spring sports #1

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LudingtonDaily News

thursday, April 9, 2015

INSIDE:mason county

EASTERN, Pentwater and

manistee Catholic

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2 | Ludington daiLy newS/SPRing SPoRtS | tHuRSday, aPRiL 9, 2015www.ludingtondailynews.com

By DAVID BOSSICKdaiLy newS SPoRtS editoR

The Mason County Eastern softball team will attempt to reach a milestone when the MHSAA tournament rolls around in late May.

The Cardinals will be seek-ing their 30th, yes 30th, con-secutive district champion-ship in the sport. But Eastern coach Bill Cole would like to see the winning, and the ex-

pectation of winning, to spill over to other sports.

“I’d like to keep the streak going. We’ve talked a little bit about it. In my opinion, we used to be dominant in every sport,” Cole said. “Things kind of fell off a bit. They’re more accustomed to losing than winning. I’d like to get that winning tradition going again.”

Leading the way for the Cardinals will be returners

Emily Knizacky and Tammy Campbell. Knizacky, a se-nior, played mostly at third base while Campbell, a ju-nior, pitched.

Three others, all sopho-mores, also earned post-season honors: Megan Mc-Cormick, Dejna Babcock and Brooke Lee.

Much of Eastern’s infield returns as a result. McCor-mick played at second with Lee catching and Babcock at

shortstop. Zeressa Cregg re-turns at first base.

Eastern’s roster:

SeniorS: Hannah Smakal and Emily Knizacky.JuniorS: Tammy Campbell and

Ambriel Peters.SophomoreS: Dejna Babcock,

Megan McCormick, Zeressa Cregg and Brooke Lee.FreShmen: Brenna Vande-

Voorde, Chelsea Gage, McK-enna Lake, Frances Knizacky,

Erin Wittlieff, Harley Smakal and Taylor Dykman.

The Cardinals have seven new freshmen to the team and a handful have already impressed Cole.

“Taylor Dykman has a lot of potential. I think she’s go-ing to be a very good pitcher in the future,” Cole said. “It’s going to be a learning pro-cess. Another girl that is go-ing to play well is Erin Witt-

lieff.”Dykman and Campbell

will switch off between cen-ter field and pitcher. Last year, the outfield was essen-tially by committee, but it doesn’t appear that way for this year.

Although the Cardinals practiced indoors prior to the spring break week, Cole was encouraged by the team.

See SOftBAll, 4

Mason County Eastern softball

MCE seek WMD title, 30th district

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Eastern softball team are, from left, coach Bill Cole, McKenna Lake, Chelsea Gage, Ambriel Peters, Tammy Campbell, Brooke Lee, Hannah Smakal, Emily Knizacky, Megan McCormick, Harley Smakal, Zeressa Cregg, Taylor Dykman, Brenna VandeVoorde, Frances Knizacky and Erin Wittlieff.

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The numbers might be light for Mason County Eastern’s boys and girls track teams, but their com-bined abilities could show up big on the final weekend of the season.

The Cardinals return three ath-letes who competed at the state track meet last season, and coach Ben Knizacky figures there could be a few more red-and-gold-clad athletes this season.

The boys track team returns sev-eral athletes from last year’s team, including Hunter Hofmann. Hof-mann, a senior, finished third at the MHSAA Division 4 state meet at Baldwin Middle School in Hud-sonville last season.

“He sprained his ankle pretty heavy in basketball,” Knizacky said. “It’s his push-off leg. We don’t want to prolong that into the sea-son. He had a reoccurring ankle (injury) during basketball. He’ll be our sprinter, on our mile relay and the pole vault.”

Fellow senior Brent Swain also reached the state meet in the 110-meter high hurdles, but was unable to get out of the preliminar-ies.

Eastern’s boys roster:

SeniorS: Hunter Hofmann, Cody Smith and Brent Swain.SophomoreS: Preston Kelley and Abe

Shoup.

See trACK, 7

Mason County Eastern track

MCE has lots of potential for state

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Eastern track teams are, front row, from left, Cammie Shoup, Jordan Goodman, Lily Heitz, Megan McCormick, Saylor Weber and Kaitlyn Maciag; back row, coach Ben Knizacky, Hunter Hofmann, Cody Smith, Abe Shoup, Preston Kelley and assistant Scott Martin.

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Mason County Eastern’s golf team has what it needs to score as a team, but coach Tod Howell is always look-ing for a few more kids to play the game.

There are four players on the golf team this spring for Eastern.

