Rogers City Swinging for Semifinal Return
April 12, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
ROGERS CITY — The well of softball talent never seems to run dry at Rogers City High School.
So, even though the Hurons lost five key players from last year’s team that went 32-6 and reached the Division 4 Semifinals, they entered the 2019 season with the same high expectations and a No. 3 ranking in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 4 poll.
“I think we’re going to be OK again,” said Rogers City head coach Karl Grambau. “We lost an awful lot. We lost some pretty good players. Some of them are playing in college now, but there’s enough back and we added some good, young kids. We’re pretty excited with what we’ve got coming back.”
The caliber of players the Hurons have to replace is high and might wreck many programs. Among those who are gone is starting shortstop Kayla Rabeau, a four-year standout who was Division 4 Miss Softball. They also have to fill big shoes at third base and second base — Hannah Fleming and Jayna Hance earned all-state and all-state honorable mention, respectively, while designated player Jazmyn Saile and centerfielder Kristin Brege were both all-region selections.
To make up for those losses, Rogers City is leaning heavily on its top returning players — a core that supplied major contributions for the Hurons over the past three years. Junior pitcher Kyrsten Altman and senior Taylor Fleming, who is moving from first base to shortstop, both received all-state honorable mention in 2018, while catcher Amanda Wirgau, another fourth-year veteran, and outfielders Linnea Hentkowski and Alissa Bowden also are returning starters. Additionally, the Hurons have players like senior third baseman Cathryn Hart, sophomore first baseman Jeffra Dittmar and sophomore second baseman Karissa Rabeau ready to step in and show what they can do.
“Every year I’ve been on varsity we’ve lost some key players,” said Taylor Fleming. “We’ve always been capable of filling those positions that we’ve lost. I think we’re more than capable of doing it again this year. As long as I can remember, Rogers City softball has always been a good program and they’ve always made it pretty far (in the postseason).”
Indeed, the Hurons can put their accolades up against nearly any program across the state. Since 2012 they’ve gone 230-48, the highlight being winning the Division 4 title in 2014. They’ve also reached the Semifinals twice, won three consecutive Regionals and seven straight Districts. There also were Finals runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2001.
“I think we’ve built up a pretty good tradition all the way through, especially since 2012,” said Grambau, who took over for Charlie Fairbanks in 2003. “We want to keep it going. We’ve talked about how we have a target on our back. We also know it takes a lot of hard work to keep climbing and it’s easy to slide back, and we don’t want to do that. We want to keep going in a positive direction.”
After getting a taste of playing in a Semifinal last year, the Hurons are hungry to get another opportunity that deep into the postseason.
“A lot of us really, really want to get back (to East Lansing),” said Altman, who had a record of 17-3 last year and struck out 118 batters in 111 innings using a wicked rise ball as her go-to pitch. “It’s such an amazing experience to get to play there, and we hope to do that again and maybe get the win.
“The team has very high standards. The past couple of years we’ve always gotten super far in the playoff round, and we keep pushing and pushing to get farther and farther. We just have to keep working hard.”
The Hurons want to remove the bitter taste left from last year’s 2-0 loss to Coleman in the Semifinals. Rogers City’s bats couldn’t string together hits, and the quest for a second championship in four years was dashed.
It’s been a rare occasion when the Hurons have had trouble generating offense. Rogers City has become notable for its hefty home run totals. The Hurons have clubbed at least 30 homers each year since 2013, including a whopping 48 during the 2014 championship season. In the District Semifinal against Johannesburg-Lewiston last year, they belted nine home runs.
“I’m not going to say we’re going to hit 30-some this year, but I think we’ll hit our fair share again,” said Grambau. “We’ve got some good kids, and we work on the power hitting a lot. What we’ve done has worked. Knock on wood, we can keep it going. We’ve got to stay healthy. The kids work hard, and they buy into the system. I’m really happy with the results.”
Grambau has coached a number of sports — boys and girls basketball, track & field and cross country among them — but his tenure as the Hurons’ softball coach has stretched into its 17th season.
“It’s just been a lot of fun,” said Grambau. “It was a strong program when I started. It just happened that I could keep it going. We’ve had great volunteer help over the years. It’s just something I enjoy doing. I’ve had a chance to coach a lot of great kids and meet a lot of great people.”
Grambau has gone 435-157 as the Hurons’ head coach, a record made even more impressive by the fact that the Hurons play an extremely challenging schedule every year. Rogers City will face many of the teams listed as well in the preseason rankings and isn’t afraid to take on teams in any division.
“We’ve always tried to play a really tough schedule, and it’s really helped us come postseason time,” said Grambau. “We like to play good competition.”
That begins with a season-opening tournament at Farmington Hills Mercy, along with tournaments at Holton and Boyne City that will feature quality competition. A rematch with Division 4 runner-up Coleman also is on the schedule. The purpose is to be well-prepared by the time the postseason starts, when elimination is only one game away.
“Anything can happen on any day,” said Grambau. “We just have to try and get ready for the next day. One day at a time, and one pitch at a time. That’s what we tell the girls. Things will work out as long as we believe in what we’re doing.
“Our No. 1 goal is to have fun. We’re going to do our best to keep it going this year.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pitcher Kyrsten Altman and first baseman Taylor Fleming (20) get ready to start an inning during last season’s Division 4 Semifinal against Coleman. (Middle) Rogers City catcher Amanda Wirgau prepares to apply the tag and prevent a run during the eventual 2-0 defeat at Secchia Stadium.
