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Bridgman Bats Earn Homes in History

July 25, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A pair of Bridgman underclassmen helped the Bees to their first MHSAA team record book listing for softball this spring, while also earning individual entries as well.

Sophomore Sydney Payne had seven RBI during a win over Benton Harbor, and freshman Madelyn Oman had six in a win over New Buffalo as Bridgman made the team RBI record list with 275 over 39 games. Payne and Oman’s record entries also were firsts for the school on the sport’s individual lists.

The Bees finished 25-14 this season and advanced to their Division 3 District Final.

Click the heading below to see where they rank in the softball record book as a whole and also for more recent record additions in that sport and baseball. 

Baseball

Canton became the 21st team to make the all-time best ERA list for clearing 1.70, posting a 1.69 in going 34-6 this spring. Seth Marano led the way with a 0.66 ERA in going 7-1, while Dean Dawson and Turner Donlin also were 7-1 on the mound.

Pellston senior Maxwell Cleaver entered a May 15 game against Boyne Falls and hit a home run, and then hit home runs in his first two at bats May 17 against Newberry. His three straight homers made the list for most in consecutive at bats.

Holt tied for 12th in MHSAA history with a 1.48 team ERA this spring in finishing 30-8. The Rams were led by senior Jesse Heikkinen (who will play at Michigan State and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers), who finished 8-1 with a 0.97 ERA.

Potterville’s Sam Traver finished his four-season career in 2015 among all-time leaders in wins, ERA and strikeouts. For his career he was added for 34 victories (against 14 losses), a 1.16 ERA, 531 strikeouts over 311 2/3 innings pitched and 11 shutouts – the strikeouts rank seventh on that list and the shutouts tied for 10th most. He also was added for ERAs of 0.28 in 2015 and 0.82 in 2014, 178 strikeouts in 2015 and six shutouts that season. He recently finished his second season at Grand Rapids Community College.

Softball

Madison Jones finished her Romeo career this spring among the MHSAA’s all-time great power hitters, adding 15 home runs to individual records listings of 18 in 2015 and 11 last year. She finished with 47 home runs, tied for fifth most all-time, and also tied for second with 10 RBI in a game this season against Howell. She also earned listings for a .528 career average and 170 career RBI. She’ll continue her career at Oakland University.

Audrey Petoskey also finished off a four-season slugging career this spring, coming in seventh all-time with 43 home runs for Milford. She added 13 this season and also was listed for 10 in 2016 and 12 in 2015, plus for hitting back-to-back home runs three times during her career. Petoskey will continue her career at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee.

Lauren Kanai and Alex Herold helped Ada Forest Hills Eastern to a 28-10 record this season especially with their bats. Kanai was added for 10 home runs and 20 doubles, while Herold was added for 72 hits, 21 doubles and a 20-game hitting streak. Herold also made the doubles career list with 34, while Kanai made career lists with 52 doubles, 155 RBI and 202 hits. Kanai will continue her career at Taylor University in Indiana.

Howell posted one of the strongest offensive seasons in MHSAA history in 2017, and a number of record book entries have followed. The Highlanders finished 38-3, scoring 466 runs (fourth all-time) with 513 hits (third), 102 doubles (third), 38 triples (fourth), 388 RBI (third) and a team .441 batting average (sixth all-time). Veronica Pezzoni capped her three-season varsity career making single-season lists with 67 runs, 76 hits and 15 triples and career lists with 187 runs, 207 hits, 25 triples, a .542 batting average and for streaks of 84 straight stolen bases and hits in 38 consecutive games. Teammate Emma Johnson earned entries this spring with 69 runs and 71 hits and career listings for 172 runs and 34 doubles over her four-year career. Maddie Gillett (23) and AJ Militello (16) were added to the single-season doubles list for their work this spring. Pezzoni will continue at University of Tennesee-Martin, while Johnson will play at Hillsdale College.

Byron earned a number of record book listings for offensive production this spring, scoring 406 runs with 437 hits, 95 doubles, 293 RBI and with a .437 batting average. Junior Alexis Andrews finished her season on a 31-game hitting streak and hit 10 home runs, while sophomore Greta L’Esperance enjoyed a 28-game streak and batted .691 while scoring 74 runs. Parker Viele hit 18 doubles this season and finished her four-year career with 911 strikeouts; she’ll continue at Lake Erie College in Ohio.

PHOTOS: Sydney Payne (left) and Madelyn Oman both made the single-game RBI list in helping Bridgman to a team record book listing. (Photos courtesy of Bridgman High School.)

Record-Ranking Defense Sets Title Tone

April 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grandville Calvin Christian’s girls soccer program has been arguably the most consistently successful in Michigan this decade, winning MHSAA championships the last three seasons.

Of course, offensive prowess has played a big part – the Squires’ 137 goals last season were recently added to the MHSAA record book, ranking seventh among girls teams for goals during one spring.

But defense – led by goalkeepers Jordyn Postema and Allison Keizer – also played, as one would expect, a significant role.

Both keepers were added to the record listing for shutouts in one season – Postema for 18 in 2013 and Keizer for 16 last spring. The team had 19 shutouts total in 2013, including 11 straight, and gave up only nine goals that season. The 2014 team had 20 shutouts in 25 games and gave up only seven goals.

As for offense, Calvin Christian did have one more recent addition to the records – Sarah Klunder, for her 24 assists a year ago.