The Cardinals’ trio of re-turning players includes Sar-ah Hartley, Sanford Narmore and Jonah Howell.

“They’re starting to rely on their knowledge of the game and the course and each in-dividual hole. I’m excited for them, watching them,” Tod Howell said. “Watch-ing Sanford, he’s chomp-ing at the bit to get back out there to play. He doubled up last year (with two sports), but he’s not playing base-ball this year. It’s fun to see that excitement in the game. It’s exciting to get out there and play. I’m hoping to see some big improvement. He soldiered last year. He didn’t like taking 10 on a hole.”

Narmore, like Jonah How-ell, is in his second season on the team.

“If (Jonah) can keep the ball in play, we can start

working on the shorter game… It’s the chipping and the putting that can make the difference,” Tod How-ell said. “If he doesn’t have a short game, that’ll be his struggle. We’re making sure to improve his short game this year.”

This will be Hartley’s third season and second in a row with Eastern’s golf team.

Eastern’s roster:

SeniorS: Sarah Hartley and Cody Smith.SophomoreS: Jonah Howell

and Sanford Narmore.

Cody Smith is an incoming player, and he’s playing two sports this spring: track and golf. The team also added another sophomore, Joseph Allen.

Howell was unable to name a true frontrunner for the Western Michigan D League championship.

“We’re going to have fun,” he said. “We’re going to go out and try to improve.”

Eastern starts its season on the course April 13 in a triangular competition at Manistee with McBain North-ern Michigan Christian. The first league competition is April 14 at Pentwater.

Mason County Eastern golf

Cards look for few more to play

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Eastern golf team are, from left, Sarah Hartley, Cody Smith, Sanford Narmore and coach Tod Howell. Not pictured is Jonah Howell.

frOm pAge 2

“We’re ahead of last year,” he said. “Last year, we start-ed seven new players to the varsity level. It takes a while for them to get up to varsi-ty-level speed. We took some lumps.”

Last season, Eastern’s grip on the Western Michigan D League was loosened as the

Cardinals slipped to third place behind Manistee Cath-olic and Onekama, respec-tively. But the Cardinals were right there in the league race until the dust settled.

And that race starts with the first doubleheader in league play.

“We play Onekama in the first (league) game. They’re probably one of the top

teams,” Cole said. “Catholic lost some of their top pitch-ers. Onekama has most of their team coming back... Our first game could be for the league title, but you nev-er know.

“We have the potential to win our league (and) win our district… We have the po-tential to be more than dis-trict winner.”

softball: Looks to reclaim WMD title

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Mason County Eastern’s girls soccer team was able to get enough players to keep their program alive for this season, and now the Cardi-nals will be aiming to do as well as they can ahead of the tournament.

A late push of interest yielded 15 girls on the roster and only four of those are in two sports, Eastern coach Dee McCumber said. That being said, there’s just four girls on the sideline at a time right now.

“I’ve got a solid 15. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I could use a few extras,” she

said.The Cardinals return their

top scorer from last season, junior Lauren McCumber, as well as junior Anna Bus-winka. Both were named to the Western Michigan D League’s first team hon-or roll. Buswinka comes to Eastern through the co-oper-ative agreement with Manist-ee Catholic.

Senior Elizabeth Bentley, a senior, also returns after a first team all-WMD cam-paign a year ago.

Other returning players in-clude seniors Ryan Oomen and Hannah Smakal; juniors Kaitlyn Maciag and Alysha Watkins; and sophomore Danielle VanHeck. Watkins

was named to the second team all-conference.

“They are looking good. They’re strong. I am very hopeful for what this season is going to do,” Dee McCum-ber said.

Eastern’s roster:

SeniorS: Tu Anh Vu, Ryann Oomen, Malin Sarnes, Lily Heitz, Hannah Smakal and Elizabeth Bentley. JuniorS: Kaitlyn Maciag, Lau-

ren McCumber, Anna Buswinka and Alysha Watkins.SophomoreS: Danielle

VanHeck, Shelby Carver and Carolina Aquino.FreShmen: Taylor Dykman and

Kimberly Jackomino.

Eastern lost several play-ers from last year’s team, from foreign exchange stu-dents who went back to their home countries to a handful of girls that decided to not play any longer.

There are a handful of new players, from a few foreign exchange students to incom-ing freshmen. In all, there are six new girls.

“Thye seem to be a pret-ty good goup of girls. We’ve got some young newcomers. I think we’re going to do all right,” McCumber said. “The team seems to be gelling to-gether very well.”

