FHE Completes Season-Long 'Response' with Title-Clinching 41st-Straight Win
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – The Ada Forest Hills Eastern baseball team didn’t panic when it fell behind by two runs in Saturday’s Division 2 Final.
The Hawks simply did what they’ve done all season – they responded.
FHE overcame the early deficit and emerged with a 5-2 win over Standish-Sterling at McLane Stadium.
“Respond has been our word this year, and we’ve lived by that,” said Hawks senior Max Ferrick, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
“Any time we get down, we’re like, ‘All right, it's time to respond, it’s time to get back and do our thing.’ We know we’re better, we just have to do it.”
The top-ranked Hawks (42-1) captured their second Final over the last four years after also winning in 2022.
They also ended this season on an incredible 41-game winning streak.
“They’ve been together for a long time, and it’s a great group,” FHE coach Ian Hearn said. “We have very dedicated players that are super passionate about the game, and they can’t get enough of it. It was fantastic to win a state title with this group and all the time and effort they’ve put in.”
Second-ranked Standish-Sterling, playing in its first Final, tallied a pair of runs in the first inning to snag a 2-0 lead.
However, the Hawks countered with five unanswered runs the remainder of the game.
“The word ‘respond’ is a big word for us,” Hearn said. “Each year we have a building block and this year it was ‘respond’ for our program, and that will continue. They embraced it right away and believed in it and went all in on it. They have so much fight, and they constantly respond.”
FHE scored once in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single from James Dempsey and three times in the third inning to grab its first lead.
Ferrick roped a shot to the gap for a double that tied it 2-2. Then a throwing error by the Panthers allowed two more runs to score to put the Hawks ahead 4-2.
Ferrick added a two-out double in the fourth inning.
“It’s kind of full circle for me,” said Ferrick, who played on the 2022 team as a freshman. “But this year my brother is on the team and some of my best friends that I’ve played with my whole life. I felt like I had to do it today for my family because this team is like a family, and it really felt great today.”
FHE junior Colton Brinks was brilliant in relief of starter Landen Lindley.
Brinks allowed only two hits in 4 ⅔ innings pitched and struck out the final three batters in the top of the seventh after walking the lead-off hitter.
“I was a little nervous there with everyone on their feet and excited, but I trusted I could throw my pitches and (in) the defense behind me,” Brinks said. “I’ve been playing with them since I was little, and I guess the adrenaline kicked in and I locked in and got the last three strikeouts.
“I was in eighth grade the last time they won, and I came to that game. I’ve always dreamed of being able to do it one day, and actually being able to accomplish it is an amazing feeling.”
Panthers coach Ryan Raymond was thrilled with the game’s start, but his team was unable to manufacture quality chances the rest of the way.
“That was the only rally we really got going early, and it seemed like all our other rallies started after two outs,” Raymond said. “We were excited, ready to play and I thought our effort was excellent today. I couldn’t be more proud, and these kids battled and they fought for themselves while making school history.”
Sterling-Standish managed only five hits and left nine runners on base.
PHOTOS (Top) Colton Brinks (15) makes his move toward the plate during Forest Hills Eastern’s championship-clinching win Saturday. (Middle) FHE’s Max Ferrick (2) waits on a Standish-Sterling pitch.
Senior-Powered Spring Lake Answering Anticipation, Pursuing High Expectations
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
April 29, 2026
SPRING LAKE – The time is now for the Spring Lake baseball team.
With the return of 11 veteran seniors, the Lakers entered this spring with lofty expectations and an eye on an extended postseason run.
Anticipation has come to fruition in the form of a state ranking and a nearly perfect start.
“Our motto is we are going to worry about next year next year, and we are going to do all we can this year,” Lakers fourth-year coach Bill Core said. “We knew we were going to have a big experienced group coming back, and that's just how the roster folded out. We have a lot of experience, a lot of returners and pretty high expectations.”
Spring Lake, which finished as Division 2 runner-up in 2024 and won a conference title last year for the first time since 2014, is off to an impressive 13-1 start (9-0 in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black) and has climbed to No. 7 in the latest coaches poll.
Core said the vast number of returners, which includes five players who will play in college next year, has paid early dividends.
“I think that’s been a big difference,” he said. “We’ve played some younger teams that were breaking in sophomores or juniors or new kids, and our guys were ready to go right from the start. It’s been an advantage early on.”
Senior starting pitchers Oliver Smies and Maddux Kipling believe the strong bond among the senior class has been a major factor in the torrid start.
“I think something that’s really important about this team is our team chemistry and the amount of seniors we have on the team,” Smies said. “That alone allows us to have a ton of experience, and I think that's a big reason why we are off to such a hot start. We have been playing good team baseball and complementary baseball with good defense and good offense.”
Added Kipling: “We genuinely like being around each other, and every day we show up ready to get a little better. Our team has a real gritty and energetic identity, and I think that shows in how we compete and support each other.”
Kipling and Smies have been dominant on the mound this season. They haven’t allowed an earned run while combining for 80 strikeouts. Kipling earned a second-team all-state accolade as a junior and is headed to Michigan State next year. Smies will play at Calvin University.
“It starts with our pitching,” Core said. “Any time you are going to make a run, it starts with your pitching and we are pretty lucky, especially with our top two.”
Offensively, the Lakers possess a balanced lineup and boast a .330 batting average.
Senior Owen Smies, who will join his twin brother at Calvin, is hitting a team-best .432 with 13 RBIs. Seniors Alex Strauss (Adrian College) and Max Feltner (Muskegon Community College) are both batting .333 and have combined to score 25 runs.
As a team, Spring Lake has produced eight shutouts and nine wins by run differential.
“We got off to a good start, but we are going to play a lot better competition,” Core said. “This is a good week for us because we play Northview and state-ranked East Grand Rapids. We just picked them up, so we were excited to fill in the week with those two schools.”
Spring Lake is 62-6 over its last 68 games and trying to remain focused on each game as it attempts to erase the disappointment of last year’s early exit from the postseason.
Despite winning 30 games, the Lakers suffered a 3-2 loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic in District play.
“I think there is some motivation there from that loss,” Oliver Smies said. “And I think that loss last year taught us that any team can beat any team, so you have to play your best baseball every single game no matter the opponent.”
Core said last year hasn’t been discussed, but believes it still sits in the back of his players’ minds.
“I think they think about that, but we've had quite a few mercies to start the season, and I said to them that when we get to the tournament it's going to be a one-run game and we are going to have to do the little things to make a difference because we are not going to win 14-0 all the time,” he explained. “We try to keep everyone in the moment.”
Kipling isn’t dwelling on the past – or looking too far ahead.
“As a group we’ve done a great job staying focused on the present and not getting caught up in the past or worrying too much about the future,” Kipling said. “My dad has always told me to focus on what you can control because putting energy into things you can’t control is a waste.
"That mindset has stuck with me, especially on the field. I try to live by ‘one pitch at a time,’ and because of that I haven’t really spent time thinking about last year’s loss. That’s behind us, and we’re just focused on what we can do right now.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Spring Lake baseball coach Bill Core tosses Maddux Kipling his home run ball after a win over Fruitport. (Middle) Kipling pitching at Spring Lake's Hickman Field. (Below) Senior Oliver Smies connects with a pitch. (Photos by Trevor McCue/Grand Haven Tribune.)