Hudsonville Adds to Diamond Milestones
April 27, 2016
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
HUDSONVILLE – After last year’s regular season ended, longtime Hudsonville baseball coach Dave Van Noord was on the brink of reaching a career milestone.
An early exit from the postseason tournament derailed the celebration.
Van Noord was two wins shy of joining an elite class of coaches who have won 500 games.
“I knew going into Districts last year that there was a chance, but then we lost in Districts and I didn’t think about it much,” Van Noord said. “Then this season started and I saw a plaque in the press box and I thought, ‘Oh man, this is going to happen this week.’”
Following Spring Break, Van Noord did reach the 500-win plateau with his team’s 6-1 victory over Zeeland East on April 13.
The victory was another milestone for one of the state’s top baseball programs – but also for the Eagles’ dominating programs on both diamonds.
Softball coach Tom Vruggink, who turns 66 next month, has been a mainstay at Hudsonville for 35 years and instrumental in turning that program into a state powerhouse.
Vruggink has nearly doubled Van Noord’s win total. He began the 2016 campaign with a 941-243 record and is the eighth all-time winningest coach in MHSAA softball history.
Combined, Van Noord and Vruggink have more than 1,400 wins.
“That’s incredible, isn’t it?” Van Noord said. “I wish I had his pitchers through the years, and they’ve had some incredible teams. He has a special way with girls.”
Van Noord, 53, is in his 22nd season as the Eagles’ head coach. He began his coaching career in 1991 at Lakewood Lake Odessa, where he spent two years before receiving a teaching job in Hudsonville.
He replaced longtime coach Larry Byle, who retired in 1994.
Van Noord has received help through the years from longtime assistant coach Joe DeSmit, and support from his wife, Sue.
“We’ve coached together 21 years, and there is no way I would’ve been able to stay in it without Joe,” Van Noord said. “We basically co-coach together, and my wife has put up with so much, especially my bad moods when the team’s not playing well. I wish the older that I get, the better I would be with losing, but I’m not.”
Van Noord said he was thrilled to accomplish the feat with this year’s group, which started 4-1 before suffering a four-game losing skid.
“It was cool for this team to do it,” he said. “Joe and I really like this team. We didn’t play very well last week, but the first week was good. It feels like a classic Hudsonville team.”
The Eagles were competitive through the early stages of Van Noord’s career, but were unable to make lengthy postseason runs.
That all changed in 2009 when the program claimed a District title. Three years later, Hudsonville won its first MHSAA Division 1 championship.
“We always thought if we could get by Jenison or Grandville, which were both good, then we could make a run and that would be sweet,” Van Noord said. “We won our first District in 2009 and went to the Quarterfinals. That’s when we got it going and started winning O-K Red championships. The state title was a cool thing to do.”
Van Noord looks back fondly on all of the players he has coached.
“I coached pairs of brother and trios of brothers and just a lot of good kids,” Van Noord said. “They believed in what we did and they worked hard. They all come from good families, and it has been special to be a part of that for so long.”
Ironically, Vruggink had aspirations to coach baseball. However, softball became his calling.
“My dream was to always get a baseball job somewhere,” said Vruggink, who began his tenure in 1982. “I got the softball job here before that and never looked back.
“It was tough at the beginning going from a male athlete coaching football and then coaching girls in softball. It’s a lot different working with girls than the boys, and that was the biggest adjustment.”
Vruggink has no regrets over his decision to stay involved in softball.
“I’ve loved it, and I think it is the best coaching job around,” he said. “I have kids who work hard and they love to play. The parents are so supportive of what the kids are doing and what we are doing as a program.”
The Eagles have won three MHSAA Division 1 championships under Vruggink’s guidance. They won back-to-back crowns in 2009 and 2010, and again in 2012.
“We’ve been very successful through the years, and all of the state championships are special in their own way,” Vruggink said. “We were close a lot of times and finally broke through in 2009 and got that first one. To do it twice in a row was special, and then we overcame a big hurdle in 2012 in our first year without Sara Driesenga (who has gone on to star at University of Michigan). That team had something to prove.”
Vruggink’s wife, Patty, has been with him every step of the way as the team’s scorekeeper.
“She’s in the dugout every game, and she’s like an assistant coach,” Vruggink said. “I bounce things off her like I would any other coach and it’s been great.”
Vruggink, who taught fourth grade for 31 years and now is retired from the classroom, isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
Although hanging up the cleats and bat is talked about at times, he can’t imagine life without coaching.
“Right now, I’m still having fun and I get fired up every year for the beginning of the season,” Vruggink said. “It will be a difficult thing to say ‘this is my last year,’ because there’s always that next girl coming up you want to coach.”
Players from Van Noord’s past were among those who reconnected after his recent milestone win.
“They did a nice presentation for me after the game and that was cool,” Van Noord said. “I don’t look back much, and the years have added up quickly, especially the last 10 years. It’s been a whirlwind recently, but the best part of it was the social network.
“I’m tied in with so many people and I must’ve had 50-75 texts and emails from staff, former players and other coaches. It was so cool to just connect with those people again.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Tom Vruggink (left) and Dave Van Noord both led Hudsonville programs to Division 1 titles in 2012. (Middle) Van Noord is surrounded by his players flashing five fingers after his latest milestone win. (Below) Vruggink raises his program's third MHSAA title trophy after the 2012 win. (Middle photo courtesy of Hudsonville athletic department.)