The number of schools in-side the Western Michigan D League to offer girls soc-

cer took a hit when Pentwa-ter announced earlier this spring that it would not have the sport. That leaves just Eastern, Big Rapids Cross-roads and Brethren to have teams.

“I hate to lose a team like Pentwater. That was a good group of girls. I’m hop-ing they are able to pull it back together for next year. For us, we’re searching ev-erywhere just to pick up games,” McCumber said. “The game that we played, against Fruitport Calvary Christian, that was a great group of girls. We might have to go a little farther out just to see who we can pick up.

“I’m hoping that our school will stay strong in the sport. Hopefully, the other schools will get some more girls and get their numbers up.”

Because so few schools in the conference offer the sport, there is not clear league champion. That leaves the post-season as the main focus for the girls soc-cer team.

“It’s hard to find schools our size. We end up playing the bigger schools,” McCum-ber said. “I want to keep the sport alive. Academically, and athletically, we’re com-ing in strong, but we’re just low in numbers.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the group of

Mason County Eastern girls soccer

MCE shooting for games far, wide

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Eastern girls soccer team are, front row, from left, Carolina Aquino, Tu Anh Vu, Ryann Ooman, Hannah Smakal, Elizabeth Bentley, Lily Heitz and Malin Sarnes, back row, coach Dee McCumber, Taylor Dykman, Kimberly Jackomino, Alysha Watkins, Kaitlyn Maciag, Anna Buswinka, Danielle VanHeck, Lauren McCumber, Shelby Carver and assistant Russell Bentley.

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Mason County Eastern’s baseball team will be rely-ing a good defense to pursue this spring’s Western Michi-gan D League championship, and, perhaps, a little more.

The Cardinals have a handful of returning players from last year, and a bulk of them are underclassmen.

Eastern returns just a pair of seniors from last year’s team, but two key pieces. Travis McCormick was the catcher while Jonathan Stew-art also returns. McCormick was named to the first team from the Western Michigan D League last year and Stew-art was an honorable men-tion. McCormick caught last season and Stewart played at shortstop.

Eastern also returns sev-eral juniors and sopho-mores from last year’s team. Ben Cossette, who played at third, is back. Joey Mickev-ich and Mason Saya are oth-er returning players. All are sophomores.

“We return the two se-niors, Travis and Jonathan, and all five of the freshmen who are back this year. They look pretty good for sopho-mores. That’s definitely the strength and the majority of our team,” Eastern coach Dan Hansen.

Eastern has been outside very little in the run up to this season’s opener.

“We went into the park-ing lot last Tuesday, and the soccer field on Thursday in the rain. We’re hoping to get into our outfield. Our in-field is nowhere near ready,” Hansen said. “I don’t believe the frost is out of the infield. We’re scheduled to play on Friday, but I wouldn’t hold much hope.

“As far as indoor practic-es, we’re way past needing to

go outside.”Eastern’s roster:

SeniorS: Jonathan Stewart, Travis McCormick and Ethan Peppers.JuniorS: Josh Pomorski,

Gregory Bender, Conor Porter and Juan Hernandez.SophomoreS: Joey Mickev-

ich, Mason Saya, Abe Shoup,

Evan Dennis, Ben Cossette and Fischer Spencer.FreShmen: Kyle Lee and

Lorenz Gilchrist.

Eastern did take a signifi-cant hit to its pitching. Gone are players like Justice Gil-christ, who gave significant innings on the mound for the Cardinals. Anchor first

baseman Jimmy Appledorn also graduated as did Mi-chael Matzen. The pitching will remain in McCormick’s hands somewhat while Cos-sette and Stewart will throw some, too.

“We’re looking again for Travis to pitch, and he may move into the No. 1 role, at least initially. Our No. 2

(pitcher) is looking to be be-tween Ben Cossette and Jon-athan Stewart. Joey Mickev-ich is throwing well in the gym. We’re pretty confident and comfortable with our pitching… I’m thinking we should have six guys consis-tently throw the ball over the plate.”

Incoming freshmen Kyle

Lee and Lorenz Gilchrist very well could figure into the pitching equation, giving six players for Eastern to look to-ward to have on the mound.

The outfield competition is sized up between Abe Shoup and Mason Saya with Lee and Gilchrist right there.

See BASeBAll, 11

Mason County Eastern baseball

solid defense to aid MCE’s fortunes

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Eastern baseball team are, sitting, from left, Evan Dennis, Joey Mickevich, Josh Pomorski, Conor Porter; kneeling, Kyle Lee, Juan Hernandez, Fischer Spencer, Ethan Peppers and Mason Saya; standing, coach Dan Hansen, Ben Cossette, Abe Shoup, Travis McCormick, Greg Bender, Jonathan Stewart and Lorenz Gilchrist.

