THE HASTINGS
Thursday, April 14, 2022Pitching staff to lead Eagles’ chase for another title
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Eagles are 2-0.
The Barry County Christian varsity base-
ball team scored 16-1 and 10-4 victories at
Heritage Christian Tuesday.
The Eagles were second in the Great Lakes
Six Conference a year ago and had the pro-
gram’s second-best winning percentage ever
with a 25-9 overall record which included a
shared championship at the Barry County
Christian/Hastings tournament.
The top returnees from that squad are
seniors Chris Lantzer, Aspen Neymeiyer and
Brody Grihorash and sophomore pitcher Isa-
iah Birmingham. All four of those guys will
pitch at times. Birmingham and Lantzer will
split time between first base and third base
defensively too. Neymeiyer could see time in
right field and at first base. Grihorash will be
at centerfield or in the middle infield when he
is not on the mound.
Head coach Brandon Strong said Birming-
ham and Lantzer are both firing pitches in at
over 80 miles per hour this spring. Coach
Strong said Birmingham is the best high
school pitcher in Barry County and he has a
chance to break numerous Eagle records
during his varsity career.
“Isaiah has worked very hard to become a
better mechanics-driven pitcher,” coach
Strong said. “He improved his velocity over
last season from 80-81 to 85-87 by the end of
his summer season, in large part due to refo-
cusing his arm slot and repeating his delivery.
As a young kid, we are focusing on the man-
agement of Isaiah and allowing him to see a
variety of difficult situations in 2022, while
not overusing his still developing right shoul-
der. We want him to want to be in tough situ-
ations or big game situations.”
Lantzer improved last summer too, espe-
cially making his change-up and curveball
better weapons according to his coach.
“The good news is that Chris is stronger
than ever, just finished a deep basketball
campaign, and is entering this season in tre-
mendous shape,” coach Strong said.
Neymeiyer doesn’t have the velocity of
those two guys, but coach strong calls him a
“crafty lefty”
“Aspen has been working on his mental
approach to the game. Last season he was our
number 1 relief pitcher, this season he will
slot in somewhere as our number two or num-
ber three pitcher. He does everything well
and makes minor adjustments on the fly. He
is also a calm and direct leader in the dugout.
It’s going to be a great pleasure coaching him
in his final season.”
Grihorash is working on throwing more
strikes and being eager to attack the strike zone.
“He developed a tremendous changeup last
season that’s going to be an out pitch this
season,” coach Strong said. “Brody is a very
smart player who looks to capitalize on react-
ing in the game to situations that he has men-
tally worked through.”
The team had five all-conference players a
year ago and a couple of guys who graduated
are on to college ball. There are some big
cleats to fill.
“Our young guys haven’t done anything
yet,” coach Strong said. “They ultimately
have the burden of learning our system, keep-
ing our traditions alive, and becoming good
men and great ballplayers. I am sure I will be
commenting on multiple underclassmen as
the season progresses. Certainly, as a team
that has to carry numerous underclassmen,
their learning curve and desire must meet our
expectations.”
The pitchers should get solid performance
behind the plate from second-year catcher Joe
Wise, but there will be newcomers across the
diamond especially in the outfield.Coach Strong said despite having some
inexperience, his guys are pushing to repeat
as conference champions while playing ball
“the right way” and representing BCCS in a
positive light.
The Eagle coach won’t let his guys take
anything for granted this spring. While the
Eagles mostly dominated their conference
competition they couldn’t carry it through the
entirety of the conference tournament.
He is exited to get to see his guys test
themselves this spring at NorthPointe Chris-
tian’s invitational at Cornerstone University
April 30.
In the game one 16-1 win Tuesday the
Eagles scored four runs in the first inning and
never looked back. They scored eight in the
third to end the game early.
Brandt Noe, a senior, was 2-for-3 with a
home run and five RBIs for the Eagles.
Another senior, James Staff, was 2-for-2 with
three RBI.
Neymeiyer got the start and struck out
three in his one inning of work. Lantzer
struck out five over the final two innings.
In game two, the Eagles started four fresh-
men. Nathan Loerep went 1-for-2 with a tri-
ple and Dustin Lampart 2-for-3 with a dou-
ble. Wise was 2-for-2 at the plate.
Noe struck out four in his two innings.
Neymeiyer and Wyatt Smit each pitched an
inning of relief.
“We struggled early, getting only four runs
over the first three innings, before catching on
and working Heritage Christian pitching for
walks and also hitting three doubles in a row
seemed to seal the momentum,” Strong said.
“Overall this was a good way to start the sea-
son. Lots of inexperience on the field on our
end. Lots of teaching is to happen this year. For
not having any practices outside we responded
well and forced Heritage Christian to commit
mental mistakes while limiting our own.”Barry County Christian
girls look for improved
record in 2022
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Barry County Christian School var-
sity girls’ soccer team is looking to finish
the season with a winning record this
spring after winning three matches a year
ago.
The Eagles half a solid defense returning
with junior sweeper Ana VanderHart back.
Freshman Baylie Guernsey will be a solid
performer at fullback. The Eagles are also
excited to bring back sophomore Kathryn
Koetje who could split time between for-
ward and halfback this spring.
Head coach Justin Schultz is back to
lead the Eagles. He has been the program’s
head for six seasons.While there are a number of new play-
ers on the varsity roster which will be a
challenge at times, coach Schultz said “all
of our new players this year are key addi-
tions as each one brings something valu-
able to the team.”
So far in the early spring he likes the
communication and teamwork from his
girls, and it is especially strong on the
offensive end of the field.
Coach Schultz said he expects Algoma
Christian, Heritage Christian Academy and
Creative Technologies Academy to all have
The Eagles are scheduled to host Fel-
lowship Baptist Thursday afternoon and
again on Tuesday against Calhoun Chris-
tian.Lakewood girls get pair of wins
over Maple Valley to open 2022
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
A “new” pitcher means different things in
different varsity softball programs.
At Lakewood, this spring its Cora Giffin a
varsity returnee who has thrown during sum-
mer ball while playing behind an all-state
performer until it was her turn to get into the
circle for the Vikings.
At Maple Valley, the pitching rotation is a
group of girls that started learning to pitch a
few days before spring break.
It showed on the scoreboard as the Lions
and Vikings opened the 2022 season with a
Greater Lansing Activities Conference double-
header at Lakewood High School Tuesday.
Lakewood took game one 18-0 and fol-
lowed up with a 20-0 win in game two.
“Even though she didn’t pitch for us last
season she was the main pitcher on her travelteam this past summer,” Lakewood head coach
Brent Hilley said in the preseason. “Audrey
Hillard moves from her 2021 starting spot in
left field to shortstop, so we are new there as
well. Liv Woodman will move from second
base to fill the spot at first vacated by Giffin.
So, we have three key spots with new players.”Chris Lantzer, Isaiah Birmingham and Aspen Neymeiyer are ready to go for the start
of the 2022 Barry County Christian School varsity baseball team. (Photo supplied)The Barry County Christian School varsity girls' soccer team returns keeper
Megan Bakerfor (front), Ana VanderHart, Mikaila Thompson, Kathryn Koetje and
others for the 2022 spring season. (Photo supplied)Lakewood sophomore Allison Slater rounds third and heads for home to
score a run during game two of her team's doubleheader sweep of visiting
Maple Valley Tuesday.
Emma Pierce pitches for Maple Valley during her
team's season-opening doubleheader at Lakewood
High School Tuesday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)See SOFTBALL, page 10