Click to see all of the MHSAA girls soccer record book in full, and see below for more of this week’s record listing additions. (Click on the sport headings for those record listings.)

Baseball

  • Ovid-Elsie’s first entries in the MHSAA baseball records are the product of deep research by Paul Goebel, whose father John was the longtime coach beginning with the first season after the former Ovid and Elsie schools combined, in 1967. Paul Goebel, searching his father’s old scorebooks, found five entries that qualify in the ERA categories – pitcher Dave DuBois for season (1.10 in 1967) and career ERA (1.49 from 1967-69), Tom Hachlinski also for career (1.57 from 1970-71), and the 1967 (0.98) and 1968 (1.14) teams. The 1967 team, which finished 12-3 in its inaugural season, ranks third on the team ERA list. DuBois finished 20-9 over his three-season varsity career, and Hachlinski was 12-8 over his two seasons.

Girls Basketball

  • Reese finished a combined 81-10 over the last four seasons, in no small part because of the contributions of 6-foot center Reyna Frost. The Central Michigan University recruit scored 1,475 points during her four-year career, and made the MHSAA record book with 1,110 career rebounds (ninth all-time) and 387 career blocks (eighth on that list) as well as 327 rebounds and 128 blocks this winter.

  • Kent City enjoyed another successful run this winter, finishing 19-4 and winning the Central State Activities Association Silver championship – and kept the scoreboard popping along the way. The Eagles made the MHSAA’s season 3-pointers list for the third straight, this time connecting on 171, to go with 167 in 2012-13 and 187 in 2011-12. Kent City made a high of 14 3-pointers in a 73-28 win over Hesperia on Jan. 30 – Kaitlyn Geers led with five – and also was part of one of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA girls hoops history when it defeated Morley Stanwood 83-78 in double overtime Feb. 27. Bailey Freeland scored 30 points for Kent City in that game, including eight during the extra period, and Lindsey Veersma led Morley Stanwood with 21 points including nine during the team’s fourth-quarter comeback. 

 

Football

  • A total of 19 accomplishments for Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart athletes were added, with the majority celebrating a pair of four-year standouts who helped the Irish to combined 36-10 record from 2009-12 and an MHSAA title in 2010. Running back Nick Hire was added for seven rushing touchdowns in a 2012 game against Coleman, 74 career touchdowns and 450 career points, and also 124 career receptions. Quarterback Mitchell Myler was added for 410 completions, 602 attempts, 6,158 passing yards and 68 career touchdown passes – plus 157 completions (and 28 in one game), 2,576 yards and 28 TD passes as a senior in 2012. His career yardage ranks 14th on that list, and he now plays at Division III Alfred University in New York. Former QB Mike Lilly was added for 25 touchdown passes in 2008, and Brooks Hyble made the career TD reception list with 21 from 2010-13. Lilly also made 10 extra points in a 2008 win over Baldwin, while Kip Hartman was added for nine in 1998 game and Matt Kornexl was added for nine in a 2012 game. Kornexl’s 66 extra points in 2012 also made the single-season list.

  • Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Lee Graff put together one of the most impressive scoring careers in just two varsity seasons. Total he amassed 412 points, with 61 touchdowns and 23 two-point conversions over 2013 and 2014. He made the single-season MHSAA rushing TD list with 30 as a junior and also the single-season scoring list with 216 as a senior. Graff has signed with Michigan Tech University.

  • Randy Hyduk’s record addition came after 30 years of waiting, the discovery and then conversion of video of his 75-yard punt for Warren Woods-Tower against Sterling Heights Stevenson on Oct. 26, 1984. Hyduk’s kick, launched at the 10 where he received the snap, traveled nearly 90 yards in the air before landing near Stevenson's goal line.

  • Ben Stankovic took over kicking Saline’s extra points early during last season’s run to the Division 1 Final, and was perfect in points-after through the Hornets’  MHSAA runner-up finish. Stankovic made all 53 extra-point attempts over 12 games in which he kicked – and with a season to play, he’s tied for the 20th-longest consecutive extra-point streak in MHSAA history.  

Softball

  • Amanda Steig stole 162 bases during her four-year career at Reed City from 2009-12, but more than half of those as a senior – her 87 steals that spring rank second in MHSAA history for one season, and she also stole 72 straight during that run. Steig also made record listings with 84 career walks and a 20-game hitting streak from the end of her junior season through April 13 of her senior campaign. Steig went on to play at Grand Rapids Community College and now plays at Cleary University, a member of the United State Collegiate Athletic Association.

Wrestling

  • Three Leslie wrestlers with a combined six MHSAA championships, plus a two-time Finals runner-up, were added for a number of single-season and career accomplishments. Two-time champion Zehlin Storr was added for his career record of 220-12 and undefeated seasons of 2012-13 (59-0) and 2013-14 (61-0). He also made the season pins list with 44 as a senior in 2013-14 and career pins list with 126, and his 792 takedowns rank third in MHSAA career history. Younger brother Kanen Storr, also a two-time champion, was added for his 58 victories in going undefeated in 2012-13 and his 44 pins that season, and two-time champion Cody Dunn was added with his 192-31 career record. Nick Atwood was a two-time runner-up during his career from 1996-99; he made the career wins list finishing 198-8, and his 153 career pins are tied for 12th in MHSAA history.

PHOTO: Calvin Christian’s Allison Keizer (right) made seven saves in last season’s 2-1 Division 4 championship game win over Clarkston Everest Collegiate.