Eastern, Kearsley Write Winning Endings
March 4, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
CANTON — The movie McFarland, USA was based on the real story of a championship cross country program in California, but embellished one important detail.
For the sake of drama, Disney condensed the championship-building process into only one season for the fledgling program. In reality, it took eight years for McFarland to win its first state title.
The story of the Lansing Eastern boys bowling program reads like a work of fiction, but is a true story that doesn't need Hollywood to jazz it up.
In only the second season after their program was restored, the Quakers won the MHSAA Division 2 championship in a showdown with two-time reigning champion Flint Kearsley on Friday at Super Bowl. Eastern had a score of 1,444 to Kearsley's 1,288.
"We were definitely gunning for it this year, for sure, but in the back of our minds we weren't expecting to win it, especially in this kind of fashion," said Dennis Crump, who rolled a team-best 246 for Eastern in the regular game. "It's definitely nice to win it."
It was the first MHSAA championship for Eastern's athletic program since the softball team beat Warren Cousino, 8-0, to capture the 1981 Class A title.
Kearsley's girls were able to successfully three-peat, beating Jackson by a score of 1,249 to 1,111.
Kearsley is a tournament-tested program, but Eastern didn't even have a program for three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14. In their former incarnation, the Quakers never sent a team to the MHSAA Finals, though they did have four individual qualifiers from 2007-11.
Current coach Billy Salazar has no idea why Eastern dropped bowling, but he knew the school needed to put a team back together when he saw the level of talent coming up in the ranks. The Quakers finished fourth in the Regional in their first season back, one spot behind Ionia for the final berth in the MHSAA Finals.
"We had a core of guys who were going into their freshman year," Salazar said. "A mom wanted high school bowling, so I thought it would be kind of a shame to let that kind of talent not have a bowling team. When she asked me to coach, I agreed to coach. We were very close last year to getting through the Regional, and everybody came back."
It was anybody's championship to win following two Baker games, as Eastern held a 452-445 edge over Kearsley.
"That Baker set, we knew we had to keep it close, because we knew they were going to give us a run for our money in the team game," Crump said. "During the team game, a lot of our guys stepped up and we went on a run and just sailed on that momentum."
It was still a close match through six frames of the regular game, with Eastern leading by 22 pins. The Quakers broke it open from there to knock off the Hornets, who beat Eastern by 110 pins to take the Regional championship.
"Our team chemistry was really off," Eastern senior Victor Riojas said of last year's team. "It took a lot of time for us to get the bond we have now."
In the final game, Crump rolled 242, Juan Medellin 212, Riojas 202, Justin Genson 182 and Kyle Lewis 150 for Eastern.
Phil Hawes rolled 190 to lead Kearsley. Brandon Wheeler rolled 184, Zach Timm 158, Brice McKerchive 157 and Chad Stephen 154 for the Hornets.
"We kind of ran into a buzzsaw," Kearsley coach Bart Rutledge said. "We made a few mistakes, and they capitalized on them and built on them. We just weren't able to keep up."
In the girls tournament, Kearsley won its fourth championship in the last five years. Only the boys cross country program, with five, has won more MHSAA titles for Kearsley than the girls bowling team has managed in the 13-year history of its sport’s tournament.
A fifth title could be coming soon for the Hornets, as they were led by freshman Alexis Roof, who rolled a 200. No. 1 bowler Hannah Ploof had an off day, rolling a combined score of 161 with freshman Mary Wheeler, who had a spare after Ploof's strike in the 10th frame. Karlee Griffin was the primary bowler in a score of 164, which she split with Emma Boychuk. Barbara Hawes was the main bowler who split a 158 with Kayla Ward. Alexxa Flood rolled a solo 150.
Roof had five strikes and three spares in the first eight frames before rolling a gutter ball in the ninth. She turned away from the lane, put her head down and laughed. She could afford to when she was bowling so well and her team had built a formidable 416-262 lead after two Baker games.
"I was just kind of like, 'Whatever, I'll come back the next frame,'" Roof said. "I had a good feeling that we had it after those Baker games.
"I was kind of nervous at first, but then I remembered the coach kept saying to act like it's just a practice, it's not that big of a deal. I went out and did what I could; I did my job."
Kearsley coach Robert Ploof knew all about Roof before she got to high school, because he is best friends with her father.
"I was thinking about retiring this year, because my daughter is gone, but I've got to stick around because his daughter is here," Ploof said. "It's just an incredible feeling; winning never gets old."
Hannah Ploof is the only member of the team to compete in the Finals during each of Kearsley's three straight MHSAA championships. Her 238 last year in the Finals carried the team. On Friday, she rolled well below her average of 220.
"It's a team thing," Ploof said. "My team had to hold me up; that's what they did. They did what they had to do."
In the Regional, Kearsley finished second behind only Mason. Mason finished 11th in qualifying, three places below a berth in the Quarterfinals.
"We had a really young team this year, but we did it," Ploof said. "We started out winning the conference. We got to Regionals and had a rough day there. We finished second, but we did it. I'm so proud of them."
