Lumen Christi Rallies Late, Watervliet Quickly Comes Back in McLane Openers
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2024
EAST LANSING — Jackson Lumen Christi head coach Phil Clifford said halfway through this season his team adopted a mantra of “Find a way.”
But even this seemed a little extreme.
Lumen Christi was down to its last strike in Thursday’s opening Division 3 Semifinal against Charlevoix, and trailed by two runs.
Over the next handful of minutes, however, Lumen Christi indeed found a way, rallying to earn a 3-2 victory and a trip to Saturday’s championship game where the Titans will attempt to win their first title since 2015.
The home team, Lumen Christi saw No. 8 hitter Timmy Crowley (hit by pitch) and No. 9 hitter Jack Fitzpatrick (single) get on base to start the seventh inning.
Charlevoix starter Bryce Johnson retired the next two batters, but then Lumen Christi junior Brodie Gregory hit a ground ball on a two-strike count that took a hop past the shortstop near second base to score Crowley and make it 2-1.
Lumen Christi then tied the game at 2-2 when junior Kash Kalahar hit a grounder that eluded the third baseman and scored Fitzpatrick.
That brought up freshman Benny Gaston, who hit a grounder in the hole between first and second base to score Gregory and give Lumen Christi what had seemed only moments before an improbable win.
“We’ve had a lot of close games throughout the Catholic League and the state tournament, and they just seem to find a way,” Clifford said. “They never give up, and they always believe they can do it.”
Gaston ended up with the lone RBI of the day for Lumen Christi (30-10).
“I went to bed last night going through every situation in my head,” Gaston said. “Just trying to find a way for my team. Just do anything for my team to win.”
It was the cruelest of defeats for Charlevoix (27-11-1), which was that close to making its first trip to a championship game. Johnson ended up allowing just five hits and no earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.
“That’s part of the game,” Rayders coach Steve Spegl said. “There’s got to be a winner, and there’s got to be a loser. We fought hard for 6 2/3 innings and just had a couple slip through. One of our sayings is that ‘we never lose, but we learn.’ We learned a lot today.”
Charlevoix took a 1-0 lead during the second inning on an RBI double by junior Hunter Lemerand, and then went up 2-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by Johnson.
Charlevoix had the bases loaded with no outs, but Lumen Christi starter Gabe King pitched out of jam without surrendering more runs.
Lumen Christi had runners on first and third with one out in the fourth, but the inning ended on a lineout to third that turned into a double play.
The Titans put the leadoff man on the fifth, but that inning ended on another double play, this time on a flyout to right when the runner took off and couldn’t get back to first in time after the ball was caught.
In the sixth inning, Lumen Christi put their first two batters on base, but a 5-3 double play and a strikeout by Johnson once again got Charlevoix back to the dugout with no damage done.
But those halted rallies ended up not mattering, as Lumen Christi lived up to its mantra and found a way in the seventh.
Watervliet 7, Detroit Edison 2
Watervliet senior pitcher Wyatt Epple probably felt like he was on the ropes in Thursday’s second Division 3 Semifinal. In the bottom of the first inning, Edison took a 1-0 lead on three straight singles – senior Jordan Jones driving in the run – and had two runners on base with nobody out.
“They pounded the ball that first inning,” Epple said. “I didn’t know what the rest was going to look like.”
As it turned out, the rest of the game turned out to be a remarkable recovery.
After pitching out of that first inning jam allowing no further runs, Epple was in control the rest of the way for Watervliet in a 7-2 victory.
Epple allowed no runs and just two hits for 5 2/3 innings after the first before allowing back-to-back singles with two outs in the seventh inning.
By then, the game was all but decided.
“Trusting my fastball I think was the biggest thing,” Epple said. “In the first inning, they were hitting the off-speed pretty well. I trusted the fastball a little more in the next inning and the innings after. It worked.”
Edison head coach Mark Brown lamented the lost opportunity in the first inning.
“I thought in the first inning, we had a really good opportunity to get ahead in the game and put some pressure on them,” he said. “We let them off the hook. As the game progressed, they gained confidence. We didn’t hit the baseball in situations, and they did.”
Watervliet (30-7) advanced to the championship game for the first time in school history.
“Our message the past couple of weeks is to have a loose focus,” Watervliet head coach Josh Tremblay said. “We can’t get uptight or overwhelmed with what is going on. Just have fun and do what we do.”
Watervliet struck for three in the top of the third inning, first tying the game at 1-1 on an RBI double down the left-field line by junior Owen Epple. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by senior Alex Hicks, and then went up 3-1 on an RBI double by sophomore Caleb Jewell.
Edison loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning, but Epple induced a flyout to end the threat. Watervliet then loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth and took a 4-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by Hicks. Jewell plated another on an RBI single to left to make it 5-1 Panthers.
The Panthers added insurance during the seventh inning on a third RBI sacrifice fly by Hicks that made it 6-1. Epple scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-1 Panthers.
Edison (25-12) added a run in the seventh on another RBI single by Jones.
PHOTOS (Top) Lumen Christi’s Benny Gaston smashes the game-winning hit during the seventh inning of Thursday’s first Division 3 Semifinal. (Middle) Watervliet’s Owen Epple (5) and Edison catcher Zaire Clement follow the ball during their Semifinal.