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BASeBAllFri., April 10, Ludington, 4 p.m.Mon., April 13, Walkerville, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, Onekama, 4 p.m.Thurs., April 23, at Big Rapids Crossroads, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Brethren, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs Invitational, 9 a.m.Thur., May 7, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, Buckley, 4:30 p.m.Mon., May 11, Pentwater, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, at Baldwin, 4:30 p.m.Mon., May 18, White Cloud, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 26, at Mason County Central, 4 p.m.

SOftBAllFri., April 10, Ludington, 4 p.m.Mon., April 13, Walkerville, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Frankfort Invite, 10 a.m.Mon., April 20, Onekama, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Big Rapids Crossroads, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, at Manistee Catholic, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Brethren, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs Invite, 9 a.m.Thur., May 7, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, Buckley, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, at Baldwin, 4:30 p.m.Sat., May 16, at North Muskegon InviteMon., May 18, White Cloud, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 26, at Mason County Central

trACK AnD fIelDFri., April 10, MCE at Onekama Invitational, 4 p.m.Wed., April 15, at WMD jamboree at Onekama, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, MCE Relays, 4 p.m.Wed., April 22, at WMD jamboree at Brethren, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Marion InvitationalSat., April 25, at Frankfort InvitationalWed., April 29, WMD jamboree, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Brethren InvitationalWed., May 6, at WMD jamboree at BrethrenFri., May 8, at Manton InvitationalWed., May 20, Western Michigan Meijer All-Star Meet

gOlfMon., April 13, with McBain Northern Michigan Christian at

Manistee, 4 p.m.Tue., April 14, at WMD jamboree at Pentwater, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, WMD jamboree, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, at WMD jamboree at Onekama, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, at WMD jamboree at Manistee Catholic, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at WMD scramble at Onekama, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at WMD tournament at Brethren, 11 a.m.Fri., May 15, quad at Pentwater, 4:15 p.m.

Mason County Eastern schedules

Pentwater schedules

Manistee Catholic schedules

trACK AnD fIelDFri., April 10, at Frostbite Invitational, Onekama, 2 p.m.Wed., April 15, at WMD jamboree, Onekama, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, at MCE Relays, 3:45 p.m.Wed., April 22, at WMD jamboree, Brethren, 4 p.m.Wed., April 29, at WMD jamboree, Mason County Eastern, 4

p.m.Wed., May 6, at WMD conference meet, at Brethren, 4 p.m.

BASeBAllMon., April 13, at Brethren, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, at McBain Northern Michigan Christian, 4

p.m.Mon., April 20, at Baldwin, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, Big Rapids Crossroads, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Walkerville, 4 p.m.Mon., May 11, at Mason County Eastern, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 19, Manistee, 4:30 p.m.

gOlfTue., April 14, WMD jamboree, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, quad with Hart, Fruitport Calvary Christian,

McBain Northern Michigan Christian, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, at WMD jamboree, Mason County Eastern, 4

p.m.Tue., April 28, at WMD jamboree, Onekama, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Hart, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, at WMD jamboree, Manistee Catholic, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at WMD scramble, Onekama, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at WMD tournament, Bear Lake, 11 a.m.Fri., May 15, quad with McBain Northern Michigan Christian,

Mason County Eastern, Onekama, 4 p.m.Mon., May 18, at Mona Shores tournament, 9 a.m.

SOftBAllTue., April 9, at Hart, 4 p.m.Mon., April 13, at Onekama, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, Traverse City Christian, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, at Walkerville, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, Mason County Eastern, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, Baldwin, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Traverse City Christian, 4:30 p.m.Mon., May 11, at Big Rapids Crossroads, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, Brethren, 4:30 p.m.Sat., May 16, at Traverse City Christian tourney, 10 a.m.Mon., May 18, at Mesick, 4:30 p.m.Wed., May 20, Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 21, at Buckley, 4:30 p.m.

trACK AnD fIelDFri., April 10, at Frostbite Invitational, Onekama, 2 p.m.Wed., April 15, at WMD jamboree, OnekamaFri., April 17, at MCE Relays, Mason County Eastern, 4 p.m.Wed., April 22, at WMD jamboree, BrethrenWed., April 29, at WMD jamboree, Mason County EasternWed., May 6, at WMD conference meet, Brethren

gOlfTue., April 14, at WMD jamboree, Pentwater, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, at WMD jamboree, Mason County Eastern, 4

p.m.Tue., April 28, at WMD jamboree, Onekama, 4 p.m.Tue., May, 5, WMD jamboree, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, WMD scramble, Onekama, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, WMD tournament, Onekama, 11 a.m.

frOm pAge 3

The boys team also adds back Abe Shoup and Preston Kelley. Both should do well in the middle distance and distance events for the Car-dinals.

