Bath Ace Leaves Legacy of Perfection

August 13, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ryan Orr’s 34-3 pitching record over four seasons for Bath’s varsity baseball team is impressive on its own. 

But it’s only the start on the legacy he’s left all over the MHSAA baseball record book.

Orr graduated this spring holding or sharing five pitching records, while also placing in three offensive categories.

The Bees ace holds records for longest string of perfect games – remaining flawless over three starts against Vestaburg, Saranac and Laingsburg from April 8-22 in 2013 – and career ERA with a 0.24 over 258 1/3 innings pitched. That string of perfect games also ties for longest no-hitter string and puts him tied atop the career perfect games list, while his 0.09 ERA this spring tied for first in that single-season category.

Orr also tied for fifth with 16 career shutouts and seventh with five career no-hitters. His four walks this spring were second-fewest in one season – to the three walks he allowed in 2012. Orr also ranks fourth in career hits with 205 and tied for 11th in runs scored with 173, and is listed as well for 104 career stolen bases. He will continue his career this fall at Kalamazoo College

Click to see more of how he ranks against MHSAA baseball's best, and read on for additional recent entries into the MHSAA records. Click the headings below to view each sport’s listings in their entirety.

Baseball

  • Saline’s Michael Hendrickson finished an impressive pitching run this spring with a 0.22 ERA and seven shutouts in only 63 innings pitched – his ERA ranks seventh and the shutouts tied for ninth-most in one season. He also ranks 11th with a 0.97 ERA over 145 career innings pitched. Saline made the team records lists with 419 hits, 80 doubles, a .375 average, 1.36 ERA and 330 strikeouts this season in finishing 32-8.

  • May 12, 2005, was a record-setting day for Sanford Meridian’s Rob Marks. He slugged back-to-back grand slams in the first inning of a 16-0 win over Farwell, becoming one of two listed for back-to-back grand slams and tying the record of eight RBI in an inning.

  • Two more Bath graduates also were added this week – Sam Zeeb for his 47 stolen bases in 2009 and 116 over his four-year career and Scotty Kirkpatrick for his 122 walks drawn from 2008-11. Kirkpatrick’s total ranks second only to Brighton star Drew Henson’s 129 from 1995-98.

Football

  • West Bloomfield senior quarterback Robert Powell, Jr., threw his way into the MHSAA record listings in only nine games last fall – making the single-season yardage (2,323), completions (150) and attempts (275) lists.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s presence in the MHSAA listings was bolstered by some of its top achievers from this season and dating back to the sport’s first with MHSAA tournament sponsorship. Taylor Ghesquiere was added for 243 career goals including 72 this season, and 293 career points including 89 this spring (he will continue his career this fall at Division III Wesleyan University in Connecticut). Dean Stanton was added for 161 goals from 2006-09, including 68 in 2008, and 85 points in 2009; while Andrew Stanton was added for 108 assists from 2007-10 including 50 in 2008, plus 2011 career points. Andrew Miller’s 2005 stats are presently unavailable, but he was added for 119 career assists over his final two seasons – 2006 and 2007 – and 201 career points over those two as well. Current senior-to-be Johnny Wagner was added for his 90 points this season, and Miller and Andrew Stanton also were added for individual game accomplishments. Former goalie Andrew Wells ranked with the second-most career saves, 603, from 2006-09, plus three times for single-season saves; Jon Harlan also made the single-season list for his 201 saves in 2006.

Boys Soccer

  • Grand Rapids South Christian goalkeeper Aaron Bosch helped the Sailors to the 2010 Division 3 championship with near-flawless play in net – he tied for the MHSAA record of 22 shutouts and second-longest streak of 13 straight clean sheets. South Christian gave up only one goal in seven tournament games – to Galesburg-Augusta in a 5-1 Regional Final win. He now plays at NAIA Northwestern College in Iowa.

  • Monroe keeper Brandon Roeske put together a 12-game shutout run last fall that tied for fourth-longest in MHSAA history, and finished also tied for fourth with 18 shutouts for the season and ninth with 39 shutouts during his four-year career. His 659 career saves also rank ninth on that list. He’ll continue his career this fall at Division III Finlandia University.

Softball

  • Utica Ford advanced to the MHSAA Semifinals this season for the first time, a crowning achievement for one of the top hitters in school history. Catcher Gabby Schefka graduated after putting her name into the MHSAA records in six categories – single-season (19) and career doubles (58), single-season (11, twice) and career home runs (30), for two consecutive home runs and seven RBI, both in a win over Sterling Heights Stevenson on April 30. Teammate Carly Asoklis also had seven RBI in that game, and Gabby Dobroczynski had six RBI against Birmingham Groves on May 4.

