
West Michigan Stars Set High Bars
July 18, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Grand Rapids area was loaded with star senior girls lacrosse players this spring, with Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Erin Kloostra and Grand Rapids Christian’s Kate DeYoung among those closing impressive careers.
Playing for Forest Hills United, Kloostra capped her four seasons with 58 goals and 76 assists and career totals of 212 goals, 276 assists and 488 points over 92 games. She had set the single-season assists record of 99 in 2018 and now owns the career assists record. She had 14 points in an April 29 game against Grand Rapids Catholic Central, which tied for second-most points in one game, and her career points currently also rank second. Kloostra will continue at University of Vermont.
DeYoung finished a four-year varsity career among the all-time leading scorers. She made the records with 81 goals this season – her third entry for single-season goals – and finished with 252 for her career, which are tied for ninth most. Her 337 career points also rank ninth. She will continue at University of Detroit Mercy.
See below for more recent record book additions in girls and boys lacrosse, girls soccer, softball, boys tennis and volleyball, and click on the headings to see those record books in full.
Girls Lacrosse
A pair of Caledonia standouts were added, one for offense and the other for goal play. Another west Michigan senior Kendall Schneider made the single-season goals list with 63 and also had seven in a game against Grand Haven. Junior goalie Grace DeRidder was added for 153 saves on the season and 16 against Holland West Ottawa. Schneider will continue at Niagara University in New York.
Additionally for Forest Hills United, senior Molly Mullett – a student at Forest Hills Northern – was added for 67 goals this spring.
Boys Lacrosse
West Bloomfield senior Nick Long earned a pair of entries May 13 against Bay City Central. He had nine goals, plus an assist for 10 total points, to lead his team to a 15-1 win. The nine goals tied for seventh most in one game.
Jenison sophomore Michael Care put himself in the record book five times this spring, most notably with 71 goals and 107 points over 19 games. Care also was added for single-game totals of seven goals, five assists and 10 points.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s march to a Division 2 runner-up finish was led in part by a handful of underclassmen, including sophomore attack John Morgan. Morgan was added to the record book 13 times for accomplishments over his first two seasons, including for 83 goals and 124 points this spring, eight goals in a game three times and 41 assists both years. He’s also already made the career points list with 205 after two seasons. Sophomore Sam Bowen earned three record book entries including for six assists and 11 points during a single game against Chelsea and 93 points total for the season. Sophomore Kevin Sprague made the records for games of seven goals against East Grand Rapids and five assists against Ovid-Elsie. Senior Brandon Pham closed his career with a pair of saves entries – he had 22 against Detroit Catholic Central on April 25 and 184 on the season, the latter ranking 18th all-time.
Softball
Reese Ruhlman capped a stellar four-year career by leading North Branch to its first Semifinals this spring, and she ended with 13 record book entries. She made career lists with 196 runs scored, 257 hits (tied for 10th all-time), 58 doubles (tied for 18th), 43 home runs (tied for 12th) and 194 RBI (tied for 16th) over 149 games. Her 76 runs scored as a junior tied for 11th most, while her 19 doubles in 2018 tied for eighth and her 73 RBI that season tied for 16th. She will continue her career at University of Detroit Mercy.
Three Rivers has enjoyed one of the most impressive two-year runs of offense in MHSAA history, making the record book 12 times as a team during either 2018 or this spring. The 2018 team finished 37-4 with 499 hits (eighth all-time), 112 doubles (second), 53 home runs (third), 392 RBI (second) and a .431 batting average (11th). This spring’s most notable achievements were 57 homers (second) and 368 RBI (sixth). Sophomore Kali Heivilin has led the way; she set the runs scored record this spring with 88, two more than Rogers City’s Logan Fleming scored in 2015. Heivilin’s 19 home runs this spring are tied for eighth most and her 37 over two seasons put her on the career list already in that category, while her 72 RBI as a freshman are tied for 18th most for one season. Four more Three Rivers players also earned record book accolades over the last two seasons: Erin Brady for 21 doubles in 2019 and Kylee Nash and Halle Carpenter both with 18 doubles in 2018, and Amy Jo Tavernier with 11 homers that spring. Brady was a senior this season, Nash was a junior, Carpenter graduated in 2018 and plays at Hope College and Tavernier also was a senior in 2018 and plays at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Additionally, Libby Judsen now sits atop the record list for most hit-by-pitches in one game with four against Marshall when she was a senior in 2017.
Boys Tennis
The retirement of longtime Allegan coach Gary Ellis after 45 seasons during the winter was accompanied by a number of additions to the MHSAA record book from his tenure, swelling the number of Allegan individual entries to 111. Among the most notable of recent additions was Kody Harrington for 37 wins last fall and 131 for his career – the latter ranking fourth all-time. He also finished with 45 wins by scores of 6-0, 6-0, to rank fourth in that category. Zach Lang built a 38-2 doubles record last fall and Zach Sisson came in at 37-2, with Korbin Sisson and Lukas Vlietstra both coming in with 36 wins. Zach Sisson graduated with a 131-16 record over four seasons, ranking fifth all-time on the doubles wins list, and Curt Woodhams and Matt Nooney took over the 10th spot going 105-16 from 2001-04. Vlietstra also became the first listing for doubles wins by 6-0, 6-0, with 21 of those victories, and Sisson was added to the career tournaments won list with 19, as was Mark Chappell (1986-89). Harrington, Lang and Vlietstra also were seniors last season, joining Zach Sisson, and Korbin Sisson will be a junior this fall.