The girls’ team returns standout Jordan Goodman after a great freshman sea-son. She qualified for the state meet in the long jump, 100, 200 and 400. It was in the 100-meter dash where she carried through to a state championship.

The girls retain Kaitlyn Maciag, who will also play soccer this spring. Maciag

figures to be a good middle distance runner.

Senior: Lily Heitz.Junior: Lauren McCumber.SophomoreS: Jordan Good-

man, Kaitlyn Maciag and Megan McCormick.FreShmen: Cammie Shoup

and Saylor Weber.

The team also adds Cami Shoup and Megan McCor-mick to the roster for this spring. Shoup is an incom-ing freshman who ran cross country in the fall while McCormick appears clear of some injuries she went through in the past few

years.“She went through a lot of

physical therapy,” Knizacky said of McCormick. “She had an issue with a hip. She’s worked through that. She was an extremely good run-ner in eighth grade.”

The boys’ team lost Jimmy Appledorn, who qualified for the state track meet in shot put, to graduation. The boys team adds Cody Smith to the team.

The cooperative agree-ment between Onekama and Bear Lake likely yield an-other Western Michigan D League title based on num-bers alone. Eastern has just

a handful of athletes.So the real successes will

come with the regional meet and potentially the state meet.

“It’s possible that the two-mile relay could go. Jordan will go. Cam is quite capa-ble of going,” Knizacky said. “Megan is quite capable of going.

“On the boys side, they’re all capable of going. We have the potential of sending 80 percent of the team.

“We scored more points than Onekama (at state) than last year.”

traCk: Several Cardinals could head to state meet

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By greg gIelCZKdaiLy newS SPoRtS wRiteR

MANISTEE — Although it was a tough decision not to field a baseball team this season, it was a boost for the Manistee Catholic Cen-tral track program as several boys who would have been playing baseball this spring came out for the track team instead.

It was an unexpected gain for the second-year Sabers track program, which is still battling with numbers but is seeing a steady increase in interest.

“You never like to see a sport have to call a season off because the interest isn’t there, but we’re also pleased that the boys who were interested came over and asked if they could par-ticipate in track,” Sabers track coach Kevin Skipski said.

“Being a young program like we are, it’s always good to see more kids coming out. What we’re really happy about this year is that we’re fielding a junior high pro-gram, and with those young-sters gaining experience this spring, it bodes well for the future.”

Skipski said the Sabers are strongest this year in the 400-meter relay event, on both the girls and boys side, and have seen quite a bit of improvement in the throws.

In fact, he’s been very im-pressed with the shot put athletes and expects the Sa-bers not only to compete for high places, but perhaps even have a couple qualify for state.

“Blake Vargas is our fast-est runner,” Skipski said. “He’s an athlete, being a football and basketball play-er. That’s a big plus for him.

He’s always in shape, and is constantly working out. You need to be able to run in football and basketball, so that is a bonus for him in track.

“We’re looking for him to do big things this year. I think he feels the urgency

to make his mark in the re-gional, and reach the state finals. I know he’d like to finish his career with an ap-pearance in the state finals, as everyone does. He’s go-ing to be a big part of our relays.”

Another basketball player,

Nathan Fortier will also be counted on to provide depth in the relays, while Michael Deising has shown promise in the throws.

On the girls side, Shelby Papes, Meghan Miller, Jenny Pieczynski and Jodi Janowi-ak are all returning competi-

tors who are expected to be greatly improved over last year.

“Really, it’s a case of ev-eryone finding their roles on the team,” Skipski said. “We have a lot of younger competitors who will be getting their feet wet this

year. But many of them are stepping up and showing that they want to contrib-ute. My hat is off to them. The one big thing is they are all athletes.”

Manistee Catholic track

sabers get boost in athletes

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of the Manistee Catholic team are, front row, from left, Samantha Wilkosz, Shelby Papes, Meghan Miller, Jenny Pieczynski, Jodi Janowiak and Elizabeth Nelson; back row, coach Heather Skipski, Michael Deising, Brayden Perkins, Josephy Buswinka, Blake Vargas, Nathan Fortier, Nicholas Hansen, Mason Calleson and coach Kevin Skipski.

