Kennedy Completes Record Power Surge

September 11, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Michigan has a new softball career home run leader.

Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy hit 22 this spring – tied for third most in a season – to finish her four-year career with 55 homers over 125 games. That’s one more home run than Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse’s Brooke Nadolny, who will enter her senior season in 2019 with 54.

Kennedy also was added for 18 doubles this season, and freshman teammate Savannah Wing made that list with 22. Kennedy will continue her career at Miami University of Ohio.

See below for more recent record book entries in softball and football, and click the headings to see those record books in full.

Football

A handful of teams made the move from 11 to 8-player football for the 2009 season, making Nick Zaleski’s performance of Oct. 10 of that season one the earliest to grab headlines in the new format. Zaleski scored 11 touchdowns – nine rushing and two on kickoff returns – to lead Owendale-Gagetown to a 90-52 win over Posen. He also gained 431 yards rushing on 21 carries.

Grant Dittmer grabbed four interceptions in an Oct. 23, 2015, win over Mesick to help Bay City All Saints clinch its first playoff berth at the time since 2010. Those interceptions are tied for fourth most in one game (three players grabbed five in a game).

Auburn Hills Avondale enjoyed three highlight-reel returns that made the MHSAA records in 2017. Derrick Hinton Jr. produced two of them – a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown against Troy on Aug. 24 and a 97-yard punt return touchdown against Macomb Lutheran North on Oct. 20. Zeke Ringstaff also added to the scoring in that Week 9 win over Lutheran North that put Avondale into the playoffs – he brought back a fumble 100 yards for a score. Hinton’s kickoff return and Ringstaff’s return tied MHSAA records. Both are seniors this fall. 

Softball

Anna Dixon closed her Farmington Hills Mercy career this spring on career lists with 177 runs, 226 hits and 42 doubles. She also made the hitting streak list with at least one in 33 straight games from May 12, 2017, through May 5 of this spring. Dixon will continue her career at Hillsdale College.

Pinckney’s Elizabeth Kramer hit her way nearly to the top of one of the longest category lists for any sport in the MHSAA record book, knocking 28 doubles as a sophomore in 2017. That total ranks third all-time for one season. Kramer is a senior this fall.

Brownstown Woodhaven’s Alyssa Harris capped her four-year varsity career this spring with 46 doubles, 27 homers and 150 RBI over 137 games. She’s continuing her career at University of Findlay.

Tessa Nuss’ junior season for Lake Orion was one of the most impressive in MHSAA history. She hit .654 this spring with 89 hits and 79 runs scored – the hits were the fourth most all-time and the runs tied for sixth most in one season. Nuss will sign with Binghamton University in New York.

Faith Howe capped her four-year Beaverton career this spring on the strikeouts list with 1,037, which included a career-high 397 in 2017 when she went 34-4. Teammate Ann-Marie Hicks was added for 42 career doubles over her four-year run with the Beavers, and senior Amaya Ware was added for six RBI in a game this April against Breckenridge. Howe also was added for three homers – including two consecutive – against Pinconning in May.  Beaverton made team record lists going 38-4 in 2017 with 68 doubles, 250 RBI and 432 pitching strikeouts. Howe is continuing her career at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, and Hicks will continue at St. Clair County Community College.

Averi Munro completed an incredible four-year career in 2016 among the MHSAA’s best all-time in a number of categories. The Morrice standout earned 25 record book entries. Her 81 runs scored in 2015 rank fourth, her 266 career runs are third, her 271 career hits are tied for fifth, her 67 career doubles rank eighth, her 93 RBI in 2016 came in fourth, while her 287 career RBI are second most and her .630 career batting average ranks fourth as well. She continuing her career at Alma College.

PHOTO: Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy powers through a pitch this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard softball program.)

Jackson Northwest's Kloack 'Doubles' Up Record Book Achievements

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 13, 2023

Jackson Northwest standout Campbell Kloack reached the MHSAA record book for single-season doubles for the second time this spring, hitting 18 for the second season in a row. But she’s also now on the career list with one more season to play.

The now-senior has 51 doubles over her first three seasons. She’s committed to sign with Saginaw Valley State to continue her softball career after she’s done at Northwest.

See below for more recent additions to the MHSAA softball record book.

