Perfection: Hudsonville Follows Winning Formula to Cap Undefeated Season
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2024
EAST LANSING – Good things typically happen when Hudsonville leadoff hitter Megan Beemer gets on base in the first inning.
That trend carried over to Saturday’s Division 1 Final – and it helped jumpstart her team’s offense.
Early runs, sparkling pitching and stellar defense proved to be key factors as the Eagles capped an unbeaten season with a 5-0 victory over Lake Orion at Secchia Stadium.
“It’s always important to get off to a good start, and I think Megan Beemer has scored in the first inning in, I want to say, 34 or 35 times of our 42 games,” Eagles coach Tom Vruggink said. “When she gets on in the first inning she’s going to steal second, maybe third, and (Tessa) Heffelbower is going to bring her in. That’s our formula, and it worked out great today.”
Senior hurler Ava Snip tossed a one-hit shutout, and Hudsonville (42-0) won its first Division 1 Final since 2012 and fourth in school history.
“To make history like today is like a dream for all of us,” said Beemer, a senior who will play next season at University of Michigan. “Me and Elly (Koopman) were on the team sophomore year and got punched in the face in the Semifinals, so this was our goal ever since then when we felt the sting of that. To come back and win it was huge for all of us.”
The Eagles struck early and loaded the bases in the top of the first inning.
Beemer, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, singled to open the game. She stole second, and trotted home when junior Autumn Dennis ripped a shot up the middle and put the Eagles ahead 2-0.
Freshman Lauren Luchies followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.
“As the leadoff batter, that's my goal,” Beemer said. “To get on in the first inning because that sets the tone for the rest of the seven innings.”
Snip, a lefty, felt more relaxed after getting the early run support.
“To get three runs on the board early made me not so nervous anymore, because at the beginning I was really nervous,” said Snip, who had eight strikeouts. “My nerves went away after the three runs because my offense had me, and my defense always has my back.
“This is so incredible. I can't believe we went undefeated this whole year and that we just did it. We proved to ourselves that we could go unbeaten, and it's insane to think about.”
Beemer was proud of her teammates’ effort on the mound.
“She did so good, and she had a breakout year,” Beemer said. “She has been my best friend since middle school, so seeing her succeed in this big moment was huge.”
Lake Orion pitcher Rylee Limberger had her team’s only hit off Snip, to lead off the fifth inning, but a double play by Hudsonville ended any threat.
The Eagles added to their lead in the sixth inning with a two-out rally. Beemer singled and then scored on a double down the left-field line from sophomore Tessa Heffelbower.
Junior Claire VanderWeels had a two-out, RBI single in the seventh.
The Eagles banged out nine hits on the day with Heffelbower and VanderWeels each collecting two hits as well.
“This is so awesome,” said Vruggink, who has won nearly 1,200 games during a 43-year career and is the fifth-winningest coach in MHSAA softball history. “We didn’t quite finish it two years ago, but this team has played unbelievable all season long and our pitching carried us. They stepped up to the pressure of an undefeated season, and I can't say more about them. They are tremendous athletes, tremendous kids.”
Lake Orion (38-6) was making its first Finals appearance in program history.
“We had a great season, and we played quite a few really good teams to get here,” Lake Orion coach Joe Woityra said. “I thought they were ready to play, but things got sped up real quick in that first inning and we couldn’t battle back like we had before.
“Obviously, Hudsonville has a great team also, and their pitcher did exactly what she needed to do. She shut us down, and not many pitchers did that this year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville celebrates its Division 1 championship win Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) A Lake Orion infielder places a tag on the Eagles’ Megan Beemer. (Below) Lauren Luchies makes a throw to first.
Just 1 Hit - Plus Brilliant Pitching - Earns Evart's 1st Finals Title in Any Sport
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2024
EAST LANSING – Evart flexed its muscles during Friday’s Semifinals, smacking three over-the-fence home runs.
