Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
JENISON, MI – The Rockford baseball team went on a magical ride last year to a Division 1 state championship.
It was a seven-game trip that had several scares, but in the end, the Rams came out with the program’s first state championship.
This year’s quest to defend began similarly, as Rockford had to survive a tight win over Northview in the district championship game, just like last year. And then the Rams needed a late come-from-behind win over Grand Haven in the regional semifinal game June 9.
But this year’s journey came to an abrupt end in the subsequent game against OK Red Conference rival Hudsonville.
The Eagles took advantage of five Rockford errors to beat the Rams 12-4, ending this season with tears of sorrow, not tears of joy.
“We were just a little flat,” Rockford senior centerfielder Drew Farmer said after the loss. “There was something about today that didn’t feel right. Last year we had the feeling that we couldn’t lose. Today we just didn’t have that feeling.”
The tough loss to Hudsonville still doesn’t take away what this team, especially the nine senior members, have accomplished in the past two years, including the state title last year and an OK Red title and 30-5 record this year.
“Those seniors have been good their whole career here at Rockford,” coach Ian Hearn said. “These guys are what you look for in student/athletes – they love high school baseball, they love Rockford, and they love their teammates. They have done things the right way, the Rockford way.”
Those nine seniors are Farmer, Jesse Edick, Ronnie Searl, Ian Stankus, Shain Showers, Max Crimp, Brandon Nostrant, Tony Dileo, and Nick Street.
Of those nine seniors, six are going on to play college baseball. Farmer is going to Western Michigan University, Crimp to Calvin College, Dileo to Eastern Michigan University, Showers to the University of Evansville, Stankus to Grand Rapids Community College, and Street to Owens Community College.
“We knew we had what it took to win again this year,” Showers said. “This is a tight knit group of guys. It’s a great group, and I loved to play with all of them. It’s a bummer to see it all end, but that’s baseball. To win seven games in a row in this tournament is something special, and I’m fortunate to go through that last year.”
Now this group of seniors must leave the program to the five juniors and five sophomores who were on the roster for regionals, as well as to all the baseball players in the Rockford system.
“We brought this program from down in the dumps to one of the best in the state,” Farmer said. “It felt amazing what we accomplished last year and would have loved to do it again. It just didn’t go our way this year.”
Hearn hopes the momentum keeps going. “We hope the legacy that these seniors have left rubs off on the rest of the program,” he said.