Softball Stars Finish as Record Breakers
August 6, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This spring saw the final high school games for a number of Michigan's softball standouts – including a pair of hitters who now sit atop categories in the MHSAA record book.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Sara Hansen finished with single-season records for runs scored and hits, the career hits record and the consecutive game hits record with 91 straight dating back to her freshman season. New Lothrop’s Morgan Rombach crushed the former single-season doubles record and also tied the career record for doubles set in 2010.
Hansen finished with 305 hits, and the game her hitting streak ended – the second of a doubleheader on April 22 – was the only game over her final three seasons that she didn't hit safely at least once. Hansen also finished second in MHSAA history with 252 runs after setting the single-season runs record of 82 in 2012. Her career batting average of .567 sits eighth on the MHSAA list, and she received the Miss Softball position player award as the top senior non-pitcher this spring. She will begin her softball career at Central Michigan University this fall.
Rombach finished this season with 35 doubles – including three doubles in four games this spring – to break the former single-season record of 27.
Her 78 doubles tied the career mark set by North Branch’s Tonya Nicole Calkins, a 2010 graduate. Rombach will play next season at Mott Community College.
Read on for the rest of this week’s MHSAA record book additions, and click on each heading to see the entire record book for that sport.
Softball
- Fenton’s 37-5 finish this spring was keyed in part by a number of strong hitters who are now listed. Ellie Cowger’s name was added eight times – for season runs (71), career runs (203), season hits (78), career hits (240), season doubles (16), season stolen bases (62), career stolen bases (213) and consecutive game hitting streak (35). The hitting streak is tied for third longest and her career stolen bases are tied for fourth in MHSAA history. Teammate Katey Cairnduff was added for 71 hits this season including 19 doubles, and she’s on the career doubles list with 34 with one more season to play. Emma Brant also was added for 73 hits this season. As a team, Fenton set an MHSAA record with 512 hits, ranked third with a .434 batting average and also posted high-ranking totals of 91 doubles, 321 RBI and 408 runs along with its 37 wins.
- Caledonia’s 36-3 season saw a number of entries make the MHSAA record listings. The Fighting Scots set an MHSAA record with 107 team doubles – with Ashley Cross (21), McKenzie Butgereit (18) and Andrea Gerloski (17) all making the individual record listing. Caledonia’s wins, team hits (470) and team batting average (.424) also made lists, with the average ranking fourth all-time and the hits ranking sixth.
- Holt’s Olivia Cottom also reached the single-season doubles list with 16 this spring. She hit .455 overall for the Rams.
- Vicksburg’s Shaidan Knapp made the single-season runs list with 68 as a freshman. She finished her first varsity season with a .511 average, five home runs and 35 RBI.
Baseball
- A pair of Jackson standouts graduated this spring with a number of totals that made MHSAA lists. Tyler Kyro finished his four-year career with 179 hits and 119 stolen bases, while Nathan Bethel had 47 doubles and scored 150 runs over four seasons. Bethel also made the single-season doubles list with 19 this year. As a team, Jackson made the team stolen bases list for the second straight season, this time with 171 to go with 196 steals in 2013.
Boys Basketball
- Ann Arbor Skyline’s 6-foot-9 Tristan Wilson finished his career this winter with 106 blocked shots, good to make that single-season list. He averaged 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game in leading Skyline to a Class A Quarterfinal. He’s signed with Wayne State University for next season.
Girls Basketball
- Teagan Reeves capped her four-season career at Three Rivers by making the career lists for free throws (346), rebounds (1,058) and blocked shots (355) after posting 322 rebounds and 117 blocks this winter. Her career free throws rank 17th, her rebounds rank 11th and her career blocks rank ninth. She finished third in the Miss Basketball vote this season and will play at Western Michigan University.
Boys Lacrosse
- A number of top contributors put up record-list totals in leading Detroit Country Day to this season’s Division 2 championship. Emilio Sosa was added for eight goals in a game against Clarkston on May 6, plus 76 goals total this season and 82 points. Cooper Belanger made the single-season assists list with 46 and the points list with 85, while Jack Bergmann graduated with 117 career assists and 241 career points. As a team, Detroit Country Day totaled the most goals in the MHSAA boys record book, 295.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Sara Hansen, here in 2013, graduated with four MHSAA offensive records. (Middle) New Lothrop's Morgan Rombach set the single-season and tied the career doubles records this spring.