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By greg gIelCZyKdaiLy newS SPoRtS wRiteR

MANISTEE — Needing a coach midway through last spring, the Manistee Catho-lic Central girls softball team turned to a familiar face in Karen Wrzesinski-Goodman, who had agreed to accept the job for the third time.

Despite taking over the team in mid-stream, Wrzes-inski-Goodman successfully guided the Sabers to a Divi-sion 4 district championship and narrowly missed push-ing them into the regional fi-nals in Frankfort.

The Sabers flexed their long ball power in taking an 11-5 lead on Glen Lake in the semifinals, but the Lakers rallied for a 12-11 heartbreaking victory that brought their magical sea-son to an end premature-ly. Glen Lake lost to Central Lake, 4-0, in the regional championship game.

“I was just getting to know them,” Wrzesinkski-Good-man said. “They were just a joy to be around. They never questioned anything I asked them to do, and I had them doing new and different things.

“We were throwing every-thing at them kind of fast, but they soaked it all up and tried to execute what we were teaching them on the field. That’s all a coach can ask. Like any season, it had its ups and downs. But the girls pushed through it all. I was really proud of them.”

The goal, again, is to make it back to the regional tour-

nament and see if they can’t bring home another trophy.

But there’s only one prob-lem.

Most of the players from last year’s team are gone, leaving Wrzesinski-Good-man with a major rebuild-ing project as she tries to chisel the Sabers into a finely tuned machine that will be at its peak for the districts ... and hopefully beyond.

It’s all going to start with the basics, she said.

“We have an eighth grad-er and a few freshmen that have never played before,” Wrzesinski-Goodman said. “We’re building on our strengths from last year. We lost a lot of seniors, I think there were five of them, and they carried a lot of power for a lot of years.

“So, taking those under-classmen and the talent they had from last year, kind of building on that and making them the leaders. Then we have to work on our younger kids, and we’re going to do the best we can do with that.”

The Sabers do have some returning talent, includ-ing Jodi Janowiak as well as pitcher Shelby Papes who probably will be the team’s No. 1 chucker to replace the graduated Amber Robke.

See SABerS, 10

Manistee Catholic softball

sabers start rebuilding program

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of Manistee Catholic’s girls softball team are, front row, from left, Elizabeth Slivka, Celia Star Chief, Elizabeth Nelson, Sylvia Neph and Sarah Bialik; back row, Shelby Papes, Paige Picardat, Jodi Janowiak, Megan Sorenson and Molly McLinden. Not pictured: Jenna Kempf.

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By the DAIly newS

Pentwater having to cancel its girls soccer team due to a lack of athletes may work to the benefit of its track team, as there’s been a significant spillover in personnel. The Falcons will boast 21 mem-bers of its track team this year.

One immediate effect the added numbers will have is in the Pentwater record book, where there is no 3,200-meter school record. Coach Erika Fatura said the team will be able to put a team out in that event this season, so by default they will set a record.

The Falcons lost key scor-ers Blake Johnson and Jer-emiah McClellan to gradua-tion from last season’s team, but welcome back its other top performers.

Jared Visger and Michael Naughton, seniors and long-time track athletes, will be counted on to lead the young Falcons, and the team has set lofty goals.

“A few of our athletes are (talking) about making all-conference, breaking a

school record or qualifying for the state meet,” Falcons’ coach Erika Fatura said. She is coaching the team along with Jill Soper once again this season.

Dayton Gibson was Pent-water’s leading scorer a year ago and finished sev-enth in the regionals in the 400-meter dash. He hopes to improve on that mark this

year as well as race well in the sprints. Dylan Rafter is Pentwater’s lone returning thrower and will be counted on for points.

On the girls’ side, Sophia

Nyberg is the only returning Falcon, and she performed well in distance running events as well as in the long jump. She will look to im-prove her performance and

lead the influx of Falcons’ track athletes.

“It will be an exciting sea-son for Pentwater tracksters new and old,” Fatura said.

Pentwater track

falcon track teams gain numbers

DAVID BOSSICK | daiLy newSMembers of the Pentwater track teams are, front row, from left, Job Self, Jake Quinn, Mike Naughton, Dayton Gibson, Dylan Raftes, Isaiah Aspy, Jared Visger, Jacob Emick and Damon Martz; back row, coach Erika Fatura, Desirae Coronado, Chyanne Smith, Brianna Adams, Grace Alvesteffer, Christina Cormany, Jacyln Vareld, Sophia Nyberg, Melony Smith, Flo Petersen and coach Jill Soper.

frOm pAge 9

Janowiak has also piqued Wrzesinski -Goodman’s interest as someone she might use in the pitcher’s circle.

