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Page 12 — Thursday, June 3, 2021 — The Hastings Banner

Lion softball takes two of three

from Perry to close GLAC play

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

The Lions have something to look forward

to beyond the state tournament.

The Maple Valley varsity softball team split

its Greater Lansing Activities Conference

doubleheader at Perry Monday (May 24),

falling 16-8 in game one and then bouncing

back for a 13-10 win in game two. The Lions

then took the rubber-game in the series

Wednesday in Vermontville, outscoring the

Ramblers 15-14.

“I am just proud of these girls, with so

much improvement” Lion head coach Mary

Lesage said. “The hitting is finally coming

around and Nadia Martin has improved so

much with the pitching. I look forward to

working with these girls next year and seeing

more improvement as they mature in their

softball skills.”

The Lions won their final GLAC ballgame

of the season Wednesday in walk-off fashion.

Abeni Hartwell go the winning rally started

with a single in the bottom of the seventh, but

she was erased on the bases by a fielder’s

choice off the bat of teammate Addison

Ramey. Ramey promptly stole second and

then took third on a single by Brenna Cruz.

Freshman Kyla VanAlstine came through with

the game-winning RBI single that scored

Ramey from third base.

“It was great to see the girls battle to the

end, not giving up,” Lesage said.

There was the potential for the Lions to

hang their heads after how the top of the sev-

enth inning played out. Lexy Booher drove in

teammate Karli Dahms to put their team in

front 14-6 in the bottom of the sixth, but a few

Rambler hits and a few Lion errors and a few

walks led to Perry scoring eight times in the

top of the seventh to tie the game.

Martin finally closed the Rambler rally

there though. She got the win, pitching the

complete game.

It was a good way to send out the Lion

seniors, including four-year varsity ballplay-

ers Ramey and Becca Fairfield as well as

exchange students Yolanda Schaefer, Gee

D’Angelo and Federica ScanCarello.

Emma Pierce hit a home run to get the Lion

scoring started in the third inning, on what

Lesage said was probably the best ball she has

seen her hit all season. VanAlstine picked up

an RBI in the fourth inning, Booher belted a

two-run double and Hartwell knocked a three-

run inside the park home run.

In the fifth, the Lions got an RBI single

from Fairfield, an RBI single from DePyper,

and a two-run double by Booher. Pierce fol-

lowed with a double to score Booher.

Climax-Scotts ended the Lions’ season

Tuesday with an 11-1 win in their Division 3

Pre-District ballgame at Climax-Scotts High

School.

Vikes capture GLAC title

with tourney win at MSU

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
All six Lakewood golfers were among the
top 13 scorers, shooting 86 or better, as the
Viking varsity boys’ captured their first out-
right conference championship since 2011 at
Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing
Wednesday.
The Lakewood boys clung to a slim lead in
the conference, over Lansing Christian and
Leslie, going into the Greater Lansing
Activities Conference Championship 18-hole
tournament on the campus of Michigan State
University.
“We started strong, maintained with a
steady focus, and closed out strong,”
Lakewood head coach Carl Kutch said.
Trevor Simon fired a 76 to lead the way for
the Lakewood team, finishing as the day’s
runner-up individually. Lakewood put togeth-
er a team score of 324, finishing three strokes
ahead of the Pilgrims and Blackhawks.
“It all came down to the last couple holes.
Having Trevor back was obviously huge for
this team,” Kutch said. “He hits the ball so
long and has such a complete game. And, the
depth of this year’s team has elevated
Lakewood to the next level in the GLAC.”
Among the top four for the Vikings were
Owen Richmond who shot an 82, Jakeb
Jackson who shot an 83 and Liam Cavanaugh
who fired an 83 as well.
That is a personal best 18-hole round for

Jackson, a senior.

“He has worked so hard this year, and I’m

so happy to see him put a great round together

and help provide one of the four scores need-

ed to claim this year’s league championship,”

Kutch said of Jackson.

Simon and Richmond earned spots on the

all-conference first team with their perfor-

mance this spring, and teammates Logan

Kenyon and Cavanaugh were second team

all-conference golfers. Kenyon and teammate

Drew Marquoit each shot an 86 Wednesday,

which had them tied for 13th individually in

the field of 34 golfers.

