Mcc & hart sports tab #2

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LudingtonDaily Newsfriday, April 10, 2015

INSIDE:mason coUNTY centraland HART

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2 | Ludington daiLy newS/SPRing SPoRtS | FRiday, aPRiL 10, 2015www.ludingtondailynews.com

By ED PAPESdaiLy newS SPoRtS wRiteR

SCOTTVILLE — The Ma-son County Central baseball program has been piling up wins at a nice clip over the past six seasons. In each of those six springs, the Spar-tans have posted 20 wins or better.

This spring, head coach Don Thomas, in his ninth season as the Spartans head

man, hopes his charges can do as well or a bit better.

But they do have some ob-stacles to overcome.

“First off, we are a fairly young team with just three seniors,” said Thomas. “And we have some injuries to deal with. But hopefully, the program is at the stage where it is ‘next-man-up.’”

Central will start the sea-son without the services of starting center fielder Blake

Bladzik, a junior who yield-ed a big bat for the Spartans last season. Bladzik was in-jured in a car accident last fall and is still recovering.

“We hope to have him back at some point in the season,” said Thomas. “But we are still waiting to find out just when.”

Last season, the Spartans put together a fine 28-9 re-cord, placed third in the West Michigan Conference

and won an MHSAA Division 3 district title.

From that team, Central has lost six players to grad-uation, including all-confer-ence pitcher Brian Erndte-man, second baseman Anders Asiala and pitcher Jacob Graczyk.

Pacing the Spartans efforts on the diamond this spring should be senior pitcher/third baseman Sean Wells, junior catcher/pitcher Spen-

cer Knizacky, junior short-stop/pitcher Mitch Lange, senior pitcher/third base-man Jon Wittlieff, senior center fielder Austin Krusin-ski and junior second base-man/pitcher Nolan Asiala.

Wells, Knizacky and Lange enter their third year of play at the varsity level.

At this point, Wells looks to be the Spartans No. 1 pitcher, followed by Wittlieff and junior Trevor Carrier,

who also will play in the out-field and at first base.

“We have nine guys that I feel confident we can put on the mound,” said Thom-as. “We will be able to throw strikes. But we will have to see how the pitching rota-tion works out.”

Players may be mov-ing around the field as the spring goes along.

See BASEBAll, PAgE 8

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central baseball team are, kneeling, from left, Cody Soberalski, Austin Krusinski, Jake Martin, Chance Iles, Matthew Dilliner, Jon Wittlieff and Spencer Knizacky; standing, assistant Seth Bush, Nolan Asiala, Mitchell Lange, Sean Wells, Trevor Carrier, Blake Bladzik, Austin MacDougall and coach Don Thomas. Not pictured: Tyler Liske and manager Gary Berndt.

Mason County Central baseball

Spartans pursue greater glory

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SCOTTVILLE — Mason County Central’s veteran girls track and field coach Ben Nelson has seen a lot in his 20 years as the leader of the Spartan ladies. But this season, he has seen a recent trend contin-ue to grow.

“We have just 11 girls out for track and only one is a senior,” said Nelson. “I think that is a record low for me. It is unfortunate, we would like to have more on the team, but the kids today have so many other things to do with their time.”

Last season, the Spartan la-dies finished second in the West Michigan Conference and third in the MHSAA Division 3 regional at Clare. From that team, Central has graduated distance runner Lindsay Larsen.

“The positives for us this season is that we have our two top scorers from last season back,” said Nel-son. “Juniors Kylie Mount (a hur-dler and jumper) and Leta Larsen (a distance runner) give us a strong pair to build around.”

Last season, Mount placed third in the state meet in the 100-meter high hurdles. At the regional meet, she was first in the high hurdles, second in the high jump, third in the long jump and fifth in the 300-meter low hurdles.

Larsen, who seems to have recov-ered from a foot injury incurred during the cross country season, took seventh in the 3,200-meter run at the state meet last spring. In

the regional meet, she was third in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600.

Also lending strong help should be junior pole vaulter-sprint-er Tirzah Wood and sophomore thrower-sprinter Hunter Wiese.

“Tirzah has been working hard in the pole vault,” added Nelson. “And Hunter should do well this season in the shot put and the dis-cus.

“We should do well in dual meets,” said Nelson. “We have the girls to cover every event. This year, almost all of our girls will have to compete in four events.”

Also pitching in will be senior thrower Katie Huggard, junior sprinter Sarah Fricke, sophomore jumper/sprinter Jolene Weier, sophomore distance runner Pen-ny Petersen, freshman middle dis-tance runner Krystal Strayer, fresh-man long jumper/sprinter Cynthia Wurtz and freshman thrower/sprinter Anna Wagner.

“Our lack of numbers and lack of experience will hurt us some this season. But I am an eternal opti-mist,” said Nelson, “I can see us do-ing pretty well.”

Nelson also notes that most of the other schools in the conference will also have low turnouts this spring for track.

The 2015 Mason County Central girls track and field team roster:

Senior: Katie Huggard.JuniorS: Sarah Fricke, Leta Larsen,

Kylie Mount, Tirzah Wood.SophomoreS: Penny Petersen, Jolene

Weier, Hunter Wiese.

FreShmen: Krystal Strayer, Anna Wag-ner, Cynthia Wurtz.

The Spartans’ main assistant once again will be Maria (Shoup) Hol-brook. She heads a strong list of vet-eran assistants that include Tom

Johnson (distance runners), Maurie Holbrook (pole vault), Cathy Laman (pole vault), Randy Wyman (throw-ers) and Patrick Wiese (throwers).