“She’s got a nice stride, and a nice release,” Wrzes-inski-Goodman said. “We also have Molly McLinden, one of our younger pitchers, and she’s got great strength. She’s working on her place-

ment, but she has a nice pitch.

“We also have some of the younger people, too, like Jenna Kempf. She’s a lefty and she wants to pitch. Girls like her from last year who didn’t get a lot of playing time but were on the team, over the summer they really came up and asked ‘Coach, what can I do?’ Elizabeth Slivka is another example of kids working hard over the

summer. I think I have four pitchers that I can rotate this year.”

Wrzes inski -Goodman hopes that by the end of the season all of the Sabers will have settled into their posi-tions in the field, as well as their roles on the team. The biggest goal is for the Sabers to gel as a team.

Communication, verbal and otherwise, will be im-portant since the Sabers are

such a young team and ev-eryone is new to playing to-gether.

Because the team is so young and inexperienced, Wrzesinski-Goodman is ex-cited about the future.

“I’m looking for this team to be a powerhouse if they stay together,” Wrzesinski said. “We have a few more good years. Shortstop I’m having a hard time filling. Hannah Janicki, who was my

shortstop, has been around helping out.

“It’s got to be some-body with fast feet, and we haven’t had the ability to be outside on the field to see that much. (Facing) live pitching is going to be huge, but I feel pretty confi-dent with this group.

“Usually, I’m really scram-bling with kids on hitting techniques. But, I don’t feel stressed out with that at all.

We’ve been in batting cages for weeks now, and they’ve got bunts and slaps down. They practiced all summer long. I think they have the solid basics.”

Last year’s success has stoked the Sabers’ competi-tive fire, and even the young players want to have that feeling.

sabErs: Softball team rebuilding after graduation takes toll on program from last season

11


Pentwater baseball

Pentwater very young this yearBy the DAIly newS

Pentwater will have one of its youngest baseball teams on record this sea-son, so coach Rick Magrath is hoping he can build a Fal-cons’ contender for years to come out of the players he’s been given.

“Over the past two years we have graduated all starters except Nick Ans-combe,” Magrath said. “We are really starting from scratch to fill posi-tions, which is so difficult because our field still has snow on the infield.”

The Falcons graduated several key starters from last season’s team, in-cluding Alex Wagner, Joey Thrailkill, Nathan Nowsch, Chance Helms, Jordyn Stutzman and Derek Mal-burg. Pentwater also loses senior Sam Wagner, who elected to focus on golf this spring.

That leaves Anscombe as the Falcons’ top play-er. He’ll be counted on to be the team’s No. 1 pitch-er and batter, and will play shortstop when not on the mound. Sophomores Jacob Whitford, Damon Martz and Ryan Hasty will also be counted on to play leader-ship roles, although Martz is dealing with a broken an-kle. Whitford will likely see some mound time and will also play catcher. Junior Emily Gebhart also joins the team this year.

Other than the afore-mentioned players, Magrath has a team of freshmen and eighth-grad-ers. Freshman Billy Sproul played second base last year as an eighth-grader and will slot into a mid-dle infield spot again this year. Classmates Owen Knudsen and Ian Stewart

appear ticketed for out-field spots, but Knudsen will also pitch and Stewart will also catch. Pentwater also brings in three eighth-graders whom Magrath ex-pects to contribute imme-diately: Glenn Miller, Jacob Veine and Max Stoneman. Austin Hoffman, once he shakes off a hand injury, will also be a factor.

Since the team is so young and lacking in pow-er threats, Magrath said he will look to play small ball to make things happen of-fensively.

Outside of Anscombe, the

pitching staff will be a con-stant work in progress.

The youth movement may frustrate at times this year, but Magrath said he’s excited about building this team over the coming sea-sons.

“This team will be around for a while, so I think we are a team of the future. We have some fine young athletes who are baseball players, and that is exciting. Nick is a great leader, and I think he will have a tremen-dous influence on these young players.”

DAVID BOSSICK | daiLy newSMembers of the Pentwater baseball team are, front row, from left, Julien Nyberg, Daniel Adkins, William Sproul, Emily Gebhart and Glenn Miller; back row, Damon Martz, Max Stoneman, Nick Anscombe, Owen Knudsen, Ryan Hasty, Ian Stewart, Jacob Whitford and assistant coach Jack Stinebaugh.

frOm pAge 6

“I think our team speed will be better,” Hansen said.

