Vestaburg hadn’t been to the state softball semifinals since the late 1980s. But this year was a special one for the Wolverines. They ended the season with a 27-9 record after a 6-1 loss to Kalamazoo Christian on June 13 in the state semifinals at Michigan State University.
The Wolverines gained a huge 2-1 win over North Muskegon in the regional final and won over Ubly 4-2 in the quarterfinal.
In the semifinal, Rebekah VanDam fanned 12 Wolverine batters. The Wolverines had four hits compared to five for Kalamazoo Christian, but four critical errors were too much for the Wolverines to overcome.
“We had some errors, and we didn’t hit the ball as well as we had been,” said coach Dan Rons. “Their pitcher did a good job. They’re a good team. They played solid defense. They put the ball in play and took advantage of our mistakes.”
Christian had two runs in the first and four in the third against Jannelle Rons, who ended a solid career for Vestaburg.
“It was a great season, a great run,” Coach Rons said. “The team bought into what we sold. They believed in themselves. We’ve had some errors this year and keeping it clean. But we’ve always overcome it. A team like that, it’s hard to overcome. They didn’t give us much opportunity.”
Rons blamed nerves for a hitting attack that wasn’t quite what the Wolverines needed. “We were overanxious, trying to do more than what was there, making the pitcher better than she really was,” Rons said. “We talked about cutting the plate in half and looking for one pitch. A lot of girls the first three or four innings were swinging at every pitch.They felt every pitch was a strike. She did throw strikes, but they weren’t our strikes. We had some nice hits.”
Karigan Gates had two hits for Vestaburg. “She was consistent all day,” Rons said.
“[Akisha Benavidez], playing with two pulled hamstrings, she couldn’t even run, and she had a hit. Some girls had success today.”
Clad in red, Vestaburg fans were out in full force for the semifinal game. “It’s a small town and not a whole lot goes on here,” Rons said. “I was chuckling; when we pulled out of town, we had a police escort. The postmaster and the pizza place waved to us. The reason why is that the whole town was following us. Everybody there really wanted this. The kids wanted this. I think the parents may have wanted it more than the kids. I love this because it brings people together. That’s what Vestaburg is about. You say hi to people by name.”
Offense was a key for the Wolverines. “I’m a coach who likes to hit the ball,” Rons said. “I like good pitching. I like to hit the ball and win. You get a team that sets the record with 31 home runs, it’s a lot of home runs. I was proud of how they hit the ball. Mostly, I was proud of no matter what happened, how they stayed together.”