sun and news 4-17-2021

The Sun and News, Saturday, April 17, 2021/ Page 9

Scots take two at TK with

big offensive performance

The bats were a bit ahead
of the pitchers on a cold,
windy April Wednesday in
Middleville.
The Caledonia varsity
softball team captured a pair

of non-conference wins to

open its season against the

Thornapple Kellogg Trojans

this week. The Fighting Scots

scored 21-8 and 15-9 wins

over the TK ladies.

The Fighting Scots pound-

ed 18 hits in the five-inning

opener, and were helped by

nine TK errors.

Mo Sprague led the TK

attack, going 2-for-3 with

three runs and two Rbi. Paige

VanStee had two singles and

scored twice.

Game two was more of a

back and forth affair. TK

gook a 2-0 lead in the top of

the first inning. The Scots

answered with five runs in

the bottom of the third.

Caledonia clung to a 7-6 lead

after TK scored two runs in

the top of the fourth inning,

but warmed up for seven runs

in the bottom half to push

their lead to 14-8.

The Scots outhit the

Trojans 14-8 in game two.

The two teams combined for

13 errors.

The big blow for TK was a

two-run home run over the

left field fence by Sprague.

She was 3-for-5 with the two

RBI. Elaina O’Riley had two

singles for TK and scored

two runs too.

Avery Hallo had the big

bat for the Scots in game

two. She was 3-for-4 with

four RBI and two runs

scored. Barbie DeGood went

2-for-5 with a double and

added four RBI as well.

Tornado damages homes in

Gaines Township subdivision

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Up to a dozen homes in a

Gaines Township subdivision

were damaged when a brief

tornado touched down last

Saturday afternoon, accord-

ing to the National Weather

Service office in Grand

Rapids.

The tornado, which was

described by the NWS as “a

very small, brief and weak

tornado,” touched down in

the Preservation Lakes subdi-

vision at 4:18 p.m. April 10

and was on the ground for

one minute. The storm was

classified as an EF-0 tornado,

with winds of 70-80 miles

per hour, NWS reported.

The tornado traveled

about a half-mile and had a

width of 65 yards, the NWS

said.

“A small section of roof

was lifted off of one home,

vinyl siding was peeled off

another home, a garage door

was bent and almost blown in

at another home, and con-

struction plywood and porch

furniture were shuffled

around the neighborhood,”

the NWS posted on its

Facebook page. “Some trees

were snapped or uprooted

which brought down wires

and knocked out electrical

service.”

At least two vehicles

were damaged after being

struck by flying debris, the

NWS reported.

The NWS issued state-

ments before the storm, say-

ing gusty winds of more than

40 mph were possible and

advised people to move

indoors. Weak rotation was

seen on radar over Gaines

Township, resulting in a

severe thunderstorm warning

being issued for the greater

Grand Rapids area, warning

that wind speeds of 60 mph

were possible and that torna-

does could develop.

“The atmospheric ingre-

dients had temporarily come

together in just the right way

over Kent County to support

one or two brief and relative-

ly weak tornado ‘spin-ups,’

capable of producing damage

similar to a typical severe

thunderstorm,” NWS staff

noted in a Facebook post.

“The atmospheric ingredients

fortunately did not support

violent or long-lived torna-

does.”

The NWS is reviewing

photos and video from storm

spotters and homeowners,

and some of its meteorolo-

gists visited the neighbor-

hood to survey the damage in

person.

Some trees were snapped or uprooted, taking down wires and knocking out elec-

trical service last weekend in Gaines Township. (NWS/Facebook photo)

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Caledonia’s Barbie DeGood busts out of the batter’s box as a two-run double flies
towards left centerfield during the bottom of the second inning of her team’s game two
win at Thornapple Kellogg Wednesday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Thornapple Kellogg’s Paige VanStee taps teammate
Moriah Sprague on the helmet as they celebrate Mo’s
two-run home run in game two of their doubleheader
with visiting Caledonia Wednesday. (Photo by Brett
Bremer)

Thornapple Kellogg’s

Elaina O’Riley heads into

third and looks to home as

she moves around the

bases in the bottom of the

third inning of game two

against Caledonia

Wednesday in Middleville.

(Photo by Brett Bremer)