HILLSDALE COUNTY — Baseball and softball playoff action has arrived!
The 2025 MHSAA postseason is underway. Tuesday, May 27 rang the MHSAA baseball district bell with the first games of the postseason.
With semifinal games ahead, let’s dive into the baseball district schedules for each team in Hillsdale County, and vote below (or online) from a select list of nominees of who you think might end up as the postseason MVP player of 2025.
Division 3 – Baseball
District 82– Hosted by Jackson Lumen Christi
Semifinals – Saturday, May 31: No. 3 Jackson Lumen Christi vs. Hanover-Horton at 10 a.m.; Jonesville vs. Michigan Center at 12:30 p.m.Championship: 3 p.m.
As stated above, the district quarterfinals results have solidified the final four teams for the District 82 championship bracket. Hillsdale lost to D3 No. 3 ranked Lumen Christi 12-2 in a five-inning final. Lumen Christi moves on to face Hanover-Horton. Hanover-Horton lost to Lumen Christi twice in 12-10 and 17-4 finals earlier this season. The titans lost in the state title last season to Waterlivet.
Jonesville (19-9) faces Michigan Center in a rematch of their April 14 meeting which was won by Jonesville in 3-1 and 9-6 finals. Jonesville is looking to win its third straight district title, coming off a regional finals appearance where they lost to eventual state champion Waterlivet. It would be their first district title under new head coach Brian Stroble. If they were to face Lumen Christi in the finals, it would be a rematch of a regional semifinal from 2023.
Postseason Comet MVP Watch: Devan Herendeen
Herendeen leads the team with four homers this season, and he has a 6-1 record on the mound with 76 strikeouts, a 1.065 earned-run-average and a .935 WHIP.
Division 4 Baseball
District 118 – Hosted by Addison
Semifinals – Saturday, May 31: Addison vs. North Adams-Jerome at 10 a.m.; Concord vs. Litchfield at 12 p.m. Championship: 2 p.m.
Addison looks to take down the 1 seeded North Adams-Jerome Rams to start Saturday morning, but a 10-17 record makes this a matchup favored to the Rams. The Panthers share common wins including sweeps of Camden-Frontier and Litchfield. Although, Addison plays in a division with several D3 schools, including Jonesville. The Rams are entering looking to snap their second drought in program history after winning an SCAA East title. They have an 11-3 record.
Litchfield’s young squad is anchored by a couple standout seniors including Wesley Wilson and Hunter Snyder. Their overall record of 6-14 is comparable to Concord’s 8-14 posted record.
Postseason Terrier MVP Watch: Wesley Wilson
Leads team with 34 runs with an on-base-percentage of .653 and slugging percentage of .614; boasts a total of 45 strikeouts on the mound.
Postseason Rams MVP Watch: Desman Lawless
The freshman ace has an 85-plus miles-per-hour fastball in his arsenal and used it to his advantage. 5-1 record includes an ERA of 2.471, a WHIP of 1.129 and 62 total strikeouts.
District 119 – Hosted by Pittsford– All-County District
Semifinals – Friday, May 30: Reading vs. Pittsford at 10 a.m.; Waldron vs. Camden-Frontier at 12:30 p.m. Championship: 3 p.m.
Reading (6-15) and Pittsford (5-11) met in a single-game matchup in April, where Reading won 5-4. It will be another close game between the Rangers and Wildcats, which was won thanks to a combined pitching effort from Rangers Drew Elder and Keven Denison.
Camden-Frontier (8-14) and coach Michael Conant search for their third straight district title. Waldron (2-19) looks to play spoiler in districts, but they played well against the Redhawks earlier in the season. The only two teams in this district that didn’t play a matchup against each other in the regular season was Camden-Frontier and Reading.
Postseason Rangers MVP Watch: Drew Elder
Elder has been the star on the mound for the Rangers, having earned a win or save in four of their six wins. The senior is also a lead hitter in slugging percentage.
Postseason Wildcats MVP Watch: Ethan Pickford
Pickford leads the Wildcats in many statistical categories including on-base percentage (.542), slugging percentage (.712), hits (26), RBIs (10) and runs (21). He also boasts an ERA of 3.818 and a WHIP of 1.691 on the mound.
Postseason Redhawks MVP Watch: Kaiden Conroy
The senior is the anchor catcher and one of the team leaders. He leads the team in hits (31), runs (22), slugging percentage (.683) and on-base-percentage (.567). He has 128 putouts in 135 chances and a .963 fielding percentage.
Postseason Spartans MVP Watch: Alec Shamplo
The senior ace is the team’s heart and soul on the mound, having won both of their victories this season, one of which came against Reading in a five-strikeout performance where he allowed just one earned run. He is second on the team in runs with 15 and has driven in 10 other runs this season.
Predictions
District 82: The Titans hold onto their title hopes but have to beat Jonesville in the final inning at-bat to get the win. Jonesville is a likely district upset pick. If any of the top five teams were to fall in the first week of the postseason, it could be Lumen Christi.District 118: As long as McKay and Lawless pitch like they have all season, the Rams should be in line for a district title victory. District 119: It’s feels destined to see Reading meet up with Camden-Frontier and get revenge on the Redhawks after losing to them in last year’s district title game.Longest Run? Potential regional bracket matchups for either Division 4 district schedules with local teams have a chance to see a team advance to the regional finals. It’s a given one local team walks away with a championship in 119 and will have one game left to win their way into a regional finals appearance. However, if North Adams-Jerome makes it through District 118, it would have a favorable outlook facing any of the 117 opponents it could face in a region semifinal.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale County 2025 baseball district schedules; who will be the postseason MVP?