The Week Ahead: Lacrosse Playoffs, Groves Baseball and More

Boys and girls lacrosse

Lacrosse playoffs kick off Wednesday for the boys' and girls' varsity teams. Birmingham will be competing in  Division 1 and 2.

In Division 1 Region 1, the Birmingham United boys face Holland West Ottawa at 7 p.m. Thursday at Seaholm. Ottawa had to win a pre-regional final game last week to advance, but it easily defeated Kalamazoo Central 23-0. In the bracket, Birmingham is a No. 4 seed while Ottawa is a No. 5 seed.

The winner of Thursday's match will play in the regional semifinal on June 1 against the winner of the Ada Forest Hills Eastern and Hartland game.

Meanwhile, Brother Rice will defend its state title at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Saginaw Hertitage at home. The Warriors easily earned a No. 1 seed in the playoffs and have won eight-straight championships. Meanwhile, Saginaw Heritage won a hard-fought game 11-10 over West Bloomfield on May 19.

In Division 2, Region 6, Country Day hosts East Lansing at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Yellowjackets have the No. 3 seed in the region while the No. 6 seed Trojans beat Oxford last week 15-1.

As for the girls, the Birmingham United girls kick off Division 1 regional play Wednesday, playing Lahser at 7 p.m. at Seaholm. If they win, they will play Grosse Pointe South, which reached the finals last year and had a first-round bye this year.

In the same region as Birmingham, Marian plays Troy at 3 p.m. Thursday at Troy.

Last year, Birmingham United eliminated Marian in the first round with a 16-13 win, then lost 7-6 in the regional final to Grosse Pointe South. This year, both teams need to win twice to make a rematch happen.

Groves baseball

What’s the Falcons magic number? Right now it's 14, but that could change this week.

Groves is hoping to continue its impressive 14-game winning streak in four games and a tournament. This week, the Falcons play:

• Cranbrook at 5 p.m. Tuesday at home,
• North Farmington at 4 p.m. Wednesday at North Farmington, and
• West Bloomfield at 4 p.m. Friday at home.

Groves closes out the week with the Bay City John Glenn Invitational, which kicks off at noon Saturday. 

Last week Groves only allowed two runs in five games and outscored its opponents 52-2. The offense scored 12 or more runs in three-straight games (Lahser and a doubleheader against Walled Lake Northern) at the end of the week.

Country Day girls soccer

The Yellowjackets play Ladywood at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home in a game that should definitely be worth watching. Country Day is 14-3 this season and has one of the top goalies in the state in Rachel Bergman. Ladywood is coming off its toughest loss of the season to Marian last week in the Catholic League finals.

Ladywood and Country Day both finished in the top 16 teams in Division 2 last season and when the playoffs start next week, both teams figure to be right back at the top.