In Saturday’s Division 3 Final, the Wildcats managed only one single the entire game – which turned out to be just enough to bring home the first team state championship in school history in any sport.
Sophomore ace Kyrah Gray threw a shutout, and her sophomore classmate Mattisen Tiedt delivered her team’s only hit in the bottom of the sixth inning – a run-scoring shot to right field to bring home Allyson Theunick – lifting Evart to a 1-0 victory over hard-luck Ottawa Lake Whiteford at Secchia Stadium.
“You could tell it was going to come down to one hit, and I still can’t believe that it was me,” said Tiedt, a first baseman who bats fourth in the lineup.
The Bobcats never gave up, using singles from Kaydence Sheldon and Koralynn Billau to put runners on second and third base with just one out in the top of the seventh inning. But Gray showed her grit, digging deep and striking out the next two batters to preserve the win.
Gray threw a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts in a classic pitchers’ duel against Whiteford senior Unity Nelson, who surrendered just the one hit and struck out eight.
“We won ugly,” said first-year Wildcats coach Shaun Gray, a 1998 Evart graduate and Kyrah’s father. “We have won ugly at times this year and, at other times, we showed off our bats. We’ll take it however we can get it.”
The win atoned for a heartbreaking Finals loss two years ago for Evart, which fell to Millington, 3-2, in eight innings.
This year’s game appeared headed for extra innings as both Gray and Nelson refused to give an inch.
Evart (37-4) finally got something going in the sixth inning when Theunick got hit by a pitch and stole second. That runner in scoring position brought the Evart fans, led by a loud and enthusiastic student section, to their feet.
After the next batter, slugger Katelyn Gostlin, fouled off several pitches before finally popping out to the shortstop, Coach Gray knew a breakthrough was near.
“Unity is such a great pitcher, but we were starting to get our timing down on her,” said Gray, who is assisted by Kevin Brigham. “I called a timeout and told Matty (Tiedt) that there was no one I would rather have batting right then than her. Then she got in there and came through.”
Whiteford (30-6-1) has lost in Finals three consecutive years, including now nearly identical 1-0 losses the past two.
In both of those games, Nelson dominated in the circle, only to see the opposition – Standish-Sterling last year and Evart this year – come through with one timely hit.
“Unity is one of the most inspirational players ever at Whiteford,” said fifth-year Bobcats coach Matt VanBrandt. “She keeps us in every game and, most of the time, we can do enough to win. Just not today.
“But we played six games in Secchia Stadium in the last three years, which is pretty impressive.”
Sheldon and Billau both had two hits for Whiteford.
Nelson, who will continue her pitching career at North Dakota, finished her senior season with a 19-3 record and 287 strikeouts.
Part of the reason Whiteford was not able to break this time through was the clutch pitching of Gray with runners on base. The sophomore came of age on the state’s biggest softball stage, also striking out the final two batters during the second inning after Whiteford put two runners on, just like her finish to the seventh.
She smiled when told that gave her dad a special Father’s Day gift one day early.
“My whole focus this weekend was just to pitch my game and not get overwhelmed by all of this,” Gray said, pointing around MSU’s sprawling Old College Field, where baseball, softball and soccer championship games are played.
“We knew it would be a dogfight, and we had to keep fighting to get one. We finally got it.”
The win made a prophet out of Shaun Gray, who completed his first year as Evart’s varsity coach but knows all of the girls extremely well after coaching them for years in recreation and travel ball, starting in elementary school.
“I got laughed at when I said that Evart could compete for the state title and that Evart could have all-state players,” said Gray about his hometown of about 1,700 people, just moments after turning that championship vision into a reality.
“No one is laughing now.”
PHOTOS (Top) Evart players celebrate their first Finals championship in any sport Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) The Wildcats’ Keira Elder (20) slides under a Whiteford tag. (Below) The Bobcats’ Unity Nelson unwinds as she steps toward the plate.