Aspirations High as New Coach Leads Paw Paw Lineup Coming Off Run to 2025 Finals
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
March 31, 2026
PAW PAW — When it comes to inheriting a team, first-year softball coach Allison Frisinger hit the jackpot.
Paw Paw made school history last year, reaching the MHSAA Division 2 Softball Final for the first time — and with no seniors on the team.
With everyone back this year, the Red Wolves have some lofty goals and kicked off the season with a 6-0 record heading into spring break.
“What a job to come into,” Frisinger said. “We like high expectations.”
Although last year’s team won Wolverine Conference, District and Regional titles and advanced to the season’s final day, Paw Paw is hoping to add a Finals championship to its portfolio.
With impressive credentials, the new coach knows what needs to be done. She was part of Kalamazoo Christian’s 2002 championship team, coached by Marty DeJong, and was a two-time all-state player. For the last 10 years, she has also given softball lessons and is no stranger to most of her players.
“I’ve actually trained a lot of these girls,” she said. “I’ve been their pitching and hitting coach for a long time. I got to know a lot of the girls, and they talked me into applying for the job.”
Learning from the past
Last year, Frisinger followed the team all the way to the Finals and made some notes for this season.
One thing that caught her attention was watching Richmond pitcher Katie Shuboy lead her team to a 3-0 win against Paw Paw in the Final.
“That pitcher was really skilled,” Frisinger said. “Watching her, she moved the ball around really well. I think the girls learned we need to see some better pitching to prepare to hit off better pitching.”
To help with that, the coach worked with the pitching staff in the offseason and added some tough competition to this season’s schedule.
“I’ve been working really hard with those guys, developing their pitches better, getting better movement, maybe add a different pitch in, so they’ve been working really hard,” she said.
“The goal for building a better schedule this year was to face some really tough teams. I’m okay losing to a good team. You see better competition.”
Cami VanderMeeden, in her fourth year on varsity, is one of five seniors on this year’s team. The others are Carlie Streich, Stella Shaefer, Megan Miller and Kailey Nichols.
“We’ve learned a lot from last year,” said VanderMeeden, who will play softball at Western Michigan next year. “We learned that we need to have better practices. We work a lot harder in practices this year, and we work together more as a team.
“This group of girls, we’ve all been together through middle school and most through elementary school. We have a good bond with each other.”
Frisinger said the third baseman has matured a lot since she first started working with her.
"She just plays with her whole heart,” the coach said. “She does everything hard. It’s just fun to watch.”
No longer rookie on the mound
Lauren MacKellar is one of six juniors on this year’s team along with Aliya Edson, Bella Clemons, Elizabeth Vanderburg, Kourtney Nichols and Raegan Zache. Two sophomores are Ellie Herbert and Charlotte Harling. Terry Reynolds is the assistant coach; he led Kalamazoo Christian to Division 4 runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015.
Last year, her first on varsity, MacKellar was in the circle for the Final.
“It was a lot more than I’m used to, but I think I handled it the best that I could,” she said.
The pitcher is another who has trained with Frisinger.
“That kid is another one who has developed so much,” the coach said. “The way she gets the ball to move is impressive for her age.
“I’ve said that from when she entered high school, I was very impressed with the way she can spin the ball.”
Edson, in her third year on varsity, said the team never expected to advance as far as it did last year but is using it as a learning experience.
The catcher is “calm and cool behind the plate,” Frisinger said. “I would love to pitch to her. She’s just helps bring that pitcher in and control their emotions. She’s just very good and in charge out there.”
MacKellar said she and Edson work well together.
"We’ve known each other for a long time and worked together so much over the past years,” MacKellar explained. “Last year, it was on us most of the time to make the right decisions and the right calls for pitches.”
Sticking together
Edson said softball is really a family.
“It’s always been something I can look forward to to keep my spirit up,” she said. “It’s always been there for me when I was having a tough time.”
With this team, “We’ve been playing with each other since we were little and we just have that chemistry and bond,” she said. “We definitely have a lot of good players.”
Vanderburg, a shortstop on varsity all three years, said hitting and depth drive this year’s Red Wolves.
“Our hitting is super strong this year and we have depth in our lineup, 1 through 13,” she said. “I believe in every single one of them that they can hit the ball and get on (base). Our defense is super strong. We’ve got really good pitchers, all four can pitch against any team. We barely make any errors.”
Frisinger noted about her shortstop: “She’s just got this bunch of energy. When she gets going, there’s no stopping her.”
Besides a stronger schedule, Frisinger said the team has been working on “changing up at different positions because injuries do happen. I want a deep bench. I want people ready to go if something were to happen.
“It’s a very team-first mentality. They’re all so talented. I’m very fortunate to coach a team of girls that love the game as much as they do and work so hard. They support one another and are just great teammates.
“I love giving back to the girls. Love giving back to the sport that gave so much to me.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Paw Paw's Elizabeth Vanderburg (9) and Carlie Streich embrace after Vanderburg's walk-off home run in last season's Semifinal. (2) Kalamazoo Christian standout Allison Frisinger is taking over the program assisted by former K-Christian coach Terry Reynolds. (3) Paw Paw junior Lauren MacKellar. (4) Cami VanderMeeden drives a pitch during the 3-2 win over Carleton Airport. (Coaches photo by Pam Shebest. Action photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Game May Change, But Success Continues as Wilson Nears 800 Coaching Wins
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 16, 2024
SOUTH HAVEN — No dugouts, no outfield fences, $25 bats.
Things have come a long way since Wilma Wilson took over the coaching reins at her alma mater 35 years ago.
“When I played, we didn’t have fences, we didn’t have dugouts; we had benches,” the South Haven softball coach said. “If you hit a home run, it had to be an in-the-park home run because there were hardly any parks that had any fences.