Stewart and Joey Mickev-ich will make up the short-stop-second base combo, re-spectively. Fischer Spencer will take over for Appledorn at first base. Conor Porter likely will settle in at third base.

The Western Michigan

D League title could come down to four schools, with Eastern in the mix, Hansen said.

“I think the league could be pretty interesting. You’ve got look north to Onekama and Brethren. I was really impressed with Crossroads, hitting-wise. They’ve scored a lot of runs,” Hansen said.

The league is missing what’s traditionally been a

pretty good Manistee Catho-lic team as the Sabers were unable to put a team togeth-er because of a lack of play-ers. Pentwater is young, too. Baldwin is a bit of a question mark, also.

The district this season is very much different this year. Although Eastern hosts it, Brethren, Onekama and Pentwater come calling in late May.

basEball: Cardinals to be in title hunt

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PENTWATER — Alicia Ko-lenda knows a thing or two about golf.

Actually, a lot more than one or two things.

She’s the new golf coach for Pentwater’s program, which has nine members and is coming off of a state tournament appearance last season. There are two golf-ers back from last year’s team — Sam Wagner and Linnea McDonough.

Wagner was the state run-ner-up in Division 4 last sea-son as the Falcons participat-ed in the state tournament.

“He has played his entire life. I remember when he was probably 3 years old, in the

middle of March … and his dad would come out and use the pull cart and he would grab hold of the bag on the pull cart and his dad would lug him around. He started young. It really shows,” Ko-lenda said.

McDonough improved steadily and was one of the top five players for the Fal-cons.

“Linnea is a phenomenal role model for those who haven’t played their whole life,” Kolenda said. “She only took it up two years ago when I made her, because her little brother I’ve worked with. I said, ‘Come on Linnea, try to outdrive your brother.’ I put a tee down and a ball down and said go knock it out of the park. And she did and it was

the coolest thing ever.“It shows that you don’t

have to have your lifetime of experience to still compete at this game. You can pick it up at any time of your life and it is really time, dedica-tion and motivation.”

Kolenda brings a wealth of experience and has been a pioneer in the game at col-lege. She and her husband own Golden Sands Golf Course near Silver Lake. As a youth, she grew up around the game, eventually played on Grand Haven’s team and went on to Western Michigan University. She helped to get an active golf club started that eventually became the varsity women’s golf team.

“I was shocked they didn’t have a golf team there,” she

said. “So, I started a golf club. The first year, it had 65 peo-ple play into it. I went into recreation management and I kept pushing until they had a golf team. I was able to, my senior year, be able to play, but my dad sat me down and said, ‘You turned down a golf scholarship a long time ago. Let’s look at a different ave-nue of the sport.’”

Thus began Kolenda’s ca-reer running Golden Sands.

“I’ve started as a golf in-structor since I was 21. I developed a junior golf program and that’s a com-munity-wide golf program for ages 8 to 14. It teaches them how to play the sport of golf. You show in high school, and you get to the tee box, you have to know

the sport of golf, which is completely different than playing with grandpa.”

And the course has hosted youth clinics. Needless to say, the coaching aspect is there.

The Falcons also picked up an experienced golfer in Ian Rutledge, who transferred from Mason County Eastern this year. He joined in with his Pentwater teammates this winter on the basketball floor.

Pentwater has a handful of new golfers out this spring.

“I’m making them have competition to fight for their place,” she said. “They’re all within five strokes at this point. Their learning curve, it’s really cool to see even the eighth graders that are dedi-cated. Practice is done at 5:30, but they don’t leave until 7.”

Madi Wagner, Sam’s younger sister, could be a breakout player. Taylor Wilkinson is a strong athlete, and Kolenda is happy to see the trio of girls playing.

Kolenda isn’t too con-cerned about where the team will finish, to a point. Rather than focus on the wins and losses, the victo-ries will come when the play-ers focus on their play.

“I give them daily challeng-es and make our daily chal-lenges. You can win in two different ways. You can win if you played good or you can win if you’re opponent played bad. I’d rather they win when they play great,” she said. “If they lose, but they played the best they ever have, I’m OK with it.”

Pentwater golf

kolenda takes charge of falcons

DAVID BOSSICK | daiLy newSMembers of the Pentwater golf team are, from left, Ian Rutledge, Dominic McKinney, Travis Franklin, Sam Wagner, Nate Combs, Linnea McDonough, Ryker Luttrell, Madi Wagner, Taylor Wilkinson and coach Alicia Kolenda.

spring sports #1

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