BRANCH COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – The final Saturday in May is one of the busiest in Michigan high school sports during the spring, with district titles in baseball, softball, and girls soccer being decided while the best in track and field converge in the greater Grand Rapids area for the state finals.
In baseball, Coldwater will go for its fourth straight district championship at the Division 2 Harper Creek District. The Cardinals open up play against Marshall, with the winner to take on either Pennfield or Harper Creek this afternoon at around 2. Over in Division 3, Quincy takes on Hillsdale this afternoon at 12:30 at the Division 3 Hanover-Horton District, with the winner to take on the winner of the early game against Homer and Jonesville. And Bronson opens up its tournament run by hosting Parchment in the second semifinal game of its own Division 3 District; the winner faces either Delton Kellogg or Galesburg-Augusta. Delton eliminated Union City by a 6-3 score Wednesday in the Pre-District round.
In softball, it’s Coldwater versus Marshall at noon in the Division 2 Harper Creek District, with the winner taking on either Harper Creek or Pennfield. Action today in the Division 3 Hanover-Horton District opens up with Quincy vs. Hillsdale; the winner will face either Hanover-Horton or Jonesville. And the possibility of an all-Branch County championship game exists at the Division 3 Bronson District; the host Vikings open up against Parchment, while Union City faces Galesburg-Augusta. The Chargers moved on Wednesday with a 13-2 pasting of Delton Kellogg in Wednesday’s Pre-District game.
Seventeen individuals and 4 relay teams will represent Branch County at today’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Track & Field Finals. Coldwater’s contingent will compete at the Division 2 Finals at Zeeland; athletes from Bronson and Quincy will be at Comstock Park for the Division 3 Finals; and Union City’s regional qualifiers will be at the Division 4 Finals at Baldwin Middle School in Hudsonville.
District champions in girls soccer will also be crowned today, although the last team standing from Branch County, the Quincy Orioles, were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion Thursday by Clinton, 5-4 in a shootout. Clinton will take on Manchester in the finals of the Division 4 District tonight at Adrian Lenawee Christian, while at the Division 2 Eaton Rapids District, it’s Interstate 8 champion Marshall vs. Mason. The Redhawks shut out the team that eliminated Coldwater, Eaton Rapids, 3-0 on Thursday.