Lansing Christian placed second thanks to

a fifth-score tiebreaker. The Pilgrims and

Leslie boys each put together a score of 327.

Leslie senior Cannon Risner was the

GLAC’s top golfer this spring and scored a

5-under-par 67 to win Wednesday’s tourna-

ment.

Olivet was fourth in the day’s standings

with a score of 381, ahead of Maple Valley

386 and Perry 393.

Maple Valley’s Christian ‘Buck’ Schrader

tied Richmond for fifth overall on the day

with an 82. The Lion team also got an 89 from

Owen Bailey, a 103 from Kenneth Curtis and

a 112 from Caden Faurot.

Schrader and Bailey were both second team

all-conference this season.

The remainder of the all-conference first

team included Lansing Christian juniors Will

Combs and Davis Garrett and Leslie seniors

Garrett Mays and John Cranmore.

The Lakewood boys played their final nine-

hole dual of the season at Morrison Lake Golf

Course Thursday afternoon, outscoring Ionia

170-189.

Jackson was at his best again, shooting a

personal best nine-hole score of 37. Marquoit

scored a 42 for the Vikings, Richmond a 45

and Cavanaugh 46.

Lakewood was set to take part in its

Division 3 Regional Tournament at

HawksHead Links in South Haven which

Wednesday (June 2).

sports

Lakewood varsity boys’ golf teammates Logan Kenyon, Jakeb Jackson, Drew Marquoit, Liam Cavanaugh, Owen Richmond,

Trevor Simon and head coach Carl Kutch celebrate their team’s 2021 GLAC Championship after winning the conference tournament

at Forest Akers East Golf Course on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing Wednesday.

Kelley scores twice, draws a PK,

as Vikings win district opener

The Vikings won to play another day.

The Lakewood varsity girls’ soccer team

scored a 3-1 victory overWyoming Lee in its

Division 3 District opener at Lakewood High

School Wednesday.

Senior Anja Kelley kept her varsity playing

days going by drawing a penalty kick for her

team, which Cadence Poll converted for the

Vikings’ first goal, and scoring two times her-

self.

The 8-9-1 Lakewood ladies earned the

chance to face an 11-4-2 South Christian team

that is ranked 17th in the state in Division 3

in. The Vikings were set to host the Sailors for

their district semifinal ballgame Wednesday,

June 2.

The district final is set for June 4 at Grand

Rapids Catholic Central’s athletic complex.

Vikings and Lions have champions at GLAC track meet

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Olivet varsity boys’ and girls’ track and
field teams finished off Greater Lansing
Activities Conference Championship seasons
by winning titles at the conference meet they
hosted Wednesday afternoon.
Lakewood senior Garrett Stank, a state
qualifier in the long jump, took the confer-
ence championship in that event Wednesday
with a leap of 19 feet 11.25 inches and fin-
ished no worse than third in any of his four

events to lead the Viking boys’ team.

Stank was the runner-up in the 100-meter

dash with a personal record time of 11.

seconds, third in the 200-meter dash in 23.

and he also placed third in the pole vault by

clearing the bar at 11-6.

Senior distance runner, who is bound for a

spot on the Ferris State University men’s

cross country and track and field programs,

took the conference championship in the

1600-meter run in 4 minutes 45.06 seconds

and also was the conference runner-up in the

3200-meter run with a time of 10:45.40.

Freshman Annabelle Stank earned a con-

ference championship for the Lakewood

ladies, throwing a new personal record dis-

tance of 104-0 in the discus competition.

The top finish for the Maple Valley girls

came in the high jump where senior Ashlyn

Wilkes, a state qualifier in the event, won by

clearing the bar at 5-2.

Things went well in the field events for the

Lakewood and Maple Valley athletes for the

most part.

Lakewood had three guys in the top six in

the conference in the pole vault, with Tyson

Raffler fifth at 106 and freshman Shane

Raffler sixth with a personal record vault of

10-0. Maple Valley freshman Nic Martin was

seventh, clearing the bar at 9-0.

Jacob Merryfield, a junior, had a runner-up

jump of 5-6 in the boys’ high jump, where

freshman teammate Lijah Jablonski was

fourth by clearing 5-2.

Connor Feighan set a new personal record

for the Vikings in the discus with a third-place

mark of 113-11, with freshman teammate

Benjamin Scobey setting a PR too with a

fifth-place throw of 105-7.5. in the shot put,

Feighan was fourth with a mark of 39-3.75.