Bloomfield Hills' Semifinal Run Powered By Scoring Skill, Talent in Net
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 29, 2023
Bloomfield Hills advanced to the Division 1 Semifinals this spring with one of the highest-scoring lineups in MHSAA girls lacrosse history, and one of its most accomplished goalies.
The Black Hawks scored 325 goals – sixth-most on the list – in going 19-4. Ella Lucia, then a junior, posted 17 single-game record entries for goals, assists or points, finishing with 125 goals, 59 assists and 184 points and pushing her career numbers to 186 goals, 113 assists and 299 points over three seasons.
Teammate Ilana Watson, a senior this spring, was added eight times for single-game accomplishments and also for 71 goals, 64 assists and 135 points for the season and 102 assists and 205 points over her two-season career. Goalie Sydney Butler, now a senior, made the single-season saves list with 186 and the career list with 466 over her first three seasons. Marlee Watson, who also graduated in the spring, was added for seven goals in a game.
See below for more recent record book updates for girls lacrosse:
Girls Lacrosse
On April 25, 2022, Holland West Ottawa then-senior Ella Spooner scored 13 of her team’s 16 goals against Zeeland. Those 13 goals tied for fourth-most in one game and also placed her on the single-game points list. She is playing at Kalamazoo College.
Troy Athens’ Claire Balintfy piled up eight record book entries during her sophomore season in 2022. A goalie, she posted a career-high 22 saves to tie for eighth on the single-game list, on which she appears six more times. Her 231 saves over 18 games that season rank second on that list as well.
Lexie Springman took 12 shots and made eight in Portage’s 19-9 win over Grand Ledge on April 5. She was a senior at Portage Central and is continuing at Regis University in Colorado.
Haslett/Williamston’s Abby Russell opened her high school career March 22 with a record book-worthy performance. The Haslett now-sophomore made the single-game goals list with seven in her team’s 10-9 loss at Portage.
Okemos’ Bridget Cox was a sophomore during the 2021 season when she earned her first four record book entries. She made the single-game saves list three times with a high of 16, and totaled 157 saves over 18 games total.
Holly/Ortonville Brandon tallied three single-game entries this past season. Junior Dakota Pinson made the single-game goals list with 10 against Fenton/Linden on May 4. Junior teammate Lainey Lasky made the same list twice with seven goals both times, against Flushing on May 3 and Lake Fenton/Goodrich on May 16.
Through three seasons, Salem’s Mileena Cotter has earned 35 record book entries – including setting the single-game record with 18 goals April 6 against Saline. Her 123 goals over just 10 games this past season rank seventh, and her 257 goals over 30 career games rank ninth on that list. Her career-high 19 points on April 5 against Dexter rank second for points in a game. She’s committed to sign with Syracuse.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Emily Szalach earned a record book entry with her 11 goals against Warren Regina on May 15 during a 13-12 triple-overtime win. It was the first entry for NDP for girls lacrosse.
Lake Orion’s Quinn McElroy capped her three-season varsity career this spring with eight record book listings, including for 69 goals and 100 points over 16 games as a senior, and 172 goals and 224 points for her career. Teammate Morgan Vasquez made single-season lists with 66 goals and 81 points, as did Amelia Guccione with 50 goals. Ava Adkins joined McElroy and Vasquez with single-game qualifiers, hers for 15 saves in a game against Troy Athens on April 12. Vasquez is a senior and Guccione a junior this school year, and Adkins also graduated this spring. McElroy is playing at Grand Valley State.
A pair of Detroit Cass Tech senior standouts made single-game and season scoring lists this spring. Taylor Weston made the single-game goals list three times, with a high of eight, and for her 64 goals total over 15 games; she also earned a listing for her 53 goals as a junior in 2022. Teammate Kayla Carroll-Williams made the single-game list twice, both for scoring seven goals, and the single-season list for 62 goals over 15 games.
PHOTO Bloomfield Hills goalie Sydney Butler, center, prepares to stop a shot against Bloomfield Hills Marian on May 11. (Photo by Susan Adams Photography.)