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.)
Holton Stops Record Scoring Attack, USA Earns Record-Setting Opportunity
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2024
EAST LANSING – Hillman scored more runs this season than any team in state history, averaging more than 13 per game.
But the machine never got cranked up on the big stage of Secchia Stadium on Friday, due in large part to the combination of crafty Holton junior pitcher Kenzie Greene and terrific defense behind her.
Then senior slugger Ryann Robins did the rest.
Robins lined a two-run single in the second inning before putting the game away with a monstrous three-run shot over the rightfield wall to power Holton to an 8-0 victory in Friday’s Division 4 Semifinal – and earn the Red Devils a spot in the Softball Finals for the first time.
“This team has worked so hard and really improved and here we are, in the state championship game,” said 10th-year Holton coach Kirk Younts, who has guided the Red Devils to the Semifinals four times. “Our defense was great today, but I’m telling you, at the beginning of the year it was terrible. We have really improved, and it’s great to be playing our best right now.”
Holton (29-12-1) will play in its first softball championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against perennial softball powerhouse and No. 1-ranked Unionville-Sebewaing (30-11), which has won nine championships, including the last four in Division 4.
If the Patriots win Saturday, they will tie Kalamazoo Christian (which won titles from 1996 to 2000) for the state record with five consecutive softball championships.
Speaking of history, Hillman broke the all-time state record for runs scored in a season this spring with 561, an average of 13.4 runs per game heading into this weekend – which made it even more impressive that Greene and the Red Devils held the Tigers to just four singles and zero runs.
Greene, a junior and one of three pitchers Holton uses on a regular basis, kept Hillman off balance with plenty of spin on her pitches.
“I didn’t know anything about their lineup and all of their records,” said Greene. “We played harder competition this season, and that got us ready for this.”
Green benefitted from outstanding defense behind her. She had only two strikeouts, so the Tigers were putting the ball in play, but the Red Devils were executing in the field – finishing with just one error.
Shortstop Abbie Fowler made a nifty stop and throw to first in the third inning, the outfield trio of Chloe McKee, Aubrey Goyings and Emma Monette was nearly flawless, and third baseman Monica Mullins ended the game with a diving grab in front of Hillman’s dugout.
Holton scored all the runs it would need in the first inning on RBI singles from Sydney McCormick and Monette, then Robins did the rest.
Robins, a senior who started as a freshman the last time Holton made it to the Semifinals in 2021, knocked in the final five runs. Her towering home run in the sixth inning, which capped the win, was her 20th of the season and 50th of her career.
“I am so happy, not for me, but for my school and my town,” said Robins. “We’ve never made it this far before, but if we are able to shock the world tomorrow and win it all, wow, I get goosebumps just thinking about that.”
Holton, ranked No. 5 in the state, finished with 10 hits. Lexi Bartolameolli, Robins, McCormick and McKee all had two.
Hillman pitcher Gretchen Weiland went the distance, allowing 10 hits and five walks, while striking out nine. Autumn Kazyaka went 2-for-3 and was the only Tiger with multiple hits.
Hillman coach Jason Weiland, whose team was ranked No. 7 coming in and finished 41-3, said his players tightened up on the big stage.
“Playing in this atmosphere, if you’re not used to it, can take you out of your game,” said Weiland. “Take nothing away from Holton, they have a great team, but our kids were really tight from the start.”
Unionville-Sebewaing 6, Mendon 5
For the second-straight year, Mendon pushed USA right until the final out before coming up one run short.
In a rematch of last season’s Division 4 championship game, Mendon trailed 6-4 entering the bottom of the seventh inning and appeared to be done when the first two batters were retired. But after two walks, sophomore Cienna Nightingale ripped a solid base hit to score a run.
After USA second-year coach Marc Reinhardt and fourth-year starting catcher Gabby Crumm had a conference with Olivia Green on the mound, she calmly struck out the next batter to put the Patriots back in the championship game.
“I just simplified everything, because all we needed was to get one more out,” said Crumb, who will play at Saginaw Valley State next year. “Softball is like 90 percent mental. I knew Olivia would come through, and she did.”
USA (30-11) scored three runs in the third inning on hits from Ella Neumann and Crumb, and scratched out single runs in the first, fifth and seventh innings to get the win.
Leadoff hitter Rylie Betson and Crumm each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Green went all seven innings, allowing 10 hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts.
“I have a heart attack every 30 seconds in games like this,” joked Reinhardt. “We were able to pull it out because our nucleus of seniors have been here before and they know how to win here. Now, hopefully, they can go out like they are supposed to and get one more.”
Mendon, which was ranked third and finished 38-5, had more hits (10-7), but hurt itself with four errors – and also left nine runners on base.
The Hornets, who lost to USA 5-4 in last year’s championship game, were led by Jadyn Samson, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs; and Nightingale, who was 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Sophomore Rowan Allen pitched all seven innings, allowing seven hits with no walks with five strikeouts.
Mike Smith, the co-head coach of the Hornets along with Steve Butler, emphasized how proud the coaches are of the team, which reached the Semifinals again without a single senior on the roster. However, he said his program has had plenty of moral victories at this point.
“Close is great, but close isn’t what our goal is,” said Smith. “USA is a great program, but I’m sick of running into them and losing. Maybe next year we’ll figure out how to beat them.”
PHOTOS (Top) Holton’s Aubrey Goyings (4) celebrates as teammate Chloe McKee pulls in a ball during their team’s Semifinal win Friday. (Middle) USA’s Olivia Green fires a pitch during her team’s victory at Secchia Stadium.