![Madi Snyder delivers a pitch for the Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, which has been led by the 1-2 pitching duo of Snyder and Lainey McDaniel.](/sites/default/files/2024-05/240501_RP_2H.png)
'No Superstars' Reeths-Puffer Undefeated, County Tournament Favorite Entering May
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 1, 2024
Natalie Kunnen is in her fourth year as a varsity softball player for Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, but she has never experienced anything remotely close to this team’s vibe.
Not only are the Rockets unbeaten at 20-0-1, but no deficit seems too big to overcome.
Puffer rallied to beat Holton and later scratched out a tie with Allendale, then last week pulled a rabbit out of their hat twice in one night – coming back from a four-run deficit in the opener and a nine-run deficit in the nightcap in an improbable sweep at powerhouse Muskegon Oakridge.
“I walked out of Oakridge just stunned and asking myself, ‘Who are we?’” said Kunnen, who swings one of the biggest bats in the lineup with three home runs and 22 RBIs. “There is a completely different feel this year.”
Who are these Rockets?
They remained a rare unbeaten more than one month into the season after a sweep of host Grand Rapids Union on Tuesday, setting the stage for a doubleheader tonight at state power Hudsonville, followed by Saturday’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 1 tournament – where the Rockets are both the host and the No. 1 seed.
They are a team devoid of a superstar, but also without a weak link.
“We don’t have an easy out in our lineup, 1 through 9, and that is something that makes us unique,” said coach Sarah Bayle, 28, a 2013 Reeths-Puffer graduate who went on to play at Muskegon Community College and Ferris State.
“We have speed that we try to use to our advantage and three different pitchers who all bring something different.”
The Rockets adopted that “no superstars” mantra earlier this season after athletic director Cliff Sandee stopped by a practice and gave the huddled team an impromptu pep talk.
“He have us our motto: ‘It’s not who’s best on the team, it’s who’s best for the team,’” said junior pitcher and first baseman Mady Snyder. “We really believe that. We have a lot of grit. There is not one person on this team who gives up and says we’re done.”
Puffer sprints out of the gate behind the speedy trio of Kaylee Jones, Lainey McDaniel and Abbie Critchett at the top of the order – a threesome who have 61 of the team’s 90 stolen bases.
That trio sets the stage for the big bats of Snyder (three home runs and a team-best 26 RBIs), Kunnen, Megan Barnes and Kyleigh Bilek.
Puffer, which has outscored its opponents 216-53, is batting .406 as a team, with eight of the 13 players batting .400 or better. Leaders in that category are McDaniel at .558 and Snyder with .474.
The Rockets have played in only one tournament thus far, winning April 20 at Hamilton.
Bayle, who is officially in her fifth year as R-P’s coach but looks at it as her fourth year after COVID wiped out the 2020 season, said one of the turning points in the program came at the start of the 2021 campaign.
“We brought up four freshmen to the varsity, which is something that just wasn’t done much here,” said Bayle, who is assisted on the varsity by Kat Hyder, Sydney Recknagel, Scott Huebler and Chris Bilek. “That sparked a new reality. It doesn’t matter what year you are, you can’t slack off or someone could take your place.”
Those four freshmen are now the team’s only four seniors – Kunnen, Jones, Barnes and Emme Buzzell.
The closest thing to a star for the Rockets this spring has been McDaniel, a crafty left-handed pitcher who has a 0.85 ERA in 41 innings of work. Her improvement from freshman year to this spring as a sophomore has been remarkable, Bayle said, and a big reason for the remarkable start.
McDaniel and Jersi Bilek are the sophomores on the varsity roster, which also includes freshman Tessa Ross. The future looks bright as R-P also boasts an unbeaten junior varsity team, coached by Cody Jacobs.
Bayle, who is seven months pregnant with her second child, knows that much tougher challenges lie ahead, starting with Wednesday’s showdown at Hudsonville (a team which she believes R-P has never beaten in softball).
One of the team’s biggest goals this spring is to win this Saturday’s county tournament and then the Division 1 District, two tournaments which haven’t been kind to the Rockets in recent years.
This year, Puffer goes into the county tournament as the heavy favorite in its pool, with big wins over fellow Pool 1 teams Muskegon Mona Shores and Holton. Should they emerge from that group, the Rockets would likely face revenge-minded Oakridge or two-time reigning county champion Ravenna.
“We haven’t done good in the county, and haven’t made the finals in the past three years,” said Kunnen. “We’ve been really young, but this year we have a lot of juniors and seniors and a lot of leadership.
“I can’t even tell you how amazing it would be to win it my senior year.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Madi Snyder delivers a pitch for the Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, which has been led by the 1-2 pitching duo of Snyder and Lainey McDaniel. (Middle) Rockets coach Sarah Bayle has guided her team to an 18-0-1 start, with many of the wins coming in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion. (Below) McDaniel slides safely into second base during a game against Allendale. (Photos by Joe Lane.)
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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.