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.)

Forest Park Runs to 8-Player Records

May 14, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Crystal Falls Forest Park ran away, literally, with its first 8-player football championship this past fall.

The Trojans set the MHSAA 8-player records for 5,327 total yards, 77 total touchdowns, 686 rushing attempts, 4,350 rushing yards and 65 rushing touchdowns on the way to claiming the 8-player Division 2 title. Forest Park also played just 12 games, with an open date during the regular season.

Individually, senior Connor Bortolini was added for a record 54 carries, 402 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns and seven total touchdowns against Powers North Central on Sept. 1. Senior teammate Peter Ropiak was added for five tackles for a loss against Eben Junction Superior Central on Sept. 15 and a record 28 total in just nine games for the season. Sophomore Noah Gilner earned the record for tackles for loss in a game with seven against Phillips, Wis., on Sept. 22. 

Bortolini will continue his career this fall at Finlandia University.

See below for more recent record book additions in football, plus baseball, girls and boys basketball and boys lacrosse. Click on the headings to view those record books in full.

Baseball

Grand Ledge was added for 420 hits, 87 doubles, 337 RBI, a .389 average and 1.62 ERA as a team in 2017, over 41 games. Senior Wyatt Rush was added for 0.69 ERA over 70 2/3 innings pitched; he now plays for Lansing Community College.

Jesus Becerra did not get a hit during his record-book worthy performance last season. But the Stephenson now-senior did reach four times on errors against Peshtigo, Wis., and turned those opportunities into seven stolen bases – tying for second most steals in one game in MHSAA history. 

After giving up two singles to start a May 9 game against Warren Fitzgerald, Madison Heights Madison junior pitcher Austin Brown struck out 20 of the next 21 hitters. He’s tied for seventh most strikeouts in a seven-inning game.

Girls Basketball

Sophomore Kelynn Kujat made 66 3-pointers this past season to set a Frankenmuth record. She scored a team-leading 332 points for the Eagles.

Boys Basketball

Clinton Township Clintondale’s Richard Washington was added to the single-season steals list with 111 over 21 games this winter. The junior also averaged 20.3 points per game and made 63 3-pointers.

Football

Hunter Spence capped a two-season varsity career at Comstock Park in the fall with six record book entries, with his 18 catches against Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Oct. 6 tied for third-most in one game. Spence finished with 136 catches and 1,948 receiving yards over the past two seasons. Senior Logan Serba was added for 245 yards receiving and four touchdowns in one game against Belding. Junior quarterback Chase Brown is up to 18 entries in the record book after two seasons and with one more to play – he ranks on career lists already with 592 passing attempts, 373 completions and 5,126 yards. Senior kicker Nathan Hughes also was added for making 56 extra points in 58 attempts this past season. Hughes will play baseball after graduation at Aquinas College.

Jacob Witt finished his career in the fall with 12 entries in the 8-player record book while playing for Ewen-Trout Creek in 2016 and then a co-op of E-TC and Ontonagon last season. Witt added 31 receptions for 759 yards and 14 touchdowns to finish with two-season career totals of 102 catches, 2,457 yards and 39 scores. Witt will play basketball next season at Michigan Tech University.

Eben Junction Superior Central added to its list of accomplishments in the 8-player record book, including for 643 total yards and 635 rushing against Felch North Dickinson on Oct. 6. The Cougars’ latest listings also include 72 rushing attempts against Rapid River on Aug. 31 and 3,301 total rushing yards last season. Junior Beau Rondeau was added for 41 carries and six rushing touchdowns against Rapid River.

Boys Lacrosse

Howell senior Jack Radzville scored more than half of his team’s goals in a 20-15 loss to Brighton on April 19, tallying nine to tie for sixth most in one game in MHSAA history. He added two assists, and his 11 points total also made that single-game list.

PHOTO: Crystal Falls Forest Park's Connor Bortolini high fives a teammate after scoring during last season's 8-player Division 2 Final at the Superior Dome. (Photo by John Johnson.)