Baseball

An absolute gem of a high school baseball game, and a shame that one team had to come out on the losing end. That’s sports, and that’s baseball.

Be it with the bunt, the big hit or anything in between, Madison Heights Bishop Foley showed – once again – it can beat an opponent myriad ways. The Ventures pounded out 12 hits including four doubles Saturday in topping Grandville Calvin Christian, 12-5, ...

There’s a big difference between a mere thrower and pitcher. Austin Batka epitomized Saturday what it means to be the latter.

Connor Foley saved his absolute best for last, much to the delight of longtime Bay City Western coach Tim McDonald. Foley put on a gutsy mound performance Saturday in pitching the Warriors to a 1-0 win over Birmingham Brother Rice in the MHSAA Division 1 Final at C.O. ...

About three weeks into this season, Beal City coach Brad Antcliff began noticing strong similarities between this team and those that won MHSAA titles in 2009 and 2010.

Last season as a sophomore, Garrett Schilling was Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s number two starting pitcher and earned a complete-game victory in the team’s Division 3 Semifinal. Now the team’s ace and a junior, he did exactly the same Friday agains...

Richmond baseball coach Scott Evans has been something of a drill sergeant during his two seasons running the program, junior Austin Harvey said. But that’s exactly what the Blue Devils needed to reach a game they’d never played in before.

Bay City Western baseball coach Tim McDonald has had enough strong teams over 21 seasons to win 563 games. Thursday night, he talked with his players about separating themselves from those previous teams by taking the program to its first MHSAA Final.

A few numbers are worth noting heading into MHSAA Baseball Finals weekend at Battle Creek's Bailey Park. Seven of the 16 teams taking the field will be playing for their first championships. But there are plenty of coaches this weekend who know about winning; eight ha...

Blake Ballard looked out at the snow covering Gladstone last month and figured it would never melt. When he and his teammates finally played in their first tournament of the season April 20, the temperature couldn’t have broken 30 degrees. It’s the annual p...

Brett Sunde’s only official at bat of the Division 3 Final came in the first inning. But with one swing, Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s senior catcher got his team rolling on its second straight MHSAA championship.

“Redemption” was the word used by Grand Rapids Christian junior Alex VandeVusse on Friday to describe how the Eagles hoped to finish this season with a win after ending 2011 with a loss in the Division 2 Final. Consider them redeemed.

Hudsonville scored the first run of Saturday’s Division 1 Final, and rallied for four more in the top of the sixth to win its MHSAA title in its first championship game appearance, 9-6 over Warren DeLaSalle. The Eagles entered the tournament ranked No. 6 in the s...

Few had gotten to Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett the last two seasons. But Decatur, and especially junior outfielder T.J. Stambeck, found a way in Saturday’s Division 4 Final.

As Lansing Catholic finished off its 8-1 MHSAA Semifinal win over Mancelona on Friday, the Cougars quietly shook hands, congratulated each other, and moved on. A more boisterous celebration might’ve been expected, given the team advanced to its first championship...

When Warren DeLaSalle began this season 3-14-1, coach Matt Cook had little choice but to simply look ahead to the next practice, the next game. But he promised the Pilots if they stayed the course, the tough times wouldn’t last forever. Kevin Carroll and his clas...

Decatur baseball coach Ben Botti knew from experience his team likely would need to “dodge a bullet” to have a chance to win this season’s MHSAA Division 4 championship. That moment came in Friday’s Semifinal against Muskegon Catholic Central. A...

Given Josh Vyletel’s numbers this spring – most notably, his 15-2 record – Howell's senior ace had to have a pretty big junior year as well. But in fact, he threw only seven innings and spent the rest of 2011 cheering on his older teammates.

A few thousand teams began this spring on MHSAA fields and courts. Heading into the final weekend of the 2011-12 school year, that number is down to 100 and change. Below are an athlete and team who will be looking to finish this season with one last win.