BAY CITY, MI – A look at the high school sports scene in Bay County for Sept. 27-28, 2025. Bay County coaches are asked to submit results, highlights and comments the night of each event by emailing lthomps2@mlive.com.
VOLLEYBALL: GARBER ROLLS TO CROWN
Essexville Garber earned a 7-Eleven celebration.
The Dukes delivered a powerful weekend performance, storming to championship honors at the Mt. Morris Invitational, then gathered for their favorite victory drink.
“It was a fun Saturday with sunshine, Slurpees and a championship,” Garber coach Kim Kokaly said.
The Dukes rolled to a 5-0 record to claim the trophy. Ella Kokaly directed the action with 78 assists for the tourney while Jeana Lenhard dominated the net with 56 kills. Meredith Krauseneck led in serving with eight aces while the defense shined with Ava Wagner notching 36 digs and Evie Engelhardt tallying eight blocks.
CROSS COUNTRY: CENTRAL BEATS THE CLOCK
Bay City Central saw more progress while competing at the Shepherd Bluejay Invitational, highlighted by a significant time drop by Jaden Buckey.
Buckey diced 1:39 off her previous best to finish 58th at 23:17. The Central girls were led by Addison Sirianni (22:48) in 47th and Madison Francke (23:19) in 59th.
“My girls ran a spirited run,” Central coach Russ Gorski said. “It was nice to see Addison run her season best and Jaden continue to bring her time down.”
The Central boys were fronted by Elijah Riedlinger (19:24) in 88th and David Carroll (20:44) in 99th.
SOCCER: DUKES GET DOMINANT WIN
Robert Raushi’s unintentional header wasn’t the highlight of the game.
But it added a memorable moment to a feel-good victory for Essexville Garber.
In a season of struggles, the Dukes (3-11-1) broke loose in much-needed fashion for a 9-1 victory over Saginaw Nouvel.
Raushi was near-flawless in goal for Garber but accounted for the lone score for Nouvel. Teammate Tavish Mulholland attempted to clear the ball off the goal line, but it struck Raushi and rebounded into the goal.
“(It) added a little comic relief to the game,” Garber coach Brent Betzold said.
Mikel Collado led the Garber attack with three goals while Trace Johnson notched two goals and two assists and Seth Betzold delivered one goal with four assists. Izaiah El-Amin scored two goals, Cass Walraven tallied one goal and one assist and Easton Jacobs dished two assists in the win.
Fernando Espinoza, Avery Johnson, Eli Rivet and Mulholland formed the defensive line that would not budge in the non-league victory.
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