Unbeaten Spring Lake Eyes Perfect Finish
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
It didn’t matter if it was driving rain, scorching heat, prom day, snowflakes, seven-game weeks, high winds, AP testing time or even a high-stakes showdown with archrival Grand Haven in the annual “Battle of the Bridge” at the end of May.
This Spring Lake girls softball team found a way to win – every game, 38 in a row and counting, to be exact.
Spring Lake coach Bill Core says that incredible consistency is what sets this team apart from any other in his 29 years at the helm.
“This is the most incredibly focused team I’ve ever had,” said Core, who hit the lofty 600-win mark for his coaching career last month. “They pay attention to detail. I think they’re on a mission.”
No. 2-ranked Spring Lake (38-0) puts its perfect season on the line against No. 6 Wayland in Saturday’s 11 a.m. opener in the MHSAA Division 2 Regional Tournament at Hope College in Holland.
The winner of that showdown will face the Comstock Park vs. Holland Christian winner in Saturday’s 3 p.m. Regional championship game.
The Lakers are led by junior ace Leah Vaughan, who sports a perfect 26-0 record, with a miniscule 0.83 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 152 innings pitched. Vaughan was sharp in Saturday’s competitive home District, striking out 10 in a 7-2 victory over neighboring rival Fruitport and then whiffing nine in a 7-1 win over Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue foe Allendale.
While Vaughan is expected to carry the load the rest of the way, Spring Lake also has a solid No. 2 pitcher in senior Lauren Somers, who has a 12-0 record and 2.41 ERA in 61 innings pitched.
On the offensive side, Spring Lake puts pressure on opponents with hitting threats throughout the lineup.
Madelyn Nelson, a senior shortstop, leads the team with a gaudy .636 batting average, 82 hits and 33 stolen bases in 33 attempts. While she certainly has college-level softball skills, Nelson will play golf at Valparaiso University in Indiana. Nelson was part of three straight Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship golf teams for Spring Lake from 2014 to 2016.
Vaughan also does her part at the plate, batting .532 with a team-high 63 RBI. Other top hitters are a pair of senior returning all-staters in second baseman Linsey Paggeot (.484 with 57 RBI) and centerfielder Lauren Hellman (.477 with 17 stolen bases in 18 attempts).
The biggest long-ball threat is junior outfielder Jenna Core, the oldest of Coach Core’s three children (and only girl), who has 10 home runs and 45 RBI. She already holds the school record with 24 home runs over her three-year varsity career, with one more season to go. Core and his wife, Tracy, also have two boys coming up in the Spring Lake system – Jackson, in 8th grade, and Jaden, 5th grade.
“Our lineup from 1 to 9 is pretty solid,” said the 55-year-old Bill Core. “That allows us to have more big innings. If you have a few good batters, you might score two or three runs, but we can keep it rolling and score six or seven.”
Spring Lake has had plenty of big innings this year, outscoring its opponents by a 424-54 margin.
The other starters for the team include junior catcher and No. 5 batter Molly Poole (.358 with 43 RBI), freshman third baseman Alicia Mumby (.410 with three home runs) and senior outfielder Kileah Rymal (.308).
At the “core” of the Lakers’ softball success is Coach Core, the oldest of four boys who grew up in a sports-crazy family in the sports-crazy town of Traverse City.
Core, now 55, played quarterback for legendary Traverse City coach Jim Ooley and was the first starting quarterback for the West team in the inaugural East-West Michigan High School All-Star Football Game in 1981.
He went on to play one year of football and four years of basketball and baseball at Alma College.
Core, who is assisted by Sarah Bulthuis and Kolbey Nelson, has turned Spring Lake into a regional power in both boys basketball and softball. Now that those programs have stocked several trophy cases with conference, District and Regional hardware, the new goal is to take the next step and get the Lakers to the “Final Four” at Michigan State University.
The Lakers’ basketball team came tantalizingly close in 2017, losing a 46-44 heartbreaker to Benton Harbor in the Class B Quarterfinals. The softball team, which has now won four consecutive District championships and 12 of the past 16 conference titles, broke through last spring with the school’s first-ever Regional championship. Spring Lake’s run was then ended in the Quarterfinals by Stevensville-Lakeshore, 6-1.
If the Lakers are able to win two more games Saturday and improve to 40-0, there is a good chance they could get a Quarterfinal rematch back at Hope College on June 12 with top-ranked Stevensville-Lakeshore.
Core said that season-ending loss last June has motivated this year’s team every day.
“We returned eight starters from last year’s team, so they know how to win and they also learned what they need to do better,” explained Core. “This is the real test now. Now we’ll be in those 2-1 and 3-2 games and, hopefully, that experience will pay off for us.”
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) Spring Lake coach Bill Core huddles with his team during a game this season. (Middle) Pitcher Leah Vaughan begins her approach toward the plate. (Photos courtesy of the Spring Lake softball program.)
