, made his mark as an all-state basketball player but gained fame on the baseball diamond. During his senior year, he hit a game-winning home run in the championship game of the Greater Lansing Diamond Classic after pitching in the semifinal. Drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of high school, Smoltz enjoyed a remarkable 21-year career in Major League Baseball, spending 20 seasons with the Atlanta Braves. He holds the unique distinction of being the only pitcher in history to record 200 wins and 150 saves.
Derek Jeter graduated from Kalamazoo Central in 1992, where he was named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year after an impressive third consecutive season with a batting average exceeding .500. In addition to baseball, he also excelled in cross country and basketball. Jeter was selected in the first round of the 1992 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees, where he went on to win five World Series championships during his illustrious 20-year career.
Both Jeter and Smoltz are members of the MLB Hall of Fame, representing two of only six inductees who played high school baseball in Michigan.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Oct. 25: Flashback 100: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS Top row, from left: Fox Sports broadcasters Joe Davis, John Smoltz and Derek Jeter. Bottom row from left, Davis as a student at Potterville, Smoltz pitching for Lansing Waverly and Jeter playing infield for Kalamazoo Central. (Current photos courtesy of Fox Sports. Past photos courtesy of Potterville High School, the Lansing State Journal and the Detroit Free Press, respectively.)
Plymouth Christian Academy, Beal City Match Shutouts To Advance in D4
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING — For Beal City and Plymouth Christian Academy, a fast start proved key to victory in Friday’s Division 4 Semifinals at McLane Stadium.
Plymouth Christian (34-7) earned its first Finals berth with an 8-0 win over Rudyard, while Beal City (30-8) reached the championship game for the second year in a row with an 8-0 win over Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, 8-0.
The Eagles and Aggies will play for the Division 4 title at 5 p.m. Saturday.
In both games, the winning team scored the only run it would need in the first inning.
For Plymouth Christian, it came on a triple by starting pitcher Jordan Scott.
“It was a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Scott said. ”You never know going into a game if you’re going to get a hit or not, and to get that first hit lifted that weight.”
Scott let his arm do the rest, scattering seven hits while striking out five with no walks.
The Eagles also took advantage of four Rudyard errors and a passed ball that led to a run.
“Errors kind of feed on each other sometimes,” Plymouth Christian coach Joe Bottorff said. “All of our batters are good base runners, even though it didn’t look like it at times. We have aggressive baserunners, and we can get around the bases. We’ve got good speed.”
The Eagles had a balanced attack, too, scattering 10 hits among seven players, led by Micah Lavigne, who had a double while going 3-for-4.
After Scott gave PCA a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Eagles scored twice in the second and put the game out of reach with four runs in the fourth.
Asked for a key to the Eagles’ success, Bottorff said “eight seniors,” before stopping to gather his emotions.
Aiden Bickel, who was the starting pitcher for Rudyard, had two hits for the Bulldogs.
Rudyard (19-20) went into the game on a five-game winning streak, all of those victories coming during the postseason, and fell short in its bid to become the first team from the Upper Peninsula to play for a state title since Escanaba reached the 2006 Division 2 Final.
Beal City 8, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep 0
For Beal City, the expectations – and results – have been very different.
“Our goal every year is to play the last game of the season, in East Lansing, and we did that,” Aggies coach Brad Antcliff said.
In fact, the Aggies are back in the Final for the second year in a row after falling to Riverview Gabriel Richard 4-3 in last season’s championship game.
Antcliff, who is in the first year of his second stint as Aggies coach, led the team to titles in 2009 and 2010 and got them back to the Final in 2013 and 2014.
Playing the first Division 4 Semifinal, Beal City (30-8) got off to an early start. With one out, Owen McKenny singled then scored on a double by Jack Fussman to give starting pitcher Josh Wilson the only run he would need.
The Aggies added two runs in the fourth inning on a single by Cayden Smith and a two-base error and put it out of reach when Smith doubled to drive in three runs in the sixth. Beal City added two more runs in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Hackett was handcuffed at the plate.
“All I needed to do was throw strikes,” said Wilson, who threw just 87 pitches in holding the Irish (24-15-1) to three hits while walking one and striking out five. “My teammates made great plays behind me. I just trusted my stuff, and my coaches trusted me.”
PHOTOS (Top) Plymouth Christian Academy’s Micah Lavigne lays out in pursuit of a drive to center field Thursday. (Middle) A Beal City hitter steps back to avoid an inside pitch. (Below) The Aggies’ Josh Wilson delivers a pitch during his shutout. (Photos by John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)