Records Report: Stiles Strikes Out 25

September 14, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Four pitchers combined for 49 strikeouts when Bath's baseball team faced Pewamo-Westphalia through 40 mph winds on April 16.

The first hit of the game didn’t come until the 11th inning, and the lone run wasn’t scored until the 13th, when the Bees finally claimed a 1-0 victory.

Despite an incredible performance, senior Nick Stiles didn’t get that pitching win. But he did strike out 25 batters over the game’s first 10 innings, good to tie for eighth-most in an extra-inning game in the MHSAA record book.

Reliever Ryan Orr came in and struck out six over three innings to get the victory in relief. And opposing pitcher Cam Trierweiler finished with a mere 15 strikeouts over eight no-hit innings before he also was relieved.

Below are highlights from recent submissions to the MHSAA record books. Click to see the baseball record book, or the headings below to see records listings for those sports.

Softball

  • Manistee standouts Haley Maser and Megan VanderWeele were added for their doubles last season, 17 and 16, respectively. Maser hit .471 and VanderWeele .451 for the spring.
  • Manchester’s Katie McClure became the latest of nine entries who have struck out 21 batters in a seven-inning game, having doing so while giving up just two hits in a 7-0 win over Michigan Center on May 14. Only two others have struck out more in a seven-inning game. McClure also made the list with 16 doubles this spring, as she hit .441.
  • A number of listings for New Baltimore Anchor Bay were added, including those for season (34 in 2008) and career wins (101) and career strikeouts (902) for former hurler Olivia Nicholas, who totaled her numbers from 2007-2010.

Football

  • Macomb Lutheran North senior J.J. McGrath wasted little time creating his first individual highlight of this fall. He connected on a 57-yard field goal – third-longest in the MHSAA record book – to help his team to a 24-21 win over host Yale on opening night.

Girls lacrosse

  • Recently-graduated Midland Dow goalkeeper Meridith Murley had the third-most saves for one game, 22, in a 15-6 win over Flushing on May 8.
  • White Lake Lakeland senior Nichole Laflamme capped her three-year varsity career this spring with 93 goals and 107 points, both among the top 10 in those respective categories. She scored seven goals in a game five times this season, and sophomore teammate Dominique Zigo did so once on the way to 82 goals and 97 points – which also made the records listings.

Kraatz Passes Turner on Assist List

April 22, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Arguably the biggest individual headline this boys basketball season was made by Allen Park Inter-City Baptist senior Evan Kraatz.

Also one of the all-time assist leaders in MHSAA boys soccer history, Kraatz broke the boys basketball career assists record that had stood since Eric Turner graduated from Flint Central in 1981.

Kraatz finished his career with 803 assists – including 218 this winter – to move to the top of a career list where his father Mark Kraatz (Inter-City Baptist 1982-85) sits fourth. Evan also finished this season with 115 steals – ninth most for one season – to end second on that career list with 358. His dad ranks right behind again, fourth for career steals.

See below for a number of additional recent entries to the MHSAA boys basketball record listings – including a pair from schools no longer in existence – plus a few more for boys soccer and wrestling. Click on the headers to see all entries for those respective sports.

Boys Basketball

  • Ottawa Lake Whiteford senior Colin Lake also finished his career this season among the leaders in steals, just behind Evan Kraatz with 348 to place third on that career list. Lake also finished with 488 free throws over his four seasons – seventh most on the career list in that category – with a fifth-longest streak ever of 42, and he also made the career 3-pointers list with 191. Total, Lake scored 1,925 points during his career and averaged 31.7 per game as a senior. 

  • Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest’s Andy Lewis had a triple-double in a 1989 win over Plymouth Christian, tallying 27 points, 12 rebounds and 20 assists as his team won 95-77. His 20 assists tie for fourth-most in one game, and his 197 assists that season tied for 14th on that list. 

  • Another high assist mark was submitted by a former coach now living in South Carolina for a player who made his mark more than 30 years ago at a high school that no longer exists. Rodney Savage had 19 assists in a 90-79 win for Muskegon West Shore Christian Academy against Covert on Dec. 11, 1982. In fact, the newspaper report from the game compared Savage’s performance to something reminiscent of Eric Turner, mentioned above.

  • Grand Rapids Covenant Christian tied for 15th all-time with 193 3-pointers this season, on 527 attempts. Covenant Christian made a game high of 14 and connected on 13 on Feb. 21 against Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian – which with NorthPointe’s nine 3-pointers contributed to a total of 22 that made the list for the most by two teams together.

  • Britton-Macon statistics from the 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons showed Phil Benedict with 532 and 483 rebounds, respectively, those winters – with the 532 third-most on the MHSAA list. Britton-Macon, now part of Britton-Deerfield, won Class D championships both seasons with the 6-8 Benedict at center. His 1,015 career rebounds grabbed during just those two seasons rank ninth on the career list for that stat. He earned a basketball scholarship from Duke University and later transferred to Bowling Green State University.

  • Temperance Bedford’s Jeremiah Harris also made the single-season rebounding list this winter with 341.

Boys Soccer

  • Three years after his final high school assist, Dansville’s Jay Witchell has been recognized as the MHSAA career leader in that category. His 38 assists in 2009 and 32 in 2008 rank fifth and tied for 11th, respectively, on the single-season list, and his 106 from 2007-10 are the career record, by one.  His 146 career points rank 19th and are just eight fewer than the total by his brother Josh, who graduated from Dansville in 2005. Jay Witchell went on to play at Division III Aurora University in Illinois.

Wrestling

  • Josh Wendling and Taylor Krupp finished their high school careers this winter by helping New Lothrop to an MHSAA team championship. They also finished with a few marks in the record book: Krupp made the single-season wins list after going 59-0 this season, and Wendling set the single-season technical falls record with 29. Both finished with more than 200 wins for their careers – Krupp at 218-21 and Wendling at 202-24.

  • Fife Lake Forest Area 130-pounder Matthew Elliott finished his high school career this winter with a school-record 160 wins. His 113 career pins also are a school record and made the MHSAA listings in that category.

PHOTOS: (Left) Allen Park Inter-City Baptist’s Evan Kraatz drives past a defender during this winter’s game against Southfield Christian. (Right) Flint Central’s Eric Turner (25) led his team to the Class A championship in 1981. (Kraatz photo courtesy of Inter-City Baptist.)