Lakeshore Full Strength, in Hunt Again
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 9, 2017
Still competitive and well coached, the Stevensville Lakeshore 2016 varsity softball season had the air sucked out of it shortly after it began. In early April, the Lancers lost their ace and their best glove to injury.
Shortstop Lindsay Zavoral, now a senior, tore an anterior cruciate ligament and was lost for the year. Top pitcher Taylor Simon’s nagging back problems — the result of a slipped disc — finally forced her to tap out in search of remedy to end her sophomore campaign.
The Lancers failed to advance from Districts for a second straight season.
This season, however, is what Lancers fans have grown accustomed to under the longtime leadership of coach Denny Dock. Lakeshore (30-6-1) won the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship and defeated St. Joseph 6-0 in the Division 2 District Semifinal last weekend before topping South Haven 3-0 in the championship game. It was Dock’s 19th District title in his 28 years in charge of the program.
Some of the highlights from the District tourney included Sierra Ciesielski’s home run and two RBI, Zavoral’s pair of doubles and Simon’s complete-game shutout against the Bears. She allowed only three hits and struck out four. Simon threw another seven innings in the victory over South Haven, collecting eight strikeouts and giving up just two hits. Zovoral connected for three singles, and Ciesielski singled and tripled and finished with one run driven in.
Stevensville Lakeshore, which ended last season in the District semis, faces No. 4 Vicksburg on Saturday in the Regional Semifinals at Edwardsburg. Vicksburg put together a 16-2 record in the Wolverine Conference for a league title. The Bulldogs fell to Richmond 2-0 in the 2016 Division 2 championship game.
“That has certainly solidified our ball club,” Dock said of Zavoral and Simon returning this spring. “That’s kind of where we’re at right now. It’s not surprising to me at all (we’re back in the Regional tournament). I knew the caliber of kids those two were when we lost them. Getting them back put us in pretty good shape. (Zavoral) is an inspiration to the whole team.”
“It’s amazing to be back on the field this year,” Zavoral said. “After going through surgery, I didn’t realize how emotionally hard it would be not being able to finish the season with my team last year. It just gave me more motivation to work through the summer and get back even stronger this year.”
Simon has put together a phenomenal junior season – especially considering the No. 6-ranked Lancers’ tough schedule – with a 17-5-1 record and a 1.90 ERA in the circle. She started in a 0-0 tie in nine innings against Division 1 honorable mention Caledonia, and faced Mattawan, which is ranked No. 5 in Division 1, three times. She started four games against honorable mention Portage Central and picked up a win against Crown Point, which is headed to the Indiana Class 4A state finals.
“I realized how much I missed it,” Simon said of returning healthy this spring. “You want to be out there so bad.”
Simon has struck out 191 batters over 147 innings. She’s been pretty effective with a bat in her hand, too, entering this weekend with a .426 batting average and 40 RBI (second on the team in both categories).
“She has taken on the big dogs,” Dock said. “She is really a bulldog out there; I’ll tell you that. She throws a nice rise ball. I think the main thing she has been able to do is spot her pitches.”
The Lancers’ defense has been outstanding this season as junior Cassidy Zavoral has moved back to her natural position at third base after filling in at shortstop for her sister last year. Senior Olivia Freehling was an all-state selection (designated player) in 2016 and has staffed first base this year. Freehling, who also played golf and hockey, leads the squad with a .432 average and 43 RBI.
“Our defense has been really good this year,” Freehling said. “We’re a lot stronger having Lindsay back at shortstop. It makes a huge difference. We’re going into (Saturday) 100 percent confident.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Stevensville Lakeshore shortstop Lindsay Zavoral receives the ball as a runner gets to second base during a game this season. (Middle) Taylor Simon prepares to unload a pitch against St. Joseph this spring. (Photos by Don Campbell/St. Joseph Herald-Palladium.)
USA, K-Christian Power Way to D4 Final
June 14, 2019
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – It may have taken six-plus innings, but Kalamazoo Christian coach Kevin Lewis eventually had a chance to take it all in Friday morning.
And he had an opportunity to exhale as well.
All it took was a three-run home run from senior Jayme Koning, a shot which served as an explanation point on the Comets’ 6-1 victory over Coleman in a Division 4 Semifinal at Secchia Stadium.
“It was very relaxing after that sixth inning. It was then I knew,” said Lewis, referring to a four-run sixth that gave his team a five-run cushion. “(Koning) was hot all day. When she came up to the plate, I had that gut feeling, like, ‘If she drops a bomb right here, it’s done.’ And she did it. That’s not the first time. She did it against (Stevensville) Lakeshore. When you’re facing teams like that, for her to come up clutch in two situations like that shows me what kind of ballplayer she really is.”