Jenison Rolling Through Hot Streak, Rising in Rankings as Playoffs Approach
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
May 21, 2025
JENISON – During the earliest beginnings of this season, Jenison baseball coach Chris Ter Vree noticed certain aspects of his team were lacking.
Although overflowing with talent and buoyed by the return of five key seniors from last year’s 32-win team, improvements would be needed in order for the Wildcats to achieve their desired success.
“We've made some huge strides as a group,” Ter Vree said. “We knew this was going to be a very talented group, but once we got into the early part of the season we saw some areas that we had to get better at and we got a lot better at them.
“That has allowed us to be successful. It’s watching them interact like they do and it's watching them fight back down four runs to a very good Byron Center team (Monday night) and not give up.”
The Wildcats (24-5-1) have emerged as one of the hottest teams in the state, as evident by their winning 14 of their last 15 games and jumping up to No. 6 in the Division 1 rankings.
They clinched at least a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title Monday by defeating No. 16 Byron Center 4-0 in the first game of the doubleheader. The conference crown is Jenison’s first since winning the O-K Black seven years ago.
“It's just an exceptional group of guys who enjoy playing the game of baseball with each other,” Ter Vree said. “And just being a coach of a group of guys like this is so much fun and so enjoyable. Just to watch them enjoy the game.”
A superb pitching staff, led by senior Case Bosch, has helped the Wildcats keep opposing teams in check. The 6-foot-5 lefthander has committed to Coastal Carolina.
“He’s fun to watch on the mound, and I’ve coached him for four years so it’s sad to think this journey with him is almost done,” Ter Vree said. “His composure is fantastic, and you can’t rattle him. He throws so many pitches for strikes, and he is a smart guy. He calls his own pitches and we don’t allow a lot of people to do that. We are very fortunate to have, I think, the best pitcher in the state on our staff.”
Junior hurler Ethan Lenzo has exceeded expectations and has been one of the “biggest surprises” on the team, according to Ter Vree. The pitching staff also includes seniors AJ Park, Ben Slagter and Braydon Hilaski, and juniors Parker Felgner and Kelson Swainston.
Junior Pierce Ginzer also has pitched and batted well since coming back from a hamstring injury.
“We have a lot of guys who have done a really good job of coming in and pounding the strike zone,” Ter Vree said. “We are very fortunate to have a very strong pitching group, and we’re thankful for that.
“We’ve also been really good at the plate. Up and down the lineup, we just have a really solid group of guys.”
Park, a Davenport commit who has delivered timely hitting, believed this year’s team could be special.
“We had our five seniors returning, and we had the expectation of being a winning program,” Park said. “We had a lot of juniors coming up who we knew had talent, and we hoped that they could carry it on and play the roles they had, and it’s been going well.
“Pitching has been strong for us, and I think over the last three weeks we’ve really picked it up and been playing some pretty good ball. We've been hitting the ball a lot more consistently up and down our lineup, and that has helped out a lot.”
The Wildcats have been especially dominant on the road, winning six in a row.
“We love playing at home, but it doesn’t faze our guys at all when we go on the road,” Ter Vree said. “We like to have the other crowd be a little loud, and we also like to show people what we are capable of. We like being challenged by that.”
Ter Vree said he had shied away from setting goals for this season, but would like nothing better than to win the conference outright.
A victory in either a resumed game against Byron Center on Thursday (currently tied 4-4 in the seventh inning after a late Jenison rally) or the following meeting will give the Wildcats the title outright.
“One thing we’ve gone away from is setting up goals, just because sometimes it's good to do and sometimes not good to do,” Ter Vree said. “But Monday night winning that first game did give us the opportunity to check off one of those boxes that we talked about at the beginning of the year. We knew this was going to be a good conference to be a part of, and we knew Byron Center was probably going to be the team that was returning a lot of starters and coached extremely well.
“We knew it would come down to that last series and it was good to get that first one out of the way knowing that no matter what happens these next two games, we have a share of the O-K Green. We’re happy about that, but we don’t like sharing things so we're definitely looking to win one of the next two games so this can be ours because this group of guys definitely deserves it.”
Jenison begins the postseason next week against Holland West Ottawa. And while the team hopes to make a deep run, Ter Vree said the outcome won’t define the season.
“We want to win a District title and make a run, but it’s not going to make or break the season,” Ter Vree said. “We’re just trying to continue to have a great season, but it’s not going to write the story of this team. They’ve already written their story, and I’m just proud to be a part of it.”
The Wildcats suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss to Hudsonville in last year’s District Final, and a potential rematch against the Eagles is expected.
“I think we’re ready (for the playoffs),” Park said. “We know who we’re playing, and we’re looking to play them (Hudsonville) in the Finals. Last year we lost 1-0, but we’re coming back to see what we can do.”
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) Jenison, including pitcher Brayden Hilaski, catcher Vince Fantin, coach Chris Ter Vree and Case Bosch (20), huddles on the pitching mound during a game this season. (Middle) AJ Park watches one of his drives as his teammates also follow the action from the dugout. (Below) Pierce Ginzer waits for the next pitch. (Photos courtesy of the Jenison baseball program.)