'Lolo Show' Helping Make Grand Haven Softball Must-See During Program's Record Run
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 11, 2026
MOUNT PLEASANT – “The Lolo Show” continues to produce one exciting, dramatic episode after another.
In the latest installment Tuesday at Central Michigan University, Grand Haven senior pitcher Lorelei “Lolo” Chciuk did it with her bat – ripping a bases-loaded double in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Buccaneers to a 5-1 victory over Traverse City Central in a Division 1 Quarterfinal showdown at Margo Jonker Stadium.
“Lo is the star of the show, but everybody plays a role,” said 10th-year Grand Haven coach John Hall. “This was her moment at the plate. She saw the opportunity and went after it.
“That ball was absolutely rocked.”
Grand Haven (33-7-1) hopes to produce two more episodes, starting with Thursday’s 10 a.m. opening Division 1 Semifinal against Macomb Dakota – which will extend already the deepest run in school history.
Chciuk (which rhymes with shook) will be there in her lead role on the rubber, where she has piled up more than 1,000 career strikeouts.
This season, she has simply overpowered a difficult Ottawa-Kent Conference Red and nonconference schedule, with 357 strikeouts over 167 innings pitched – an average of 2.14 strikeouts per inning. She has a 19-5 record and 0.92 ERA.
“We have a bunch of seniors, and we want to keep it going,” explained Chciuk, who has a very capable No. 2 pitcher behind her in senior shortstop Bri Borgman. “Our saying right now is: Don’t think, just do.”
Chciuk has really upped her play to another level during the past three games, or episodes, if you will.
In the Regional Semifinal on June 6, Haven fell behind Rockford 4-0 in the first inning. Chciuk then came on in relief and shut down the Rams the rest of the way, striking out 14 as the Bucs rallied for a 10-4 win.
That set up the dramatic Regional Final against top-ranked and longtime nemesis Hudsonville, where Chciuk threw a no-hitter and struck out 10 more batters in a 3-1 upset win.
“My rise ball has been really good lately, and that really gives me confidence,” said Chciuk, the daughter of Harry and Amanda Chciuk. “I absolutely love my rise ball right now, and it’s getting a lot of people out.”
Chciuk certainly throws hard, with a fastball that tops out around 65 mph, but what makes her so difficult for batters to figure out is the way all of her pitches move. In addition to the fastball, she also throws a rise ball, changeup and curveball.
She is also very quick to deflect credit to her teammates, particularly the other two big bats at the top of the order in leadoff hitter Borgman and No. 2 hitter and senior catcher Bella Korf.
Borgman leads the team with a .487 average, with eight home runs, 15 doubles and 39 RBI (along with an 11-1 pitching record and 2.16 ERA). Korf is right behind her in the lineup and in batting average at .444, with team highs in home runs (10) and RBI (41).
“We’ve all come together closer and closer this season,” explained Chciuk. “There’s girls in the dugout whose role is to keep the energy up and to be ready, and there’s girls who are just trying to get on base to get things going. It takes all of us, especially right now.”
Those three are the leaders of a veteran team, which has used its age and experience to win one close game after another all season. Other seniors are centerfielder Claire Sova, third baseman Rheagan Cobb, second baseman Natalie Waite, McKayla Goossen and Paige Sitzer.
The Buccaneers, who avenged earlier losses to Rockford, Hudsonville and Traverse City Central over the past three games of this playoff run, are adding to a breakthrough spring sports season for Grand Haven – which is best known for its sandy beaches, picturesque boardwalk and annual Coast Guard Festival.
Haven won the inaugural Division 1 boys volleyball title last weekend, finished fifth and 13th, respectively, at the boys and girls Track & Field Finals, and celebrated a national title in the pole vault by senior Izzy Robbins.
Now the softball team is playing much later into June than expected.
“We were supposed to have our end-of-year banquet on Wednesday night, but we had to postpone that,” said Hall, who is assisted by Jamie Burton, Geoff Franz and Ben Korf. “This team is knocking down walls and breaking through ceilings that Grand Haven has never done before.”
After this weekend, both Chciuk and Borgman (a Ferris State commit) will play in the State Champs/Turnin’ 2 all-star game on June 15 at the University of Michigan’s Alumni Field.
Then Chciuk will be taking her show on the road to Saginaw Valley State, where the 3.53 GPA-student plans to pursue a pre-veterinary career path, majoring in cellular and molecular biology.
But that was the last thing on her mind after Tuesday’s thrilling extra-innings win.
“Right now, I just want to sleep,” said Chciuk, who pitched all 10 innings in Tuesday’s win, in addition to delivering the decisive blow at the plate. “We talk about making memories and making core memories.