“It’s come a long way. Now you go to fields that are turfed. I love it. I’m glad to see the change for the girls and to see more emphasis on them playing and being involved.”
With a 791-406 record over her 35 years coaching the Rams softball team, Wilson is closing in on 800 career wins. Her current record puts her 19th among MHSAA coaches and just 16 victories behind former Monroe coach Vince Rossi’s 807 victories.
The Rams are 2-2 on the young season, but started off with a bang — actually three bangs over the right field fence in a one-run squeaker against Paw Paw on March 26.
Although the team has just 11 players, it is stacked with experience. Nine players saw action last season, and the five seniors have three or four years of varsity time.
Those seniors include twins Kamryn and Taylor Holland.
Against Paw Paw, Kamryn hit her first grand slam, a walk-off homer in a 12-11 win.
“I knew it was going to be close as soon as I saw it,” the third baseman said. “I just kept running and started jumping up and down when I saw it go over.”
She was one of the veterans instrumental in the team’s postseason play last year, as South Haven reached its Division 2 District Final before losing 6-2 to Hamilton.
The Rams are focused on a longer run this year.
“A lot of the girls have been on the same team, and we’ve played together the past three years,” Kamryn said. “We know enough about each other and work good together. Everything clicks.”
Her sister, a shortstop/pitcher, agrees she and her teammates already have solid connections and said Wilson is a big reason.
“I love how much she pushes me,” Taylor Holland said. “She’s always there when you need her. She’ll take you aside if you need anything and always wants us to be our best. I just love that about her, because she loves us on and off the field.”
Wilson does more than work on softball with the players.
“(Last week) I sat down with the girls and had a good heart-to-heart, working through frustrations, trying to help kids maneuver through things in life, whether at school, at home, in the game,” she said.
“That’s a huge part of coaching and what keeps me in it, knowing I can make a difference helping these kids manage life a little bit.”
Continuing the legacy
One of Wilson’s former players who is still very involved in the sport is her daughter, Marlee Wilson, in her first season as Western Michigan University’s head softball coach.
The Broncos won their 20th game of the season Sunday, making Wilson WMU’s winningest first-year softball coach.
“I coached her when she was small, coached her through high school, coached her in travel ball,” Wilma Wilson said. “She’s a very competitive kid, plays really hard. She has that same love for the game that I do, same drive.”
Marlee Wilson said one important thing she learned from her mom was to make softball fun.
“Practices in high school were always really fun,” she remembered. “It was the best part of the day. I couldn’t imagine it being any other way. (I want to) continue that and also develop the student athletes as people.
“There’s not a huge career in softball like there is in baseball and other sports, so you’re going to play four or five years in college then hopefully be prepared for life after sports, which (Mom) did a really good job with me.”
When she has a chance to talk with high school athletes, Marlee Wilson tells them to have fun and learn the basics of the game.
“That’s huge in high school,” she said. “At the college level, we can tell players who went through really good high school programs or travel programs that have those really good fundamentals or softball IQ.
“(Mom) does a really good job of developing players as a whole so when they get to that level, they understand that part of the game.”
Wilson played softball at WMU from 2014-18 and was a three-time academic all-Mid-American Conference honoree, a 2017 MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and a four-time NFCA All-American Scholar.
Sparking like Sparky
Although Wilma Wilson calls him a “co-coach,” Dave Gumpert considers himself her assistant the last 11 years.
“I respect her many years as being a coach,” he said. “We talk things over, but she makes the final decisions.
“It’s been a really good relationship. She bounces things off me, I bounce things off her. It’s been a good run so far.”
Gumpert, who had a seven-year stint as a major league pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals, is the one who good-naturedly calls Wilson “Sparky” — and not because of her sparkling personality.
“She pretty much lets me run practice, and she walks around,” he said, smiling. “I played for (Tigers manager) Sparky Anderson and that’s what he did. He walked around the outfield, just talking to people and doing all the PR stuff while all the other coaches were getting the work done. So I like to tease her.”
Equipment has been another area of change during Wilson’s tenure.
“The equipment has gone crazy from the technology of bats,” she said. “A bat back in the day would be $20, $25. Now they’re $400.
“If take my school budget and buy balls for the season for both our (varsity and JV) teams and a bat, I’ve used two-thirds of my budget.”
But South Haven is making those bats work. Senior centerfielder Myraql McGee said hitting is among the team’s most noticeable improvements from a year ago.
“Our whole lineup is good power hitters. It doesn’t matter where you are, our lineup is pretty stacked,” said McGee, who will continue her career next season at Missouri Valley College.
“Fielding-wise, we could work on a couple things, but we don’t make as many errors at routine plays as many other teams.”
Other seniors are Sam Beeney and Kayley Gorham, and juniors are Madi Dotson, Grace Strebeck and Molly Verseput. Sophomores are Addison Dekoning and Erin Bos, and they are joined by freshman Ly’Nique Cunningham.
Gumpert was with Wilson when the Rams reached but lost in the Division 2 Final in 2018 and sees some similarities between that and this year’s team.
“Offensively, we had a good team, but I would dare to say this team is as good offensively as that team was,” he said. “It’s going to boil down to how well our pitching does, how well our pitchers progress. If we have the pitching I think we can develop into, I think we’ll be competitive with anybody.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) South Haven softball coach Wilma Wilson, right, welcomes home Kamryn Holland after Holland’s grand slam March 26. (2) The Rams enjoy watching Marlee Wilson’s Western Michigan Broncos this season. (2) Wilson, right, joins daughter Marlee to form an accomplished mother-daughter coaching tree. (4) South Haven senior Myraql McGee settles in under a fly ball. (Top and WMU photos provided by Wilma Wilson, family photo by Pam Shebest, and McGee action photo provided by McGee.)