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.

Addison Slugger Ties Home Run Record

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Erika Underwood finished a four-season career at Addison this spring that placed her among the MHSAA’s high achievers in a number of statistical categories – and tops in one of the most notable.

Underwood slugged 49 home runs during her career, tying her for the most in MHSAA history with 2010 Belding graduate Taylor Johnson.

Total, Underwood appears in the MHSAA softball records 17 times – additional notables include sixth with a career batting average of .595, 10th with 222 career runs, tied for eighth for single-season triples with 14 in 2012, fifth with 34 career triples and tied for third for single-season home runs with 17 in 2013. A first baseman, she’ll continue her career this fall at Central Michigan University.

Read on for more of the latest additions to the MHSAA record books, and click on each heading to see the complete record listings for that sport.

Baseball

  • Flushing’s Christopher Triplett didn’t make MHSAA single-season records lists over his four-year career that ended this spring. But over those four seasons he built totals that made career lists in three categories – with 170 runs, 100 walks and 128 stolen bases. The steals rank 10th all-time. An infielder, he’ll continue his career at Spring Arbor University.

Girls Basketball

  • Karina Cole became Lincoln Alcona’s all-time leading scorer during her varsity career that ended in 2014, and along the way notched an accomplishment that made the MHSAA records as well. She connected on 72 of 81 free-throw attempts as a junior during the 2012-13 season, with that 88.9 percent success rate ranking fifth-highest for one season. She played last winter at Alpena Community College.

Football

  • Corey Willis missed his senior season of 2012 with a knee injury – but accomplished plenty as a sophomore and junior. Willis found his way into the record book four times with 2,412 yards and 33 touchdowns rushing, plus 208 points total, as a junior. He also is listed for a 95-yard kickoff return against Greenville in 2010 as a sophomore. A quarterback and running back in high school, Willis is a receiver at Central Michigan University.
  • Livonia Churchill enjoyed three playoff appearances in four seasons with spring graduate Brian Alsobrooks on the roster, and he solidified his name in the MHSAA records with eight listings as a kicker and quarterback. He made the single-season extra points list twice with 50 and 52 and booted the seventh-most for a varsity career, 142 in 34 games after taking over that duty with three games left in his freshman season of 2011. His streak of 82 straight extra points from October 2012 into October 2014 ranks fifth, and he also made the career field goals list with 19. Alsobrooks also made the records with 26 completions and 474 yards in a 2013 49-40 loss to Westland John Glenn, and after throwing for 2,258 yards in 11 games as a senior. He’s beginning his college career this fall at Eastern Michigan University.
  • Aaron Steedman capped Linden’s 53-7 win over Flint Kearsley last October with a 100-yard fumble return for a touchdown on the final play of the game. Steedman is one of four in the MHSAA record book with a fumble return TD the length of the field.
  • Longtime Muskegon Catholic Central coach Mike Holmes was added to the list of those who have led teams to at least 200 wins. Holmes’ built a career record of 212-75-1 in 25 seasons, all at MCC, and led the Crusaders to six MHSAA championships, the last in 2008. He retired after the 2012 season.
  • DeWitt’s powerful offense resulted in a number of entries from the last three seasons. Quarterback Jacob Johnson finished his career last fall with 52 touchdown passes over parts of three seasons, and after making the record lists with 2,039 passing yards and 31 TDs as a junior in 2013. Joshua Borta was a key receiver that season, when he made the record list with 16 touchdown catches, and Ryan Anderson was the team’s top target in 2012 with 80 catches, 1,221 yards and 16 TDs – and he also made the career catches list with 101 over two seasons. Christopher Ruby was added for 231 receiving yards on six receptions in a win over Owosso in 2013. Two specialists also made the records – Matthew Meagher with a 78-yard punt against Tecumseh last season, and kicker Cameron West with 153 extra points in 163 attempts from 2011-13. The team’s 45-44 win over Linden in 2012 was added to the team records as one of six to go at least six overtimes. Johnson is beginning his college career this fall at Central Michigan University, while Anderson plays for Olivet College and West played last season for Northern Michigan University.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Grant Lardieri put the final touches on a four-season varsity career that put him atop the all-time career saves list with 901, with 244 this spring – which were good for second-most in one season. He also added games of 27 and 20 saves to give him 10 entries total in the MHSAA records. Teammate Peter Fisk was added three times, with games of eight and seven goals and 67 total for the season, and Bob Pelton made the single-game assists list for the third time, with five against Holland West Ottawa on May 26. All three graduated this spring and will play at the next level – Pelton at Marquette University, Fisk at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Lardieri at Massachusetts-Lowell.

Softball

  • A pair of Mount Pleasant hitters were added, Megan Kramer with 17 doubles and Hannah Carson for 17 triples – Carson tying for third most in one season. A freshman this spring, she’s already committed to play collegiately for the University of Michigan.

PHOTO: Addison’s Erika Underwood rounds third base; she finished her high school career with 17 record book listings. (Photo courtesy of Addison High School.)