“This win today was huge because it means that Grand Haven softball is going to MSU for the first time ever. Yeah, this is definitely a core memory that will stay with me forever.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Lorelei Chciuk makes her move toward the plate during Tuesday's Quarterfinal win at CMU. (Middle) Chciuk, right, has led Grand Haven on its deepest MHSAA Tournament run. (Photos by Josh Walters/Local Sports Journal.)
Carrying Heavy Hearts, Wayland Soars
June 13, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — It should have been one of the happiest moments in Leigha Morse's young life, but she couldn't keep from breaking down in tears.
Morse apologized several times for crying while talking about her two-homer performance in Wayland's 11-0 victory over Frankenmuth in the MHSAA Division 2 softball championship game Saturday at Michigan State University.
She was hardly alone. In a surreal celebration scene, the Wildcats struggled to balance the joy of winning a championship with the sorrow of losing a close member of the Wayland softball family.
Bill Merchant, the father of Wayland assistant coach Nicki Cardosa, was killed in an automobile accident two days earlier. His death came before the Wildcats took the field to play in their MHSAA Semifinal, but the players and coaches weren't notified until after the game.
On Saturday, they returned to the same field with the knowledge of Merchant's tragic death still fresh in their minds.
"We made sure that, even with the heartbreak of the Merchant family, we knew we had to pick them up and stay with them," senior pitcher Mallory Teunissen said. "We prayed for them. We made sure that, even though it was a hard loss, that we sang the song we always sing and everybody was still pumped up for this game."
Wayland coach Cheri Ritz said Friday's practice went well until she broke down. Local pastors were brought in to talk with the players. A T-shirt from Wayland's 2006 championship team, on which Merchant had two daughters, and one of his hats were found in his house. They hung in Wayland's dugout for the championship game.
"It was pretty emotional for Nicki and I," said Ritz, who was Merchant's sister-in-law.
The Wildcats (36-2) put their sorrow aside once they stepped between the lines, turning in a dominant performance that saw Morse set one record and Teunissen nearly tie another.
Morse became the first player to hit two homers in an MHSAA Final, sending a solo shot over the 220-foot mark in center field in the second inning and lining a three-run homer over the left field fence in the seventh to cap the scoring.
"I just went up and said, 'Do it for him,'" Morse said. "(Cardosa) has not only been my coach in this, but volleyball as well. She's like a second mom to me."
Teunissen struck out 17 batters, one shy of the MHSAA Finals record for a seven-inning game shared by Kalamazoo Christian's Keri DeJong (1996) and Galesburg-Augusta's Jackie Bowe (2008). Only three other pitchers, including DeJong in 1998, had 17 strikeouts in a seven-inning game.
Teunissen had a no-hitter until Frankenmuth's Ivy Holland singled with two outs in the fifth inning. She allowed four hits and walked three, including the first two batters of the game.
"I just get out there and try to do my thing, make sure my pitches are working," Teunissen said. "In the beginning I walked a few batters, but I had to shake it off."
Frankenmuth had runners on second and third with one out after the two walks in the first inning, but didn't score.
Wayland scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-0 lead.
Morgan Teunissen, one of three sisters on the team, led off the game with a single and scored on a two-out single to short center field by Hailey Houck to open the scoring.
Morse made it 2-0 by blasting her first homer in the second inning.
The Wildcats broke it open with a three-run third during which they had three extra-base hits. Doubles by Abby Merice and Houck, and a single by Mallory Teunissen scored one run apiece.
After stranding a runner on third and failing to score in the fourth, Wayland tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning when Morgan Winger lined a double over the left fielder’s head.
Frankenmuth's best chance to score came in the sixth when Amariah Wright headed for home on a single by Kayla Brooks, only to be thrown out by center fielder Abby Merice.
Morse's three-run homer capped a four-run seventh inning for Wayland. The first run of the inning scored on a home run by sophomore Bethany Teunissen, an all-stater last season who nearly missed this entire season with a knee injury. Teunissen didn't start Saturday.
"I just get one at-bat normally a game," she said. "It was difficult. I just loved cheering on the team while I was out. It was a great opportunity to come back."
"My little sister Bethany came back from an ACL and she finally got that hit," Mallory Teunissen said. "I can't say how proud I am of her. She tore her ACL in basketball. We weren't sure if she'd be back for the tournament or not. She's an incredible player. I'm so glad she got to get back and I got to play with her my senior year."
Frankenmuth finished with a 37-4-1 record, reaching an MHSAA Final for the third time in school history.
"We played so well all year, then we laid an egg a little bit," Frankenmuth coach Brad Walraven said. "Their pitcher beat us up. That was a good team. You feel lousy for losing the game, but there's 130 other schools who would love to be in our shoes. It was a tough loss, but a great season. It was a wonderful team that I have. I'm going to miss my seven seniors."
PHOTOS: (Top) Wayland players and coaches hoist their MHSAA championship trophy after claiming their first title since 2006. (Middle) Pitcher Mallory Teunissen struck out 17 Frankenmuth batters Saturday.