Koning was 3-for-4 in the game, reaching base on all four of her plate appearances. She also had a double and an RBI single which tied the game at 1-1 in the first inning. Her home run was her 14th of the season. She went the distance on the mound, allowing just four hits while striking out four, including the last Coleman batter of the game – setting off a grand celebration for her team.
“Both (the home run and game-ending strikeout) were different excitements,” Koning said, answering which was more special to her. “The home run gave us a little insurance that I really like, and getting that out is just in-the-moment awesome.”
The game was extremely tight through five innings, the difference coming on an RBI single by freshman Faith Kline – scoring courtesy runner Nyla de Jong – which gave her team a 2-1 lead. To that point both Koning and Coleman starting pitcher Jaden Berthume were cruising along.
Berthume scattered eight hits through the first five innings, allowing just two runs. Coleman’s defense struggled throughout the game – collecting four errors – while Kalamazoo Christian was flawless in the field.
“Defense is obviously the name of the game,” Lewis said. “We have a really good defense. We have freshmen in the lineup. We’ve got sophomores in the lineup. We’re deep all the way up through. It came down to defense and our pitching on the mound. Jayme held them tight, and we got the job done.”
Senior Sydney Duong was 3-for-3 with a walk for Christian (31-8), and scored a pair of runs. Sophomore Zoe Hazelhoff collected a pair of hits and junior Megan Snook had an RBI single and scored a run for the Comets, who will face Unionville-Sebewaing in Saturday’s championship game.
Berthume and freshman Katelyn Pnacek each had two hits for Coleman (35-8), which entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in Division 4. It was the Comets’ third straight trip to East Lansing. Last year they fell to Centreville in the championship game.
“When we’ve got chances to score, we’ve got to be able to get the hit,” Coleman head coach Chad Klopf said after the game. “We’ve been doing that all year. We’ve been able to keep the bats going when we needed them (this year). If it was tomorrow or if it was yesterday, we might have won it. But it was their day today.
“This was our third straight year down here. We’ve had lots of experience. That’s why we’re here again. It gave us so much experience the last two years, and it gave all of our young girls this year more experience. Hopefully we can do what we do and get back (here) again.”
Unionville-Sebewaing 8, Rogers City 3
Changing things up a bit from last year’s Semifinal appearance seemed to do wonders Friday afternoon for Unionville-Sebewaing.
The Patriots, limited to just four hits in last year’s 4-0 loss to eventual champion Centreville, exploded for eight runs on 16 hits in their win over Rogers City.
“The last couple days, I’ve liked where we’re at offensively,” USA head coach Isaiah Gainforth said. “We had two really good days of preparation. To put 16 hits up in the semis, you can’t ask for much more offensively. I’m extremely proud of the girls’ approach, their discipline. Hitting is contagious. When someone starts it, everybody else is ‘Let me get the bat and see what I can do.’ That was kind of our mentality there.”
Sophomore Maci Montgomery was a perfect 4-for-4 against the Hurons, collecting three doubles and a triple, scoring twice and driving in three runs. Her leadoff triple to start the game got things going for the Patriots (30-9), and her two-run double in the fifth capped off the scoring for her team.
“Couldn’t ask for a better start,” Gainforth said. “It’s so important, getting that first run in any game. Being able to score first was big because it just loosens everybody up. When you get production from top to bottom, that’s a dangerous team right there.”
The team’s No. 9 hitter, junior Danielle Harper, also had quite a game. She was 3-for-3, scored three times and added a two-run home run to give herself a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning.
Sophomore Brynn Polega and freshmen Macy Reinhardt and Laci Harris all collected two hits each in their team’s victory. Polega also pitched a complete game on the mound, allowing just two earned runs while striking out four.
“We kind of learned from some of our mistakes last year,” Gainforth said. “A lot of these girls are back, but you’ve got some new girls. We weren’t in awe (today). The experience factor. Last year we were kind of consumed by it, and I don’t know if it kind of got to us a little bit. Today we kind of switched it up a little bit, got down here this morning and tried to keep our same routine and same approach that we’ve had in all our tournaments.”
Rogers City (27-8) was led by senior Taylor Fleming, who was 2-for-4 at the plate. She connected for a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Senior Linnea Hentkowski was 1-for-2 with a run scored in the loss.
“They hit the ball well. Give them credit,” Hurons head coach Karl Grambau said. “We’ve shut teams down all year long. They outhit us today, no doubt about it. They’ve got a great tradition, and so do we. Hopefully we’ll meet again someday.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Christian’s Sydney Duong makes a throw to first base during her team’s Division 4 Semifinal win Friday. (Middle) USA's Macy Reinhardt circles third base during her team's victory over Rogers City.