Jackson hadn't reached the Final in an MHSAA bracketed sport since the 1980 girls basketball team lost 52-46 to Flint Northern in the Class A championship game. After reaching the Semifinals in 2014 and the Quarterfinals in 2015, the girls bowling team made it to the final by beating Charlotte by a 1,284 to 1,231 margin in the Semifinals.
"They're a great team," Jackson coach David Rodriguez said. "That's why they're three-peat champs. We gave it what we had. I think my girls ran out of gas. It was a great ride this season. I've got four coming back. I see they're only losing two, so we'll do it again next year."
Jackson's Joz Hunt had the best score of the final, rolling a 212 that included four straight strikes in frames six through nine. Callie Mollitor rolled 198, Kaylee Collier 164, Morgan Bradley 146 and Jamie Bleiler 129 for Jackson.
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Eastern’s boys bowling team. (Middle) Flint Kearsley’s girls bowling team. (Photos by Bill Khan.)
Zeeland Brings Back Full Lineup for Another Title Pursuit
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
December 17, 2021
ZEELAND – The Zeeland girls bowling team fell short in its bid for back-to-back Division 1 championships last season.
However, Zeeland isn’t short on talent this winter as it returns everyone from March’s run to the quarterfinals.
"I think having everyone back is great, and also having a full season,” said Zeeland coach Tony DiLaura, whose team lost to eventual runner-up Belleville at the Finals after qualifying fourth to match play.
“Last year we started after the new year, and having the first six weeks leading into the new year has been great. Having everyone back, and even a couple of reserves who can still roll high 100s and low 200s, is super exciting for us.”
The team, which is comprised of students from both Zeeland West and Zeeland East, won a Regional title as well last season.
Zeeland’s top seven performers are back: seniors Morgan Smith, Ellie Drenten and Megan Gemmill, juniors Alyssa Fortney and Shanna McDonnel and sophomores Rylee Smith and Brianna Fortney.
Brianna Fortney missed last season's Finals after having emergency appendix surgery.
“I was very upset to say the least that I could not bowl,” Fortney said. “I was kind of bummed and disappointed that I could not be there to help my team, but I’m happy to be back and this is a fun team to be with."
Zeeland won the program’s first Finals crown in 2020, and watched as neighborhood rival Hudsonville collected its first title with a win over Belville in the championship match.
“We were obviously very happy with coming in fifth in the state, and there were some great teams out there,” DiLaura said. “We bowl out of the same house as Hudsonville, and they are good friends of ours. We’ve had several friendly competitions against them, and bowling is like that. Sometimes the pins fall your way, and sometimes you don’t get the carry.”
All of Zeeland’s returnees have experience bowling on the big stage, and it’s created heightened expectations for this season.
“It’s very beneficial because they’ve been there before, and they know the pressure of that arena,” DiLaura said. “Having been there twice already, they’ve been put in those situations and have risen to the challenge.
“Hopefully we will be back this year, but we have to earn our way there. I think the goal for us is to just bowl our game and not put any pressure on ourselves. We will let the season unfold in front of us and see what happens, but having been there in the past does bode well for us.”
There are two sets of sisters among the top seven, and the entire team has become a tight-knit group.
“It’s so nice to have everyone back because we have that bond together and we know we can work off of each other,” said Morgan Smith, who qualified for singles at the Finals and reached bracket play before being knocked out in the quarterfinals. “We have seven strong girls and a couple freshmen who are pretty strong and learning.
“We know if someone is struggling or having a bad day, we always have backups that can put up good scores. It’s a lot more comforting and takes away some of the pressure.”
Zeeland’s depth has played a major factor in its recent success.
“We go pretty deep down to our seventh bowler,” DiLaura said. “We know we can put in any bowler and feel confident that they can finish the game off or step in for the next game and perform at a high level.”
Rylee Smith joined her sister as a Finals singles qualifier last season. Both girls grew up around the game before taking it seriously once Morgan Smith started high school.
“It’s fun bowling with my sister,” Morgan Smith said. “Most people think we have a lot of competition between us, and we do sometimes, but it's definitely fun because we know each other’s games so we are the first person to go to each other when we have questions. It’s nice to have someone right there who knows your game almost as well as you do.”
The Fortney sisters also have a friendly rivalry between them.
“We used to be very competitive with each other, but we realize that it doesn’t matter who is the better sister,” Brianna Fortney said. “We have to show up for our team and be there for them.”
Morgan Smith’s showing at last year’s Finals was the culmination of the work she put in to improve.
“I went in with low expectations last year because there were so many good bowlers that made it, so making it as far as I did was really exciting for me,” Smith said. “It showed me what I can do after putting in the hard work. That the results will come. I’m excited to try and do that again this year, and last year was definitely a cool experience.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) The Zeeland girls bowling team returns its top seven contributors after making the Division 1 quarterfinals in March. (Middle) Morgan Smith fires a shot last winter. (Photos courtesy of the Zeeland girls bowling program.)