Multiple Aces Pay Off as Comets Reign
June 15, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK — Most softball teams ride one dominant pitcher and hope for the best.
It never hurts to have an insurance policy, however, because even the best pitchers have an off day.
Splitting the pitching duties between two girls all season paid off for Kalamazoo Christian on Saturday in a 16-6 victory over Ubly in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game at Bailey Park.
When Ubly’s first seven batters reached base in a six-run third inning, senior Stephanie VanderLugt was pulled in favor of junior Bekah VanDam.
It was hardly a desperate move for the top-ranked Comets.
VanDam didn’t allow a run in four innings, giving up three hits and striking out three.
Coming into the game, VanDam (15-3) pitched 114 2/3 innings in 20 games.
VanderLugt (18-4) pitched 127 1/3 innings in 22 games, starting every game after Districts.
“I went with Stephanie because it was one game at a time, and we went with her strengths over Bekah’s,” Kalamazoo Christian coach Karla Reno said. “I had to make a decision between the two. Bekah knew her job was to be ready to go in on relief if needed, and go in and throw hard and throw low. That’s exactly what she did.”
While both players are accustomed to pitching regularly, one rarely has to relieve the other. VanDam was playing third base when she got the call to enter the pitching circle.
“It’s unexpected, for sure, but I came in ready to go,” VanDam said. “My adrenaline was going. Normally either one of us is on; she struggled.”
If VanderLugt was upset about her pitching performance, she didn’t let it show when she came to the plate. She finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, including a two-run single that broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the third. She finished with a team-high 46 RBI.
“I knew Bekah could do it,” VanderLugt said. “I knew she’s tough.
“I had to get that out of my mind, because if that stayed with me, I never would’ve performed well. I had to suck it up for the team.”
Kalamazoo Christian pounced on Ubly, scoring six runs in the first inning. The Comets’ first six batters reached base.
That’s usually an insurmountable lead in championship softball, but Ubly stormed back with six runs in the third, tying the game on a two-run single by Hailey Kubacki. VanDam entered after Kubacki’s hit, retiring three in a row to end the inning.
“Nerves took over right away, and you could tell that,” Ubly coach Courtney Dekoski said. “The girls never lie down. I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them.”
Kalamazoo Christian took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning. The Comets scored twice in the fifth and ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule with five in the sixth. A sacrifice fly by VanderLugt scored the final run.
Kalamazoo Christian’s run total is the second-most in an MHSAA Final and the 22 combined runs also rank second. Both marks were set in Byron’s 17-10 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the 1976 Class C title game.
“It was crazy,” VanderLugt said. “They took advantage of what we did wrong, and we did the same for them. I give them a lot of credit for battling when we got up so early.”
Tori Sides was 3-for-5 and scored three runs for the Comets (33-7). Kara Gjeltema and McKena Razenberg were both 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Kubacki was 2-for-2 with two RBI for Ubly, which hadn’t won a Regional until this season.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Kalamazoo Christian runner slides into third base during her team's 16-6 victory. (Middle) Comets hitter Bekah VanDam prepares to make contact with a pitch while teammate McKena Razenberg (4) warms up in the on-deck circle. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
'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.)