Records Report: Pioneer 1st in Lacrosse

December 7, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

While we try to keep up with record book submissions all year long, the month of December is a key time for catch-up as fall sports are recently done and spring sports are just getting going before schools take a few weeks off.

Here are some of our most recent submissions, with plenty more updates to come over the next few weeks. Click on each sport to go to that MHSAA record book. 

Boys Lacrosse

  • The boys lacrosse record book is in its infancy. But Ann Arbor Pioneer is the early leader for most goals scored and fewest given up during one season. The Pioneers outscored opponents 213-67 on the way to finishing Division 1 runner-up this spring. They twice scored 20 or more goals, and also shut out two opponents.
  • Two Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central teammates are listed for single-game accomplishments from last season: Jeffrey Osment scored eight goals during an 18-6 win over Romulus on May 5, and Brandon Tata made 20 saves during a 14-4 win over Ypsilanti Lincoln on May 14.

Football

  • J.J. McGrath has built a career comparable to those of the best kickers in MHSAA history. He’s now listed in the record book for three field goals of longer than 50 yards – a 52 yarder last season as a junior, a 57-yarder this season on opening night and a 54-yarder a week later in Macomb Lutheran North’s second game.
  • Greenville kicker Caleb Wolfe registered on the career list with 95 extra points over his four-year varsity career. He made 31 straight at one point, and with a season-high of 47 as a sophomore.
  • Warren Michigan Collegiate’s 2011 team made the team record listings in two categories, including setting the record with 33 interceptions over 12 games. Nine players contributed to that total. The Cougars also scored 532 points while finishing 11-1. 

Softball

  • Beth Michalski drove in seven runs in Warren Fitzgerald’s 29-5 win over Southfield Lathrup on March 28 of this spring. She was 3 for 4 with all three hits being doubles, and scored four runs herself.
  • Lowell’s Morgan Groom struck out the first 10 batters she faced on the way to 17 total in a six-inning game against Hudsonville Unity Christian on April 12, 2011. She also struck out 20 twice in seven-inning games this spring.

Soccer

  • While younger brother Aaron Chatfield broke the MHSAA career goals record this season, older brother Paul also finished his Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian career with some impressive numbers – 109 goals, 82 assists and 191 points – which all rank in the MHSAA record book. He graduated this spring.

Wrestling

  • Dearborn Heights Annapolis grad Justis Cummins has been added to the 200-win club with a record of 207-30 during his career from 2006-10.

Baseball

  • On May 6, 1999, Owosso senior Andrew Brooks hit two home runs against Durand – both in the seventh inning. He joins a list of 24 who have hit two round-trippers in an inning. 

PHOTO: Ann Arbor Pioneer attack Eric Loveless (right) and midfielder Erik Barroso (22) celebrate a goal during last season's Division 1 Final at Birmingham Seaholm. 

Record-Setting Offense, Pitching Ace Drive Beal City Finals Run

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

April 13, 2023

On the way to finishing Division 4 runner-up last season, Beal City produced a record-breaking offensive performance while following one of the most consistently successful pitching aces in state history.

The Aggies set an MHSAA record by scoring 12.5 runs per game in finishing 30-3, also making the team record book with 413 runs total, 78 doubles, 22 triples (tied for third all-time), 345 RBI and a .442 team batting average that ranks second on that list.

Brendan Martin made the career consecutive pitching wins list with 19 over his junior and senior seasons, and senior teammate Brayden Haynes earned listings for two home runs and six RBI in one inning of a win over Lake City. Martin is pitching this spring at Mid Michigan College.

See below for more recent additions to the baseball record book:

Baseball

Over a five-game stretch during April 2021, Kalamazoo Hackett Prep’s Stephen Kwapis got a hit in 13 straight at bats – the fourth-longest such streak in MHSAA history. He began with a hit in his final at bat in the first game of two that April 16 against Watervliet, then went 2 for 2 in the second game, a combined 7 for 7 during a doubleheader against Galesburg-Augusta on April 22, and finished with hits in his first three at bats April 24, 2021, against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. He piled up five doubles, a triple and four home runs, along with three singles during the streak.

Portage Central’s run to the 2021 Division 1 championship game included record-book accomplishments by three individuals. Senior Luke Leto scored 73 runs over 37 games, good to tie for fifth-most runs in a season. Zach MacDonald was added for seven triples and 15 home runs, both over 40 games, and senior pitcher Gavin Brasosky posted a 0.84 ERA over 66 2/3 innings pitched. Leto is playing at Kansas after starting his college career at Louisiana State, and Brasosky is throwing at Kansas after playing a season at Tennessee. MacDonald is continuing at Miami (Ohio).

In 2016, Concord's Charlie Ropp became the second player from his family on the single-season stolen bases list, with his 63 over 35 games ranking for third-most in his family but sixth-most statewide.

Nearly 30 years later, Jason Knowlton has received his due for a performance April 29, 1994. On that day, he connected on back-to-back grand slams for Bridgman against Eau Claire, in consecutive innings. He’s one of seven to be listed for doing so in consecutive at bats.

Three of the oldest listings in this sport were added, all from Morrice. Jim Pavlica, a junior in 1946, was added for six stolen bases in a game that season against Byron. Pavlica would go on to play in the minors for the Chicago White Sox. He would have two more stolen bases when Morrice swiped 19 total against Byron in 1947, a performance that ranks fourth on the single-game steals list. Morrice also was added for 18 steals in a 1944 game against Byron.

Over the course of 11 days last spring, two Manistee hitters made the record book for steals in a game. Junior Ethan Edmondson tied for third on the list with seven against Bear Lake on April 30. Junior Jeff Huber made the list with six against Muskegon Orchard View on May 10.

Kingsley’s Owen Graves was added to the records for his seven triples as a senior in 2021. He now plays at Aquinas College.

Brighton Charyl Stockwell pitcher Aidan Liedeke was tough to hit last spring, as he struck out more than two batters per inning. He finished with 135 strikeouts over 61 1/3 innings pitching, for an average of 15.41 strikeouts per game – third-most on that record list. A senior this school year, he’s committed to continue at Kalamazoo College.

Jack Lamb brought plenty of speed to Perry’s offense last spring as a senior, making the record book twice. He reached the single-season list with 53 steals over 33 games, and also the single-game list with six steals on May 9, 2022, against Vermontville Maple Valley.

A performance more than four decades old from a school no longer open got its due. Orlando Villarreal hit a combined .451 over the 1979 and 1980 seasons to make the career batting average list for Wyoming Park. He went on to play at Central Michigan.

Jacob Morton became the first player on record since 2017 to hit two home runs in one inning when he did so in the first inning for Adrian Lenawee Christian against Britton Deerfield on May 16, 2022. Morton is a senior this school year.

PHOTO Beal City standout Cayden Smith drives a pitch during last season’s Division 4 Final against Riverview Gabriel Richard.