Multiple Aces Pay Off as Comets Reign
June 15, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK — Most softball teams ride one dominant pitcher and hope for the best.
It never hurts to have an insurance policy, however, because even the best pitchers have an off day.
Splitting the pitching duties between two girls all season paid off for Kalamazoo Christian on Saturday in a 16-6 victory over Ubly in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game at Bailey Park.
When Ubly’s first seven batters reached base in a six-run third inning, senior Stephanie VanderLugt was pulled in favor of junior Bekah VanDam.
It was hardly a desperate move for the top-ranked Comets.
VanDam didn’t allow a run in four innings, giving up three hits and striking out three.
Coming into the game, VanDam (15-3) pitched 114 2/3 innings in 20 games.
VanderLugt (18-4) pitched 127 1/3 innings in 22 games, starting every game after Districts.
“I went with Stephanie because it was one game at a time, and we went with her strengths over Bekah’s,” Kalamazoo Christian coach Karla Reno said. “I had to make a decision between the two. Bekah knew her job was to be ready to go in on relief if needed, and go in and throw hard and throw low. That’s exactly what she did.”
While both players are accustomed to pitching regularly, one rarely has to relieve the other. VanDam was playing third base when she got the call to enter the pitching circle.
“It’s unexpected, for sure, but I came in ready to go,” VanDam said. “My adrenaline was going. Normally either one of us is on; she struggled.”
If VanderLugt was upset about her pitching performance, she didn’t let it show when she came to the plate. She finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, including a two-run single that broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the third. She finished with a team-high 46 RBI.
“I knew Bekah could do it,” VanderLugt said. “I knew she’s tough.
“I had to get that out of my mind, because if that stayed with me, I never would’ve performed well. I had to suck it up for the team.”
Kalamazoo Christian pounced on Ubly, scoring six runs in the first inning. The Comets’ first six batters reached base.
That’s usually an insurmountable lead in championship softball, but Ubly stormed back with six runs in the third, tying the game on a two-run single by Hailey Kubacki. VanDam entered after Kubacki’s hit, retiring three in a row to end the inning.
“Nerves took over right away, and you could tell that,” Ubly coach Courtney Dekoski said. “The girls never lie down. I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them.”
Kalamazoo Christian took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning. The Comets scored twice in the fifth and ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule with five in the sixth. A sacrifice fly by VanderLugt scored the final run.
Kalamazoo Christian’s run total is the second-most in an MHSAA Final and the 22 combined runs also rank second. Both marks were set in Byron’s 17-10 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the 1976 Class C title game.
“It was crazy,” VanderLugt said. “They took advantage of what we did wrong, and we did the same for them. I give them a lot of credit for battling when we got up so early.”
Tori Sides was 3-for-5 and scored three runs for the Comets (33-7). Kara Gjeltema and McKena Razenberg were both 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Kubacki was 2-for-2 with two RBI for Ubly, which hadn’t won a Regional until this season.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Kalamazoo Christian runner slides into third base during her team's 16-6 victory. (Middle) Comets hitter Bekah VanDam prepares to make contact with a pitch while teammate McKena Razenberg (4) warms up in the on-deck circle. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
2023 Runner-Up Whiteford, 2022 Runner-up Evart Set to Face Off for 2024 Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2024
EAST LANSING – Ottawa Lake Whiteford clung to a precarious 1-0 lead over upset-minded Clare entering the final inning Friday, but fifth-year coach Matt VanBrandt showed no signs of panic.
After all, his team has learned by experience how to handle the big stage – advancing to state championship games the past two years.
And the Bobcats are led by one of Michigan’s best pitchers in senior Unity Nelson.
“Unity lives for moments like that,” explained VanBrandt. “She is extremely intense and driven and determined to lead this team as far as she possibly can. We believe in her.”
Nelson made her coach look like a prophet, striking out three straight batters on just 11 pitches in the seventh inning to give her team the 1-0 victory over Clare in Friday’s first Division 3 Semifinal.
“Before that last inning, I took a deep breath and got myself centered and ready to go, one batter at a time,” Nelson said.
Whiteford (30-5-1) will take on Buchanan in Saturday’s 3 p.m. Division 3 Final at Secchia Stadium.
