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.)
FHC star Clay Tops Every Scoring Chart
November 8, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central standout Bryce Clay rewrote the MHSAA boys lacrosse record book over the last four seasons.
He graduated this spring atop the career goals list with 385, with the most career assists at 224 and far beyond the pack with 609 career points – 154 more than anyone else has achieved.
Clay’s single-season high of 166 points rank second on that list, with his 66 assists this spring tied for fourth in that category and his career-high 105 goals in 2016 also ranking second.
He helped Forest Hills Central to the Division 2 title in 2016 and runner-up finishes the last two springs. He’s continuing his career at University of Michigan.
Click to check out the lacrosse record book in full, and read on for more recent additions in baseball, football, girls soccer, volleyball and wrestling. Click on the headings to view those record books.
Baseball
Homer’s 37-2 season this spring included a string of 48 scoreless innings that topped its previous MHSAA record of 44 set in 2005. The Trojans had 20 shutouts, a record-setting team ERA of 0.78 and 377 strikeouts, which were the second-most on that list. Homer also hit .368 with 83 doubles and 308 RBI, all three accomplishments making record book lists. Jordan Sherman capped his four seasons on career lists with 151 runs scored and 136 RBI, while Joe Roth was added for a career ERA of 1.59 over the last three seasons and Zach Butters was added for a 1.22 ERA with a fourth season to play next spring. Brock Ridgeway was added for 33 pitching wins from 2013-16. Sherman is continuing his career at Concordia University-Ann Arbor, Roth is playing football at Indiana Wesleyan University and Ridgeway plays baseball at Central Michigan University.
Birmingham Groves was added for games with 13 and 11 stolen bases this spring and for 12 steals in a game in 2017. As a team, Groves also made the season hit-by-pitch list in 2018 with 49 in 36 games. Chaise Ford completed his career in the spring with 33 times hit by pitches over 110 games and three seasons. He’s playing football at Ferris State University.
Jack Pramuka became the second player in Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart history to be hit by three or more pitches in one game when he was hit in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings April 21 against Battle Creek Harper Creek. Pramuka was a senior.
Four four-year varsity players left record-book milestones in graduating from Frankfort this spring. Brett Zimmerman has eight record book entries, with his .640 batting average this past season ranking third all-time. He made career lists hitting .506, getting hit by pitches 55 times (third all-time), stealing 115 bases, scoring 184 runs and driving in 135. Griffin Kelly also was added to the career runs list with 156, and teammates Jack Morrow and Kirk Myers made the career ERA list at 1.50 and 1.36, respectively. As a team, Frankfort was added for getting hit by pitches 49 times this spring, and also for tying the MHSAA record with eight straight shutouts and ranking third all-time with 45 straight scoreless innings. (Frankfort was one of three teams to break the scoreless innings streak record this spring, with Homer finishing with 48 as explained above and Brownstown Woodhaven ending its record run May 17 with 60 straight.) Zimmerman is playing baseball at Wayne State University, Morrow and Myers are playing at Albion College, and Kelly is playing football at Northern Michigan.
Football
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley made the team defense record book a second time by holding Utica to only four first downs in a 49-0 victory Oct. 19. Chippewa Valley previously had been added for holding Utica to five first downs in their 2017 meeting. Also, senior Niko Kepi was added for connecting on 61 straight extra points beginning near the end of 2017 and carrying through his first attempts in Friday’s District Final win over Macomb Dakota.
Despite falling 67-37 to eventual Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic on Oct. 16, 2015, Belding’s special teams shined. Connor Barker, a senior, returned kickoffs 90 and 88 yards for touchdowns to make the list for multiple kickoff return touchdowns in one game.
Girls Soccer
Kristi Vandeberghe has taken her rightful place among the leading scorers all-time, with the addition of her single-season goals for her sophomore (50), junior (40) and senior (48) seasons to go with her record 66 as a freshman. The former Mount Clemens star finished with 204 career goals from 2001-04, which ranks second. She went on to play at Grand Valley State and then Oakland University.
Softball
St. Joseph’s Courtney Farrish enjoyed a power-packed spring, making the MHSAA single-season home runs list with 14 over 31 games. Farrish is a senior this fall and will sign with Western Michigan University.
Wrestling
Hunter Machus finished his four-season varsity career at Bronson in 2013 on career lists for wins and pins. He ended 209-25 with 111 of those victories by fall. Machus went on to wrestle at Alma College.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Bryce Clay begins a run upfield during last season’s Division 2 Final against East Grand Rapids.