Hamilton & Zeeland West softball win confernce titles -High school sports rewind
Two local softball teams, Hamilton and Zeeland West, earned the title of confernce champion on Monday afternoon.
The Dux earned a sweep over Holland, winning game one 12-2 and game two 18-0. It's the second straight season they've won at least a share of the OK Green.
Morgan Patrick added a grand slam, Carly Sleeman and Taylor Zwaggerman each had triples in the game too.
In the first game of the afternoon, the Dux tallied six runs in the second inning. Emily Kragt, Izzy Zamora, and Taylor Zwagerman all contributed in the big inning with RBIs.
Emily Brands got the win in the circle for the Dux. She threw five innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out five and walking two.
"Emily was good on the mound for us," said Zeeland West coach Scott Sliva. "She did what she needed to for them to put the ball in play."
Carly Sleeman and Zwagerman each collected one hit for the Dux and they were big. Sleeman had a three RBI Double and Zwagerman had a three RBI triple.
In game two, Sophomore Alexa Brott collected the win for the Dux tossing a no-hitter, striking out seven, and walking one in the three-inning game.
"Alexa was strong in the circle," Sliva said. "She was efficient with her pitches and Carly was able to throw out the one base runner trying to steal third."
Morgan Patrick led the Dux offense by driving in four runs with a grand slam in the top of the third inning. Izzy Zamora and Zwagerman each had Multiple hits. Zwagerman had a triple and a single, while Zamora had a double and a single. Sleeman had a triple, and Kragt and Maddie Wyckoff added singles.
"We are so proud of this team. They work hard and play for one another every night. It was great to see them rally and come out on top tonight with two wins," Sliva said. "They really wanted the championship... and they took it. They earned it."
The Dux win the OK Green Championship with a record of 12-2. They improve to 20-10 overall and play Spring Lake on Wednesday at home starting at 4:15 p.m.
Hamilton swept a doubleheader with Coopersville to earn the OK Blue title. They won the first game 2-1 and cruised to an easy 13-2 win in the second game.
Madie Jamrog tossed the first game, throwing all seven innings while striking out nine and giving up just four hits. She went 2-for-3 at the dish too with a double and a triple. Raya VanderZwaag went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Jamrog earned the win in the circle in the second game, tossing all 6-innings of the mercy ruled contest while allowing just five hits. It's her 20th win of the season. She also went 3-for-4 at the plate and hit two home runs. VanderZwaag matched Jamrog going 3-for-4 herself and adding a double. Tiernan Nykamp went 1-for-4 with a longball too.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of our players. When I took this job, I was told that we'd 'never win here,' and that 'softball would never be important here,' You can't say that anymore," said coach Mark Behnke. "Our girls have worked so hard to win the conference championship. They come to work every day, they care about each other and they have MUDITA, which is taking vicarious joy in the success of others. We now turn our sights to the next summit to climb. I can tell you this...these girls believed in each other and worked for this."
SOFTBALL
Holland Christian sweeps West Catholic
Kierea Smits got the win for the Maroons in the first game, which was a 12-2 victory. She struck out eight and walked two. The Maroons scattered 10 hits.
In the second game, the Maroons won 5-4 in eight innings.
Kristin Sybesma started on the mound for the Maroons and struck out eight while walking one and hitting one batter. Smits finished the game and got the win for Holland Christian, while also hitting the game-winning single in the 8th inning. Striking out six in her two innings of relief. Holland Christian had seven hits in this game.
On the day, Lydia DeBlecourt had three hits, two singles and a double and three runs scored. Baylee VanderZwaag ended the day with two hits and two runs scored. Kierea Smits had three hits and one run scored for the day. Brookelynn Spooner had three hits with a key triple in the bottom of the 7th of game two to send it to extra innings and a big run scored on an RBI sacrifice by Lydia DeBlecourt in that big 7th inning come back.
The Maroons take on Holland High School at Holland Christian on Thursday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Black River 0, Western Michigan Christian 0
Great team defense led to the shutout by Bethie Bensinger, Melanie Alferink, Harper McGough, and Kendra Munoz. Olivia Hayes made 12 saves in goal to secure the draw.
Hamilton 2, Allendale 2
In the final regular season game and final conference tournament game, Hamilton battled Allendale to a 2-2 tie. Despite numerous chances on net for the Hawkeyes in the first half, Allendale scored off of a failed clearing attempt following a corner kick midway through the first half to tally the lone goal of the half.
The second half was much of the same regarding dangerous offensive chances for Hamilton, and they were rewarded with a penalty kick goal by Reagan Schut with about 20 minutes left in the game. The Hawkeyes continued to apply pressure and burst through for the tie-breaking goal by Mari DellaVecchia off an assist by Emily McDonald. The 2-1 lead was short-lived though as Allendale was fortunate to score the final goal with just three minutes remaining to put the final result at 2-2.
Hamilton finishes the regular season with a 10-3-3 overall record heading into the first round of the District tournament against Zeeland East on Wednesday.
“Today was what high school soccer is all about: two teams battling in front of fans from both communities in a cleanly-played, emotional, back and forth game. Hats off to our girls for showing grit by battling out of a 1-0 hole to eventually go up a goal," said coach Tyler Robinson. "The final three minutes were unfortunate, but credit to Allendale for battling back themselves at the end. As for us, we continue to rely on our season-long mantra of ‘work hard and support each other’. We will be fine, and we cannot wait to start Districts on Wednesday.”
Mona Shores 3, Zeeland East 2
Both teams battled hard Monday night and it was 0-0 for the first 37 minutes of the half. Mona Shores scored two goals back to back before halftime to make it 2-0 going into the break.
