Caledonia, Hartland Earn Finals Return
June 14, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Welcome back, Caledonia and Sammie Gehrls.
Three seasons after finishing her freshman year at Secchia Stadium, the Fighting Scots’ ace once again has her team one more win from its first MHSAA softball championship.
Gehrls tossed a three-hitter and struck out nine to kick off the Division 1 Semifinals on Thursday, and also drove in the game’s lone run in Caledonia’s 1-0 victory over Warren Regina.
The Fighting Scots will face Hartland in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game, their second in four seasons. Gehrls as a freshman pitched the Scots to the Division 1 Final, where they fell that time to Regina 5-0.
“As a freshman I just had little experience, and to see how much it really takes to get here, you just begin to appreciate it that much more,” Gehrls said. “Every year we’d come with the intent to try to get back to this big stage. But at the same time, you know that every pitch matters. These last couple of years, we didn’t win those pitches. And so to come out and win these pitches and be able to get to this point is incredible.”
Caledonia (28-6) won the few that counted most Thursday, particularly during the third inning when sophomore shortstop Emmalee Hamp tripled and Gehrls drove her home with a ground out to second base.
Senior third baseman Melina Livingston singled to lead off the game for Regina and had two of her team’s three hits, but the Saddlelites (25-8) never advanced a runner past second base.
Regina junior Marisa Muglia similarly was stellar in the pitching circle, allowing only seven hits and walking one while striking out three. Junior Jadon Huyser had two of Caledonia’s hits during a fast-moving game dominated by the aces.
Gehrls, who will continue next season at Grand Valley State, moved to 21-2 pitching this spring. She also entered this week hitting .495 with 13 home runs.
“She didn’t hit the ball (today) like she can normally, but I told her think right field, and she got (the RBI) down that right side to get that run in and that was the difference in the game,” Caledonia coach Tom Kaechele said. “That’s what she does though. She does those little things to help our team win, and that’s all she really wants. She says, ‘You know what Coach, stats, awards, that type of thing, I don’t care about those. I want to win. I want to win for this team, I want to win for you and I want to win for our community.’
“And when you have that kind of player, it’s hard not to love her.”
VIDEO: Samantha Gehrls gets her ninth strikeout to end Caledonia's 1-0 Semifinal win.
Hartland 6, Howell 4
Hartland had swept Howell earlier this spring on the way to winning the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold title, while the Highlanders came in second.
They met again in Thursday’s second Division 1 Semifinal, and the Eagles held off a late charge to finish the season sweep and earn their first MHSAA championship game appearance since 1996. Howell was playing for its first appearance in a Final.
“What it means is it’s really hard to get to this point,” Hartland coach Bob Greene said. “This is a tough tournament to win, and we’ve been blessed so far and things are falling our way. We’ve got a great group of kids really riding the wave right now. Everything’s falling into place at the right time.”
Howell opened with two runs in the top of the first inning. Hartland took the lead with four in the fourth and added two more in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Highlanders (29-11) gave Hartland one final scare, scoring a run in the top of the seventh and putting two more runners on before Hartland freshman pitcher Rachel Everett got a flyout to end the game.
Junior catcher Brooke Cowan was 3 for 3 with a double and two RBI, and senior second baseman Bri Robeson was 2 for 4 with a double and drove in a run for the Eagles (33-5).
Sophomore Maddie Heilner was 2 for 4 and scored twice for Howell, and junior AJ Militello was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Freshman first baseman Avery Wolverton was 2 for 3 and drove in three runs for the Highlanders.
VIDEO: Brooke Cowan had three hits and two RBI for Hartland including this sixth-inning double.
PHOTOS: (Top) Caledonia's Sammie Gehrls prepares to unload a pitch during Thursday's first Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Hartland's Delaney Robeson heads to second base during her team's Semifinal win.
Ace's 13 listings lead Hudsonville's 50 added to Softball Record Book
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 9, 2023
A total of 50 entries covering the last three decades of Hudsonville’s successful history have been entered in the MHSAA softball record book, with 2011 grad Sara Driesenga leading the way with 13 listings.
Driesenga’s most notable was her 0.15 ERA in 2010, which is tied for 10th lowest. Danielle Freeman, a 2013 grad, was added 10 times, including for 85 hits (tied for 10th) in 2012.