Softball

Rylee Scheurer made a significant impact on Portland St. Patrick as a sophomore in 2022, making record book lists with 70 runs and 70 hits both over 36 games as the Shamrocks as a team made the records with 399 hits, 88 doubles, 308 RBI and a .407 team batting average. Senior teammate Lydia Meredith also was added after being hit by three pitches in one game that May 31, 2022, against Ionia. Scheurer then earned another entry this spring, for RBI in one game, while eighth-grade teammate Graceyn Rockey earned listings for home runs in her first two varsity at bats and 11 home runs for the season. St. Patrick as a team again was added as well, this time for 278 RBI and a .446 team average over 28 games – the team average ranking fifth all-time.

Olivia Turner’s big numbers as a Grass Lake sophomore in 2022 earned her three more individual record book entries and put her on three career lists as well. Turner’s 27 doubles over 42 games tied for fifth-most in one season, and she also hit 12 home runs and totaled 84 RBI – the latter ranking 11th for one spring. She’s on those career lists as well with 50 doubles, 28 homers and 176 RBI over 78 games before this past season.

Edwardsburg’s Caitlin Tighe will be playing her senior year of softball next spring, but has been added for several achievements from her freshman season. On April 22, 2021, she had three home runs, in consecutive at bats, and eight RBI in her team’s win over Niles, and she also was added for 17 doubles and 10 homers total that season. Teammate Abby Bossler was added for back-to-back homers in the same inning during the second game that day against Niles – as the Eddies made the team record book with five homers total that contest – and then 16 doubles the following spring in 2022. As a team, Edwardsburg also was added for 394 hits, 81 doubles and 293 RBI over 37 games in 2021 and 418 hits, 83 doubles, 34 home runs and 276 RBI over 37 games in 2022. Bossler graduated this spring and is continuing at Radford University in Virginia, and Tighe is committed to Western Michigan.

Hillman senior Nicole Barbeau earned her school’s first softball record book individual entry as a sophomore in 2022. She hit 12 home runs over 35 games to make the single-season list in that category.

Parchment’s Kassidy Butler put together one of the most impressive careers over the last quarter century of MHSAA softball, and it’s reflected with 13 record book entries. Among the most notable, Butler tied for 10th on the single-season doubles list with 25 as a freshman in 2012 and is tied for seventh with 69 for her four-season career; her 20 home runs as a senior in 2015 are tied for 12th on that list, while her 243 RBI are third-most for a career and her .581 batting average ranks 13th. She went on to play at Kellogg Community College.

Kinde North Huron enjoyed a power-packed 2022 season, making the team record list with 34 home runs over 28 games and with Brooke Gordon and Maggie Koroleski both making the individual homers list with 12. Gordon was a senior and signed with Northwood, and Koroleski was a senior this spring and signed with Cleary.

Algonac’s Kenna Bommarito became the fifth pitcher to record all 18 outs of a six-inning game by strikeout, doing so during a no-hitter April 11 against Algonac. She also just missed the single-game RBI list with five. She’s a senior this school year.

Abby Fowler was a catalyst for Holton’s lineup during its 22-3 win over Grand Rapids Covenant Christian on April 26. The senior drove in 10 runs, tying for third on the single-game RBI list.

Niles Brandywine’s Chloe Parker added four more record book entries this spring as a junior to her sophomore listing for doubles. She bested that 2022 total by one with 21 doubles and now has 54 for her career with a season to play. She also made lists for back-to-back home runs and seven RBI in a game. Teammate Adelyn Drotoz also was added for a seven-RBI game this spring as a sophomore.

Petoskey’s Andi Gasco tied the single-game extra-innings strikeout record on June 1, 2009, when she struck out 32 batters during a 21-inning Quarterfinal loss to Clio. She also has been added to the record book for 409 strikeouts that season and 1,364 for her career – which ranks 11th on that list. She went on to star at Trine. More recently, Kenzie Bromley turned a powerful senior season into a pair of record book entries in the spring. The Petoskey senior hit 18 home runs over 33 games to make the single-season list in that category, and also made the career list with 34 over three seasons. She’s continuing at Kent State.

A pair of Holt standouts were added for offensive contributions over the last two seasons. Jadyn Joseph, a 2022 graduate, was added for scoring 73 runs over 39 games as a senior. Marlie Rehm, now a sophomore, was added for 16 doubles over 36 games in the spring as a freshman. Joseph plays at Ferris State.

Three decades later, Susie Ritums has been added for her back-to-back no-hitters as a Comstock senior on May 5 and May 7, 1993. Ritums struck out 22 hitters over the 11 innings needed to earn that pair of victories.

PHOTO Jackson Northwest’s Campbell Kloack owns three record book listings for doubles as she prepares for her senior season next spring. (Photo courtesy of the Jackson Northwest softball program.)