Feighan added a third-place personal record

time of 53.53 in the 400-meter dash too.

Lakewood and Maple Valley both had a

freshman in the top eight in the long jump.

Evan Brandenburg scored for the Lions with a

seventh-place leap of 17-3.5 and Lakewood’s

Colt Endsley was eighth at 16-9.

Lakewood junior Tyson Raffler was third in

the 110-meter high hurdles in a personal

record time of 16.84 seconds and added a

fourth-place time of 44.95 in the 300-meter

intermediate hurdles. Merryfield was sixth in

that 300 hurdles race with a time of 46.40.

Freshman Shane Raffler was seventh in the

110 hurdles with a personal record time of

19.06.

Brandenburg added his fastest 100-meter

dash time yet for the Lions, placing sixth in

that race in 12.12. Lakewood sophomore

Alexander Russell was eighth in the two

sprints, finishing the 100 in 12.43 and the 200

in 25.41.

Senior Heath Carter capped his Lakewood

running career with a fourth-place time of

2:12.52 in the 800-meter run.

Junior Hokulani Ka’alakea was a part of

three runner-up finishes for the Vikings. She

teamed with Sophie Duits, Madison Bierens

and Kylie Walkington to place second in the

400-meter relay in 57.84 seconds. Individually,

Ka’alakea set a new personal record time at

16.72 in a runner-up finish in the 100-meter

hurdles and placed second in the 100-meter

dash in 13.53. She placed sixth in the long

jump too with a mark of 14-3.5.

Maple Valley had a runner-up relay finish

too. The team of Wilkes, Liz Christopher,

Greanlee DePyper and Lilly Faurot was sec-

ond in the 800-meter relay with a time of

2:00.35.

Some of those relay runners were top field

even performers too. Duits was fourth in the

high jump at 4-6 and Faurot fifth in that event

at 4-4. Bierens placed third in the pole vault

with a personal record vault of 7-6.

Stank scored in both throws for the

Lakewood girls, also placing fifth in the shot

put with a mark of 29-7.5. The Lion ladies

were led in the throws by a third-place discus

mark of 85-11.5 for junior Hannah Kinney.

Viking senior Katie Acker was the run-

ner-up in the 3200-meter run with a time of

12:35.07 and placed fifth in the 1600-meter

run in 5:55.92.

Freshman Alexa Reitz scored in both hur-

dles races for the Lion ladies. She was sixth in

the 300-meter low hurdles with a personal

record time of 1:08.44 and she placed seventh

in the 100-meter hurdles in 26.98.

On the track, Lakewood senior Emily

Apsey ran her fastest 800-meter run ever to

place seventh in 2:46.43. Lion freshman

Faurot wasn’t far behind in that race with an

eighth-place time of 2:48.67. Duits added a

sixth-place time of 1:10.54 for the Vikings in

the 400-meter dash and Wilkes was third in

the 200 for the Lions in 27.81.

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TK walk off after losing

lead against Zeeland East

The Trojans saw an 8-5 lead get away in the

sixth and seventh, but rallied from two runs

down in the bottom of the eighth for an 11-

walk-off win over the visiting Zeeland East

softball team Wednesday, May 26, in

Middleville.

Zeeland tied the ballgame with two in the

sixth and one in the seventh, then took a 10-

lead in the top of the eighth. Moriah Sprague

singled to get TK going in the bottom of the

eighth, driving home Paige VanStee from sec-

ond.

Sprague stole second and went to third on a

groundout by Carly Snyder, then scored the

tying run on a ball back to the circle by

Natalie O’Riley who was safe at first as well.

She went to second on an error and then

scored on another Zeeland error following a

ground ball by teammate Kate Caldwell.

VanStee was 2-for-5 with three runs and

two RBI in the win, belting a double. Sprague

was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

Elaina O’Riley, Natalie O’Riley and Grace

Zube had one hit each.

TK will host its Division 2 District

Tournament June 5, taking on Hastings in a

semifinal game at noon. Lakewood and Ionia

meet in the district’s first semifinal contest, at

10 a.m.

The Trojans were scheduled to hit the road

one final regular season game at Hopkins

Wednesday.