Maroons 'Make Most' of 1st Finals Trip
June 18, 2016
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – When the cart wobbled, Mike Mokma grabbed the wheel.
Mokma allowed four hits and struck out 14 on Saturday as Holland Christian won its first MHSAA baseball championship with an 8-5 victory over Linden in the Division 2 title game at McLane Baseball Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
The Maroons, who finished 36-6 and entered the tournament ranked third, had never made it past the quarterfinal round of the tournament. But they did have the steadying influence of coach Jim Caserta, who led Holland West Ottawa to the Division I title in 2003.
“We tried to take the big experience of the state championship and focus it down to the task,” said Caserta, who is in his third season at Holland Christian. “We told them, ‘Focus on the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball; focus on the little things.’
“They did great and when bad things happened, we didn’t quit.”
Bad things did indeed happen for the Maroons in the fourth inning when they committed three errors and Mokma issued two walks – his only two of the game – and Linden took advantage, scoring all five of its runs for a 5-4 advantage.
Mokma, who has signed with Michigan State, slammed the door after that, setting down the Eagles in order in their final three at-bats. Of those final nine outs, five came on strikeouts. Mokma’s strikeout total was one shy of the MHSAA Finals record 15.
Just two of Linden’s five runs were earned.
“Mike’s super competitive,” Holland Christian catcher David Williams said. “He’s going to grind it out every pitch. He just kept throwing the ball like he does.
“We let him down for a minute, but we got back on the horse. He was sharp today – more than adequate, he was fabulous. He gave us great chance to win, and the bats came around.”
The Maroons tied it 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning on Brandon Riemersma’s RBI single, then got the go-ahead run when Riemersma laid down a suicide squeeze to score Chris Mokma in the sixth.
Mike Mokma followed with a two-run double down the leftfield line.
“When we got down, when a couple bad things happened, our guys didn’t panic, and that’s what it takes,” Caserta said. “All year long that’s what we’ve done: Don’t panic and keep grinding and make something good happen.”
Jack Shore allowed nine hits, struck out four and walked two in taking the loss. The fifth-ranked Eagles committed four errors behind him and just three of Holland Christian’s runs were earned.
Coby Curtiss led Holland Christian with three hits including a double.
The title was particularly gratifying for the six seniors on the Holland Christian roster, including Mike Mokma and Williams. The two combined to form a solid battery during all four of their high school seasons.
“We have a strong group of seniors on the team,” said Williams, who is headed to Xavier. “We’re great friends, and we were sitting in the dugout before the game and started looking at each other. It was, ‘Well, we’ve played a lot of ball together. This is our last game as teammates. Let’s make the most of it.’”
PHOTOS: (Top) Holland Christian celebrates its first baseball championship Saturday morning at McLane Stadium. (Middle) Mike Mokma prepares to deliver during another winning performance for the Maroons.
Historic Marsh Field Showcasing Muskegon-Area Baseball Under 'Friday Night Lights'
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 3, 2023
Fruitport’s Ryan Bosch took advantage of his moment underneath the “Friday Night Lights.”
Bosch, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, lined a two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle in the seventh inning Friday night to drive in two runs and the tie the score, 5-5. The Trojans didn’t let up, eventually scoring 10 runs in the top of the seventh for a 10-5 win over rival Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at historic Marsh Field in downtown Muskegon.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Bosch, a dominating pitcher who verbally committed to the University of Michigan last month.
“It makes it more special doing it here at this field where so many pros and college players have come through.”
Fruitport’s thrilling comeback was just the latest in thousands of baseball games played at Marsh Field over the past 107 years, dating to 1916.
Marsh Field, the current home of the Muskegon Clippers of the Great Lakes Summer College League, has been the home of two minor league teams (the original Clippers and the Reds), the Muskegon Lassies of the All-American Girls Professional League and a “who’s who” of baseball greats from Harry Heilman to Grover Cleveland Alexander to Satchel Paige.
The seven-week “Friday Night Lights” – featuring two West Michigan high school teams each spring Friday – was the brainchild of Clippers general manager Walt Gawkowski as a way to share the refurbished stadium with the community and provide a bigger stage for local high school baseball.
“High school baseball flies under the radar and doesn’t get near the attention of basketball or football,” said Gawkowski, a longtime Muskegon-area prep baseball coach who, along with his brother Pete, founded the new Clippers organization six years ago.
“We have the facility, and this is a way to promote baseball. It has been very well-received, and the crowds have been outstanding.”
Fruitport topped Ludington 15-0 in this year’s first edition of Friday Night Lights on April 14, followed by Central Montcalm’s 7-5 win over Greenville on April 21.
Remaining games in the series are Fremont vs. Hesperia (May 5), Muskegon Catholic Central vs. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (May 12), North Muskegon vs. Muskegon Oakridge (May 19) and Muskegon Mona Shores vs. Grandville (May 26).
The latest edition of the series, played on a mild and calm Friday night, featured a crowd of about 400 who were treated to a pitchers’ duel between Reeths-Puffer’s Brayden Mitchelson and Fruitport’s Trevor Rusnak.
Puffer held a slim 1-0 lead for much of the game, before seemingly putting it away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. First baseman David Wilhelm had the big hit with a two-run single.
A comeback seemed highly unlikely, with the bottom of Fruitport’s lineup leading off in the top of the seventh. But the Trojans loaded the bases on a hit batter, a single and a walk, then plated runs on a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly by Braxton Ward.
That set the stage for Bosch’s game-tying single, which ignited the Trojans’ dugout and crowd. Bosch, a physically intimidating left-hander who throws close to 90 mph, did not pitch in Friday’s game.
Fruitport pulled away on a run-scoring single by Andrew Spyke and a two-run triple by Jax Flynn.
The Marsh Field crowd was then treated to a local Michael Jackson impersonator doing a dance to “Billie Jean,” after which Fruitport coach Nick Reed received a surprise ice bath following the comeback – two things you don’t often see at a regular-season high school baseball game.
“We just tried to keep the energy up and stay positive,” said Bosch as he and his teammates celebrated on the field after the game.
“Once we got the bats going a little bit and got some guys on base, you could feel things turning. It was a lot of fun.”
Fruitport and Puffer, former rivals in the Seaway Conference who now compete in different divisions of the Ottawa-Kent Conference, could meet again in this weekend’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association county tournament. Mona Shores is the defending GMAA champion.
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fruitport 6-foot-8 sophomore Ryan Bosch, who recently committed to the University of Michigan as a pitcher, warms up at Muskegon's historic Marsh Field before a game in the "Friday Night Lights" series April 28. (Middle) Reeths-Puffer third baseman Trent Reichert goes for the ball as a Fruitport baserunner closes in during Fruitport's seventh-inning rally in the 10-5 victory. (Below, clockwise from top left) Reeths-Puffer's dugout keeps a close eye on the action, Bosch heads back to his team’s dugout, and a good-sized crowd stands for the national anthem. (Photos by Joe Lane.)