  • Jackson’s Sienna Surber capped her career as one of her school’s best by making the MHSAA listings for back-to-back home runs in a game this season, seven and six RBI in one game also both this season, 19 doubles as a junior, 12 home runs as a senior, and a number of career totals – hits (201), RBI (190), doubles (61), home runs (28) and runs scored (179). Her doubles are tied for 10th most in MHSAA career history, and her RBI are tied for seventh on that career list. Surber will join Florida State University’s program as a preferred walk-on this fall, according to a Jackson Citizen-Patriot report.

  

  • Mattawan’s Abby Stoner slugged into the MHSAA records before graduating in 2013 and moving on to play at Saginaw Valley State University. Stoner hit 14 home runs as a senior and 31 over her three-year varsity career – both tied for 11th on those respective lists. She helped Mattawan to the Division 1 championship as a senior, with that team’s 35 wins, 394 hits and 249 RBI also making the record book.

PHOTO: Ryan Orr graduated from Bath this spring as an MHSAA record holder in multiple pitching categories. (Photo courtesy of Bath baseball.)

Record Feats Key Dakota's Historic Run

January 4, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Macomb Dakota’s historic finish to last softball season came on the bats and arm of some history-making players who are among the latest entries into MHSAA record books.

The Cougars won their first Regional title and played in their first MHSAA Final (losing in the Division 1 championship game to Farmington Hills Mercy), and finished with a record of 38-3 – the 38 wins among notable team accomplishments that made record lists. The 2016 team’s 458 hits ranked 14th for one season in MHSAA history, while its 99 doubles were third-most and its 32 home runs were tied for 12th-most in a season. (Also, the 2015 team ranked 15th on the home runs list with 30 in 37 games.)

Individually, sophomore Corbin Hison was added for 17 doubles, while senior Kelcie LaTour was added to the single-season home runs list with 11 for the second straight spring. Junior pitcher Kendahl Dunford finished 35-3 to make the single-season pitching wins list, and LaTour also graduated on the career home runs list with 29. She’s now playing at Grand Valley State University.

See below for more recent additions to record books for baseball, girls and boys basketball, football, boys soccer and wrestling. Click on the sport headings to see those record books in full.

Baseball

Homer’s Brock Ridgeway finished his four-year varsity career last spring on MHSAA career lists for runs scored (163), hits (184), RBI (142) and being hit by pitches (47) after being hit by 18 pitches this past season and three times in one April game. The 47 career HBP is tied for third-most all-time, and he also just missed the career pitching wins list with 32. Homer as a team last spring made season lists with a .354 batting average and 53 HBPs. Ridgeway is a freshman on the Central Michigan University baseball team.

Girls Basketball

Margo Brown’s perimeter shooting was a big part of St. Ignace’s dominance through the first half of this decade, and she entered the record book for 11 3-pointers – tied for third-most in a game – against Rudyard on 17 attempts on Jan. 20, 2015. She now plays at Ferris State University.

Boys Basketball

Jordan Weber knocked down 73 3-pointers last season for East Jordan to finish his four-year varsity career with 278 – fifth-most in MHSAA history. He made nearly 34 percent of his 818 career attempts and averaged 17.1 points per game total as a senior.

Football

A pair of Gaylord athletes were entered for impressive scores more than 30 years ago. Kurt Kakaviska made the records for his 90-yard punt return touchdown against Petoskey in 1982, while Mark Johnston was added for two interception return touchdowns in one quarter in a 1986 game, also against Petoskey. Johnston actually scored a third defensive touchdown in that same third quarter, on a fumble recovery. Kakaviska went on to play at Northern Michigan University. 

Haslett kicker Luke Ezzo capped a three-season career this fall among career leaders in field goals with 19 in 26 attempts over 27 games. Ezzo also made the single-season field goals list as a junior with nine in 11 tries over 10 games.

Boys Soccer

Over eight days this fall, Micah Sonnenberg posted two of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA history. The Brooklyn Columbia Central sophomore netted six goals against Clinton on Oct. 6, then scored seven – tied for fifth-most in one game – against Jonesville on Oct. 13.

Softball

A pair of Reese hitters were added for batting prowess. Emily Schrader made the single-season hits list with 72 in 2010, while Monica Hagen – already on the single-season list with 73 in 2014 – was added to the career hits list with 209 over 132 games from 2011-14. Schrader went on to play at Delta College.

Wrestling

Jake Bohn finished his East Kentwood career in 2008 setting the single-season takedown record with 526 – and now also has been added for setting the career takedown record of 1,365 over 216 matches and four varsity seasons. Bohn went on to wrestle at George Mason University.

Comstock Park standout Ryan McCarthy has been added for his 209-29 record over four seasons from 2000-03. He was the first from his school to eclipse the 200-win career milestone.

PHOTO: Macomb Dakota’s Kelcie LaTour takes a swing during last season’s Division 1 Final against Farmington Hills Mercy.