Others making lists one or more times were Kenzie Ritsema, Kelly Zackrison, Bethaney Murphy, Grace Sommers, Sydney Burns, Aleigha Talsma, Erica Bosman, Sarah Nederveld, Arinn King, Brooke Agers, Marleah Stapf and Lexi Agers.
Driesenga went on to star at Michigan, Freeman was a standout at Evansville, and Ritsema was a standout at Western Michigan. Zackrison played at Michigan State, Murphy at Saginaw Valley State, Talsma at Campbellsville (Ky.), King at Hope College, Brooke Agers at Muskegon Community College and Stapf at Florida International.
See below for more recent record book entries in softball:
Softball
A trio of Beaverton standouts over the last two seasons were added. Alexis Grove led with seven entries including 75 hits, 66 runs and 18 doubles last spring as a senior and 42 doubles and 158 RBI over her four-year career despite the cancellation of the 2020 season. Sawyer Gerow was added for 19 doubles as a senior last spring and 39 over her four-year career, and Molly Gerow was added for 72 hits in 2021. Grove is continuing her career at Northwood.
A pair of Otisville LakeVille Memorial players were added for accomplishments during the 2022 season. Jayla Thompson strung together a 24-game hitting streak beginning May 1 and continuing through her team’s District title run, and she also hit 12 home runs over 36 games. Teammate Mallorie Nevadomski became the third player to be listed for being hit by two pitches in the same inning, which occurred during the first inning of an April 11 game against Mt. Morris. Thompson is a junior this spring, and Nevadomski is a sophomore.
Fowlerville’s Tori Briggs earned her first record book entries last season as a sophomore. She tied the record for most triples in a game with four against Lansing Eastern, and also was added for 20 doubles over 34 games played.
Sabrina Lee was hit by pitches an incredible 33 times over 106 games and three seasons during her Rochester Adams career that ended last spring, and that’s with 2020 being canceled. She sits atop the career HBP list. Additionally, Adams coach Fran Scislowicz was added to the career coaching wins list with 756 since taking over the program in 1988.
Watervliet’s 36-5 run in 2022 included several performances that made record listings including for 476 hits, 438 runs, 349 RBI and 237 stolen bases as a team, and a .401 team batting average. Five players also earned individual entries, led by Samantha Dietz, who was added for 67 runs scored and 71 stolen bases in 74 tries – the latter tying for ninth-most stolen bases in a season. She also was one of four players added for driving in six runs in one game, joined by Abigail Whorton, Addison Riley (twice) and Grace Chisek. Chisek also was added for 75 hits, 75 runs scored, 12 triples and a 26-game hitting streak, and Maddie Flowers made the runs scored list with 73. Riley graduated last year, Dietz is a senior this spring, and Whorton and Chisek are juniors.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix played a record-setting game against Comstock on April 9, 2021, and Gracie Goschke played a major part. She was added for three home runs in a game, including two grand slams, two home runs and six RBI during the second inning and 10 RBI total that afternoon. A sophomore then, Goschke is a senior this season.
East Kentwood finished a combined 50-28-1 over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with three players teaming up to earn the program’s first record book entries. Aalana Kimble, a senior this season, tied for second all-time last spring as a junior with 18 triples and also made the records with 71 hits last year and 66 runs and 81 hits as a sophomore. Kelsey Depault was added for 81 hits and 19 doubles in 2021, and Emily Visser – now a junior – was added for 77 hits last season and 17 doubles in 2021. Depault graduated last spring and is playing at Northwood, and Kimble has signed with Saginaw Valley State.
Big Rapids reached the records in five team categories during the 2022 season, with 473 hits, 91 doubles, 344 RBI, 401 runs and a .424 batting average over 39 games. Marissa Warren led the charge, making the records with 70 runs, 79 hits and 21 doubles. She’s a junior this season.
Natalie Wandrie reached the record book six times last season as a junior at Indian River Inland Lakes, most notably for a .717 batting average that ranks sixth all-time for a single season. She also entered this spring on the career home runs list with 23, and hit 15 as a junior. She will play both softball and volleyball at Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky.
PHOTO Hudsonville’s Sara Driesenga gets ready to pitch during the 2009 Division 1 championship game. (MHSAA file photo.)