Monroe St Mary Repeats, Pitch Perfectly
June 18, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The best Division 3 softball teams still haven't found a way to solve Meghan Beaubien.
Unfortunately for them, they'll have to undertake that frustrating task for one more year.
Beaubien threw only the second perfect game ever in an MHSAA championship softball game, as Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central repeated as Division 3 champion with a 6-0 victory over Grandville Calvin Christian on Saturday at Michigan State University.
The junior star, who committed to the University of Michigan her freshman year, struck out 15 of the 21 batters she faced. She was perfect in 12 innings of the semifinal and championship games this weekend.
"Winning the state championship is just great," Beaubien said. "I can't even describe it. A couple of years ago, nobody would have ever thought our team would be here. Especially winning it back-to-back means a lot. It's a perfect game. That's always good, but it's more important that we win a state championship. I want to give my team the best chance there is to do that. Not letting anyone on base, that works out pretty well."
The only other perfect game in an MHSAA championship game was thrown by Tricia Van Der Slik of Kalamazoo Christian against Saginaw Swan Valley in the 2002 Division 3 Final.
It was the 15th no-hitter ever in an MHSAA Final — and the second of the afternoon on the Secchia Stadium diamond to go with one by Richmond's Erin Shuboy in the Division 2 title game.
"I guess I just knew," Beaubien said. "It's always a perfect game until someone gets a hit or gets on base. I knew no one got on base, because otherwise I'd be thinking, 'They hit it here last time; I'm going to pitch them here.'"
Beaubien will eventually be a Wolverine, but has proven to be extremely comfortable pitching on high school's biggest stage at MSU. In four games on the Spartans' field the last two years, she hasn't allowed a run, has three no-hitters, has given up only two hits and has struck out 58 of 81 batters in 26 innings.
"You've got to be able to perform under pressure," Beaubien said. "I love the pressure. I feel like I can do a really good job in that situation. I just go out and do my best, and it works out."
Although the Kestrels (28-5) had a comfortable lead and nobody got on base, there was still some drama in the seventh inning.
The only time the perfect game was seriously threatened came when Calvin Christian sophomore Sarah Elderkin hit a grounder up the middle with one out in the seventh. Second baseman Peyton Bollenberg backhanded the ball and threw it to first base, where Liz Caldwell stretched out, made the catch and kept her foot on the base to barely beat Elderkin.
"It was a good play by second," Elderkin said. "You always have that feeling like, 'If I could only run harder,' but we had a great game. I feel like we all had some good hits. That team is very good. I think we're just blessed to have the ability to face a team like that. (Beaubien) is very good. She has a bright future ahead of her, I know that. They're a very good all-around team."
The two infielders involved in the play were very much aware that they were trying to protect a perfect game.
"It looked like Meghan was going to catch it," Bollenberg said. "It was just one of those things where I had a feeling it might come to me. I decided I'm going to go for it. I backhanded it and threw it."
Caldwell had to fully extend to remain on the base.
"All that was going through my mind was, 'You have to stretch, stretch now,'" Caldwell said. "I realized I needed to do my part, hold it and squeeze it."
While six Kestrels were part of last year's championship team, Bollenberg and Caldwell were not.
Bollenberg, a junior, injured her shoulder before the start of last season, so she served as the team's manager.
"I wish I could've played, but God didn't choose that for me," Bollenberg said. "It was definitely exciting to watch the girls do what they do. I knew this was going to be my year."
Caldwell wasn't even on the varsity this year until late in the season. Coach John Morningstar said she was one of four "bubble" players who were kept on the junior varsity to ensure the Kestrels at least had a lower-level team.
"I knew my part," said Caldwell, a sophomore. "I knew I was going to have to cheer on the team and really work people hard. I wasn't expecting to play at all, but I'm just really honored that I got a chance to."
After the bang-bang play at first, there was one more moment of temporary drama, as Calvin Christian’s final batter took the count to 3-1 with two outs. It was only the second three-ball count Beaubien had the entire game. The at bat ended with a swing-and-miss strikeout on a full count.
St. Mary broke a 0-0 tie by producing four straight singles and two runs to begin the bottom of the third inning. Beaubien hit a two-run single through the hole between the first and second basemen to open the scoring.
"The first time I was up, I got out," Beaubien said. "She was pitching me in. I wasn't really prepared for that. I hit a weak liner and got out. My second time up, I knew that's where she was going to throw me. I got my hands inside on that pitch. I pulled it through the other side and got her in."
The Kestrels broke it open with a three-run fifth. Once again, Beaubien was in the middle of the action. She started the rally with a one-out single, scoring on a double by Kenna Garst. Grace Mikesell made it 5-0 with a two-run single up the middle.
It became 6-0 in the sixth when Abbey Johnson scored on an error.
Calvin Christian finished with a 33-11 record.
PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary begins to celebrate as the final strike is called of the Division 3 Final. (Middle) Meghan Beaubien unloads another pitch on the way to a perfect game.