Highlight Reel: Thursday Baseball/Softball Semis
June 16, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
The first day of the MHSAA Baseball/Softball Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Old College Field began under rainy conditions Thursday, but finished under a flourish of sunshine as four teams punched their tickets into Saturday’s Finals.
Below are links to video highlights from Saturday’s games. Click on the final scores to watch games in their entirety and purchase DVDs.
Baseball
Division 1
Warren DeLaSalle 3, Traverse City West 1
West Scores First - In the third inning, Traverse City West gets on the board with an RBI single by Gavin Gamhausen to score Nick Brzezinski.
Eagles Take The Lead - Hartland scored twice in the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead, with John Baker delivering an RBI single.
Hovde Delivers - With the score tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Saline's Richard Hovde delivers a two-out bases-loaded single to drive in two runs, which proved to be the winning margin.
Division 2
DeWitt Goes On Top - DeWitt took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Donovan Tarn doubled into the gap to score Michael Stygles.
Schut Scores Game Winner - In the seventh inning, Holland Christian's Cam Schut scores from third on a sacrifice fly by Josh Sterenberg.
Linden 5, Dearborn Divine Child 2
Chalk Chaser - Ryker Rivera hits the third base line with this run scoring single in the fourth inning to give Linden a 4-1 lead.
Koan Drives Two Home - Linden gets on the board in the third inning with this two-out, bases loaded single by Nick Koan.
Softball
Division 1
Dakota Double - The big hit in the Division 1 Semifinal between Macomb Dakota and Midland was this two-run double by Dakota's Julia Salisbury in the third inning to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
Gross Triples & Scores - Midland countered with two runs in the top of the fourth on this triple by Julia Gross to plate one run, and Gross then scored on a throwing error.
Farmington Hills Mercy 9, Mattawan 6
Swinehart Has A Big Game - Mackenzie Swinehart of Mattawan went 3 for 4 against Farmington Hills Mercy, scoring twice and driving in a run with this third-inning triple.
Three-Run Double For Padula - Farmington Hills Mercy scored five times in the second inning against Mattawan, the big hit this bases-clearing double by Cari Padula.
Division 2
Vicksburg 7, Livonia Ladywood 5
Helping With A Homer - Livonia Ladywood starting pitcher Rozlyn Price helped her own cause in the third inning with a two-run home run to center field against Vicksburg.
Bulldogs Begin Their Rally - Vicksburg started its rally back with two runs in the third inning. Alicia Cagney singles home the first run.
Eskymos Take Advantage - Escanaba tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning when Kathleen Ross scored on a Richmond error.
Richmond Tacks One On - Rachel Leach finishes the scoring for Richmond against Escanaba with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning, one of her two hits in the game.
PHOTO: An Escanaba runner tries to beat a throw to second base during her team’s Semifinal against Richmond.
MHSAA.tv Live Postseason Views Approach 1 Million for 2020-21
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 14, 2021
Live postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv during the 2020-21 school year were viewed nearly 1 million times, with 15 events drawing more than 10,000 live views apiece.
The final championship weekend of the Spring – featuring Girls Soccer Finals and Baseball and Softball Semifinals & Finals, all across four divisions June 17-19 at Michigan State University – saw nearly 70,000 live views on MHSAA.tv despite record attendance of those events at Old College Field.
The Division 2 Softball championship game – which ended with Owosso claiming its first Finals title in any sport, drew a weekend-high 5,677 live views on the network. The previous weekend, the Division 1 Girls Lacrosse Final won by Rockford on June 12 led the way with 4,284 live views.
The total number of live postseason views on MHSAA.tv for 2020-21 was 962,371. The most-viewed live tournament events were the Individual and Team Wrestling Finals, which with all rounds over all four divisions combined drew 244,044 live views. Among individual games broadcast solely by MHSAA.tv, the Division 3 Boys Basketball Semifinal matching Iron Mountain and Schoolcraft (15,393 live views) and the Division 1 Volleyball Semifinal featuring Novi and Lowell (13,484) ranked among the most watched.
MHSAA.tv is a partner of the NFHS Network. Postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv included most sports’ Finals, and Semifinals and Quarterfinals for some – especially sports where multiple concluding rounds were hosted by the same tournament site.
MHSAA.tv also ranked second among NFHS Network contributing states with 18,973 live events (postseason and regular-season combined) streamed during the 2020-21 school year. That total of nearly 19,000 live postseason events was an increase from 7,710 events streamed live during 2019-20 and 3,900 during 2018-19, and placed Michigan behind only Illinois.
The School Broadcast Program is responsible for nearly all production of regular-season events. Having now concluded its 13th year, the SBP gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Rockford – one of the state’s largest schools with nearly 2,500 students – broadcast 242 events, drawing an SBP-high 74,437 live views and 89,604 total with on-demand replays included. Much smaller Pewamo-Westphalia, a school of 300 students, received the second-most views of SBP members in 2020-21 with 56,009 including live and on-demand. Marquette, Lake Orion, Cedar Springs, Montrose and McBain also were among top SBP providers.
In addition to bringing local events on air nationally, the School Broadcast Program gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers receive access to all live and on-demand video from across the country. School Broadcast Program participants receive a portion of every subscription sold by a school to benefit its program.
Broadcasts from the majority of Michigan schools – especially those lacking the ability to staff events for production – are streamed using a Pixellot automated camera. Michigan schools have 774 Pixellots in service, third-most in the country behind only Texas and California. Most Michigan schools have one camera at an outdoor stadium and a second at the main indoor gymnasium.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.