That title game is a classic matchup of the dominating arm of Nelson against the big bats of Evart, which totaled 14 hits – including three long home runs over the left-field fence – in an 8-3 win over Buchanan in Friday’s second Semifinal.
The Bobcats are seeking their first Finals title since 1987, when they capped a run of three Class D crowns over four years. Saturday’s will be their ninth overall appearance in a Final and fourth since 2017.
Whiteford lost last year’s Division 3 championship game to Standish-Sterling (1-0) and fell to Unionville-Sebewaing (4-1) in the 2022 Division 4 Final.
VanBrandt knows that in order to break through and take the final steps, his team’s offense needs to give their ace pitcher more help.
“I feel like our offense is close,” said VanBrandt, whose team has only allowed two runs over the past four games. “We put a lot of pressure on (Clare) today. We had baserunners almost every inning, and if we keep doing that, we will score some runs.”
The Bobcats left nine runners on base, but were able to make the one run they scored in the bottom of the first inning stand up.
Shaylin Alexander and Brooklyn Mills both had singles for Whiteford in the first inning, with Alexander scoring the game’s lone run on a bunt single from sophomore Koralynn Billau.
At that point, it looked like Whiteford was poised to score a bunch more, but Clare hung tough behind outstanding defense and a crafty pitching performance by junior Madison Jones.
Nelson, who entered this week with a 0.82 ERA and twice as many strikeouts as innings pitched, will play her final prep game Saturday before embarking on her college career at North Dakota.
“It’s amazing to get back here again in my senior year,” said Nelson. “This is the reason we have all worked so hard this season, to get one more chance.”
Mills and Billau both had two hits for Whiteford.
Clare, which closed its most successful softball season in 38 years at 36-6-1, was nearly flawless in the field, with just one error and diving catches by right fielder Macie Hensley in the fifth inning and second baseman Alissa Brandon in the sixth.
Jones kept the Bobcats off-balance all game, allowing six hits, two walks and striking out five.
“I never have to worry about effort from these girls, I’ll tell you that,” said third-year Clare coach Shane Kelly. “All year, we’ve always found a way to pull out close games. We had our chances today, but we couldn’t get that timely hit or bunt.”
Morgan Campbell, Breez Yarger and Jones all had hits for Clare.
Evart 8, Buchanan 3
First-year Evart coach Shaun Gray perfectly summed up Friday’s second Division 3 Semifinal with his opening postgame comment:
“We hit the crap out of the ball right from the start of the game,” said Gray, who had just guided the Wildcats to their second Division 3 title game in three years.
The first batter Friday, Evart sophomore pitcher Kyrah Gray, hit a pitch all the way to the warning track, foreshadowing things to come.
Buchanan led 2-1 after four innings, but Gray led off the fifth with a similar shot as her first, and this one cleared the Spartan head in left-center to tie the game. The next batter, Allyson Theunick, followed with another blast over the wall to give her team a lead it would never relinquish.
“That one felt so good,” said Theunick, a senior catcher who now has 11 home runs this season and was a member of the 2022 team that finished runner-up to Millington. “We pick each other up. One of my really good teammates struck out a little earlier, so I said that I was going to hit a home run for her.”
Katelyn Gostlin put the game away in the sixth inning with the biggest blast of all, clearing the Secchia Stadium scoreboard for a three-run homer.
Emily Miller led fourth-ranked Evart (36-4) with three hits, while Gray, Gostlin and Mattisen Tiedt all had two.
Gray picked up her 26th win of the season, going all seven innings, allowing five hits and one walk, while striking out seven.
Buchanan (35-6), which was ranked third, was led by senior shortstop Hannah Herman, who went 3-for-3. Camille Lozmack had two RBIs, and Hailee Kara had a hit and the final RBI.
“We got out-hit today. That’s really all there is to it,” said seventh-year Buchanan coach Rachel Carlson. “But these girls rallied an entire town. They have changed the face of Buchanan softball forever.”
PHOTOS (Top) An Ottawa Lake Whiteford hitter drives a pitch during Friday’s Semifinal win. (Middle) Evart’s Mattisen Tiedt stretches to make an out as Buchanan’s Aspen Berry races for the bag.