Volleyball
Muskegon Catholic Central setter Amelia Heminger finished her three-year varsity run last fall making the career assists list with 2,524. She also was added for 51 assists in a five-game match against Big Rapids Crossroads in 2017, and she tied for third on the single-match aces list with 20 against Fruitport Calvary Christian over three games also that season.
PHOTOS: Forest Hills' Erin Kloostra, left, and Grand Rapids Christian's Kate DeYoung were among lacrosse standouts from the Grand Rapids area over the last four seasons. (Submitted photos.)

Laingsburg's Bila Sisters Combine for 5 Records on Softball Diamond
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 27, 2024
Laingsburg’s Ashley Bila finished her senior season this spring with 14 listings in the MHSAA softball record book and three records as she followed up older sister Hailey Bila’s 13 listings and two records set over the first half of this decade.
Ashley set the single-season runs record with 93 as a freshman in 2021 and added the second-most, 91, as a senior in setting the career runs record with 335 over 152 games. She also set the career walks record, drawing 136 including 42 as a senior.
Bila also made the single-season hits list as a freshman with 85 (tied for 12th-most) on the way to finishing fifth on that career list with 279. She is on the career doubles (47) and triples (25) lists and ranks 11th all-time with a .599 career batting average. She also finished with 166 career stolen bases.
Hailey Bila remains tied for the single-season triples record with 20 hits during 2021, and her eight RBI in an inning May 18, 2022, tops a list as well. She also made the single-season home runs list with 14 in 2022 and single-season RBI list with 72 in 2022 and 70 in 2021.
Additionally, Laingsburg teammate Addyson Buchin was added to the single-season pitching wins list after going 35-6 as a sophomore in 2023, and her 18 doubles this spring also earned a listing.
Hailey Bila is playing at Michigan State, and Ashley Bila is playing at Central Michigan.
See below for more recent additions to the softball record book:
Softball
Natalie Wandrie finished her three-season Indian River Inland Lakes career in 2023 among the most accomplished hitters in MHSAA history – and despite her freshman season being canceled due to COVID-19. Wandrie is listed 21 times in the record book, including as a senior for 20 doubles, 24 home runs (fifth all-time), 79 RBI and a .685 batting average. She made career lists with 36 doubles, 47 home runs, 198 RBI and a .651 average over 82 games – the average third all-time, the home runs tied for 11th and the RBI tied for 14th. She’s playing softball and volleyball at Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky.
Addison’s Laci Mae Patterson earned a record book entry as a junior in 2023, when she hit 11 home runs across 37 games.
Riverview junior Ella Vinco earned a highlight less than a month into the 2024 season, when she made the record book for back-to-back home runs against Dearborn Divine Child on April 20.
Algonac’s Kenna Bommarito entered her senior season this past spring with six record book entries – a combined four for back-to-back homers during the first innings of games in 2021 and 2023, and two more from 18-strikeout six-inning games also in 2023 against Armada and Marine City. She is playing at Oakland.
Decatur’s Sienna Potter entered the 2024 season with five record book entries, including for 16 doubles and 18 home runs as a sophomore.
Grand Ledge prevailed over Mason 25-20 on April 6, 2023, and in doing so hit seven home runs – tying for second-most all-time for one game. The Comets led off with two straight homers and also had a pair back-to-back during the fourth inning.
Several entries for Rogers City’s string of successful seasons at the end of the last decade have been entered, highlighted by a record of nine home runs in one game against Johannesburg-Lewiston in a 2018 District Semifinal. Rogers City as a team was added 17 times, with highs during that time of 481 runs, 438 hits, 85 doubles, 374 RBI and a .403 batting average all in 2017 and 40 home runs in 2018. Total, 31 individual entries were added. Kayla Rabeau’s work included 234 runs, 229 hits, 36 doubles, 25 home runs and 186 RBI from 2015-18. Sarah Meredith was added for a .570 career average, 252 hits, 45 doubles, 38 home runs and 245 RBI from 2013-16. Hannah Fleming made career lists with 208 hits, 47 doubles, 29 homers and 187 RBI from 2015-18, and Taylor Fleming made career lists with 38 doubles, 32 home runs and 185 RBI during the same four seasons. Jayna Hance, Brooklyn Orr and Amanda Wirgau also made individual record lists. Meredith played for Ferris State, Rabeau played for Mott Community College, Hannah Fleming played at Alma College, Hance played at Northwood, and Taylor Fleming played volleyball at Lake Superior State.
Maple City Glen Lake sophomore Laila Shimek didn’t take long to reach the record book during her first season in the spring, driving in seven runs during an 18-3 win over Traverse City Christian on April 16.
Marlette’s Delaney Gage reached the record book for the first time in 2023, with a 15-strikeout five-inning game against Warren Woods-Tower and then 366 strikeouts for that season over 166 innings. She graduated in the spring and is continuing at Northwood.
An unforgettable hitting performance earned Emma Weber five record book entries. The Birmingham Seaholm then-junior hit three home runs, consecutively and including two during the third inning, and drove in seven runs including six in that third inning of her team’s 11-1 win over Rochester Adams on May 16.
Chloe Parker capped her Niles Brandywine career this spring on three career lists, with 64 doubles, 21 home runs and a .570 batting average over 108 games and four seasons. Kadence Brumitt, also a senior this past spring, was added for hitting 10 home runs during her final campaign. Parker is continuing at Central Michigan, and Brumitt is playing volleyball at Valparaiso.
PHOTO Laingsburg’s Ashley Bila runs the bases against Bath during her senior season in the spring. (Photo by Click by Christine McCallister.)