Zeeland East responded after the break and tied the game 2-2. A dangerous ball from Paige Westra across the box lead to a Mona Shores own goal. Westra tied the game 2-2 with an assist from Grace Steenwyk. Mona Shores got the winning goal with 11 minutes to play.
"I was proud of how our girls responded after halftime and credit Mona shores on a great performance," said head coach Joe Grit.
Union 3, Holland 1
Holland lost to Grand Rapids Union in the final round of the conference tournament 3-1, ending the regular season and finishing 6th in the O.K. Green Conference. Union held a 2-0 lead ten minutes into the second half. Riley Elders hit a shot from distance to narrow the gap, but Holland could not add another. Union finished the scoring with a goal in the last two minutes.
"It was a frustrating game," said Holland coach Greg Ceithaml. "We were not giving our best effort and Grand Rapids Union outworked us at times. We have to play with skill and determination in order to be successful. We will work on our focus before we face Zeeland West in the first round of the district tournament on Thursday."
Holland finished the regular season 8-9-1
Zeeland West 3, Reeths-Puffer 1
The Dux varsity soccer team finished the OK Green tournament on a high note, grounding the Rockets from Reeths-Puffer, 3-1 on senior recognition night. All three goals for the Dux came in the first half.
Abby Winn converted a penalty kick after Brooklyn Geerlings got taken down in the penalty box. Alayna Ruch gave the Dux a 2-0 lead less than five minutes later as her shot from the left side tucked inside the near post and hit the side netting on the far side. Winn made it 3-0 after receiving a through ball from Amarra Blattner.
Grace Caywood and Samarah Arendsen combined for the win between the pipes for the Dux, facing a total of five shots.
"This was the perfect way to end our regular season on senior night, at home, in front of friends and family. There was simply no way that we were going to send our 11 seniors into the state tournament with anything less than a win tonight," said Dux coach Ben Hondorp. "Our girls came ready to play, and dominated a dangerous and talented Reeths-Puffer from the opening whistle. We played with tons of energy, enthusiasm and purpose tonight. Our backline stayed strong and controlled their counter-attack, while our mids did an excellent job of jumping lanes and distributing the ball efficiently."
The Dux open district tournament play on Thursday as they travel to Holland for a 6:00 p.m. showdown with the Dutch. With Monday's win, the Dux secured second place in the OK Green - their highest finish in conference play in program history. They are 10-2-2 on the season.
West Ottawa 1, Jenison 0
The game winning goal came in the 57th minute when Chelsea Overbeek redirected a pass from Elle Wheelock over the Jenison keeper's head for a 1-0 lead. Grace Pedersen held the shutout for the Panthers by recording four saves.
West Ottawa ends the regular season with a 9-6-3 overall record and a 7-4-3 record in the OK Red. The Panthers open district play at 6:00 pm this Wednesday when they travel to Grandville to play the Bulldogs
BASEBALL
Hamilton splits with Coopersville
In game one Coopersville scored four runs in the 4th to get the come-from-behind win to finish the game 4-5. Blake Thomas had three hits at the plate and Brant Goodpaster and Michael Mashall each added a pair of hits. Thano Klett went the distance on the mound, striking out 9 and walking 3 while surrendering 4 hits.
In the second game, Thomas got Hamilton off to a great start by hitting a grand slam in the top of the first inning. Brant Goodpaster and Thano Klett each had two hits. Ethan Basinski threw a complete game striking out six and allowing only two hits.The Hawkeyes won game two 6-1.
Holland splits with Zeeland West
The Holland Dutch scored two in the first inning and led the entire game until the bottom of the 7th, when the Zeeland West Dux took advantage of a few second chances to score three runs and walkoff game one of the series to win 3-2. nine
Senior Andon Grigg was lights out on the mound, allowing only three hits in 6+ innings of work while striking out 9. All three of Zeeland West's runs were unearned.
Senior Sean Ruhf led the Dutch at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Jackson Van Hekken, Carson Van Hekken, and Mateo Clawson all had singles for the Dutch and Zach Hop stroked his third double of the season.
In the second game of the day, the Dutch came away with a 9-3 win. Holland jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the 2nd, then added four more in the 4th. Senior Jackson Van Hekken helped himself in the 7th with a 2-run home run to left field that put the exclamation point on the game.
Jackson also put together another strong pitching performance for the Dutch, going all seven innings allowing three earned runs on six hits, while striking out five. He did not walk a batter.
At the plate there was plenty to share, with the Dutch putting together 13 hits. Jackson and Carson Van Hekken, Mateo Clawson, Isaiah Martinez, and Zach Hop all had two hits on the day. Andon Grigg, Sean Ruhf, and Emmett Book also added hits to the total, with Ruhf smashing his team-leading third triple of the season.
The Dutch improved to 13-14 and 10-10 in the OK Green Conference. They host the Dux at home on Thursday, May 26 to complete the conference schedule.
No stats were provided by Zeeland West for either contest.
GOLF
Hawkeyes earn second, Maroons fifth at OK Blue jamboree
The Hamilton Hawkeyes finished second in the OK Blue conference championship with a score of 317. Eli Timmerman was an individual medalist with a 1-under 71. Riley Johr finished third with a 76 and Ben Boehm in eigth with an 80. Jacob Lange rounded out the scoring with a 90.
Holland Christian placed fifth on Monday in the OK Blue Conference end of season tournament with a team score of 344. This meant the Maroons finished the season in third place overall in the confernce, behind Unity Christian and the Conference Champions, Spring Lake. Cade VandenBosch led the Maroons with an 82, Isaiah Geerlings and Max Van Vliet both shot 87, and Adam Kroeze shot an 88.
Senior Cade VandenBosch finished fifth in the individual standings for the season was named to the all-conference team and Senior Max Van Vliet was named all-conference honorable mention.