“We have all been together for quite awhile,” said Nelson. “And we work together very well.”

In the conference, Nelson sees Whitehall as the favorite once again.

“They are the one larger school which can get lot of people out for track,” noted Nelson. “But Hart could also make a run. They have some very good runners there.”

Mason County Central girls track and field

Few in number, girls track can do well

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central girls track team are, kneeling, from left, Krystal Strayer, Anna Wagner, Katie Huggard and Penny Petersen; standing, Jolene Weier, assistant Maria Holbrook, Sarah Fricke, Tirzah Wood, Kylie Mount, Leta Larsen, Hunter Wiese and coach Ben Nelson.

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wMC runner-up last season


SCOTTVILLE — For the past two seasons, the Mason County Central golf team has been moving up the standings in the West Michi-gan Conference.

Last year, the Spartans came in second and in the season before that they took third.

Co-head coach Tim Gen-son returns for his fifth sea-son working with coach Mike Baerwolf, but, overall, it is Genson’s ninth year with the Spartans golf program.

“We lost two golfers to graduation,” said Genson recently. “Those were Kody

Berkel and Hunter Vander-Wall. Kody played as our No. 2 golfer for most of the sea-son.”

Leading the Spartans on the links again this season should by senior Noah Gen-son, who was the league’s low medalist for the season last year. Genson already has signed to play for Mus-kegon Community College after graduation.

“We will be looking for Noah to do as well and may-be a bit better this season,” said coach Genson of his son. “We are hoping he can play consistently in the 75 to 78 range for 18 holes. It’s good to have him back.”

The next three golfers seem pretty well set. Soph-omore Austin Tyndall, who at times played in the No. 2 slot last season, returns with hopes of playing more con-

sistent golf.“We’d like Austin to shoot

in the 85-90 range,” noted Genson.

The next two golfers ap-pear to be seniors Jared Knizacky and Clayton Mal-kowski.

“We do have four of our six starting golfers,” noted Genson. “It is the five and six spots that are up for grabs.”

Among those looking to fill those spots are sopho-more Joel Spotts, freshman Tyler Sniegowski, senior Nic Nielsen and junior newcom-er Logan Merrick.

“Because of the weather, we have had limited time to practice so far,” said Genson “We would like to finish in the top three in the confer-ence and also make it to the regionals as a team.”

The 2015 Mason County

Central golf team roster:

SeniorS: Noah Genson, Jared Knizacky, Clayton Malkowski, Nic Nielsen.JuniorS: Logan Merrick, Alli

VanNoller.SophomoreS: Ethan Hill, Gun-

ner Schultz, Joel Spotts, Garrett Stearns, Austin Tyndall.FreShmen: Kaden Holmstead,

Tyler Sniegowski.

Genson sees defending league champion North Mus-kegon along with Shelby as

the teams to beat in the con-ference.

“Both of those schools are returning just about all of their top golfers,” noted Genson. “Whitehall should also be strong.”

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central golf team are, from left, coach Mike Baerwolf, Clayton Malkowski, Kaden Olmstead, Jared Knizacky, Ethan Hill, Garett Hill, Nic Nielsen, Noah Genson, Ty Snie-gowski, Gunner Schultz, Joel Spotts, Alli VanNoller and coach Tim Genson. Not pictured: Austin Tyndall.

Mason County Central golf

Spartans aim for next step: a title



SCOTTVILLE — In the past two seasons, the Ma-son County Central boys track and field team, led by star middle distance runner Chase Barnett, has brought home back-to-back MHSAA Division 3 state runner-up trophies.

In addition, the Spartans tied Whitehall for the West Michigan Conference title last year and took third in the regional meet at Clare.

But Barnett, now running for the University of Michi-gan, and eight other seniors have graduated. With them went a a bunch of points off the scoreboard.

“We lost a lot. Those guys

that graduated scored 566 points last season,” said eighth-year head coach Scott Briggs. “That is about half of our total points. We will have to find people to recover that scoring this spring.”

The Spartans do have a good turnout, 13 returnees and 16 newcomers, to re-build with.

“We will be counting on those returnees for not only points, but for their leader-ship,” said Briggs. “They will have to show the newcom-ers how we work out and get ready to compete.”

Leading the returning let-terwiners should by senior hurdler/high jumper Nate Strejcek, senior middle dis-tance runner Drew Griffis,

junior distance runner Zac Benham, senior middle dis-tance runner Johnny Trivi-sonno and sophomore high jumper/hurdler Ryan Mount.

Strejcek was second in the high jump and third in the 110-meter high hurdles at the regional meet last spring. Griffis, meanwhile, took sec-ond in the 800. Benham was first in the 3,200. Trivisonno placed fifth in the 400 at the same meet. Mount grabbed fourth place in the high jump at the regionals.

“The middle distances will definitely be our strength once again,” noted Briggs. “We should do well from the 200 on up. And we should be able to put together decent

teams in the two long re-lays. We might even have the speed to form a good 4x200 relay.”

Central should also get help from junior middle dis-tance runner Cody Cooper, sophomore middle distance runner Jacob Shoop, sopho-more middle distance run-ner Ethan Rybicki, sopho-more thrower Matt Quinn, sophomore distance runner Evan Boes and senior new-comer Sheldon Carey, who will probably compete as a long sprinter and long jump-er.

Newcomers that have shown promise include sophomore middle dis-tance runner Dylan Hearns and freshman sprinter-long

jumper Hunter Wood.The 2015 Mason County

Central boys track and field team roster:

SeniorS: Blaine Beemer, Shel-don Carey, Drew Griffis, Nate Strejcek, Johnny Trivisonno.JuniorS: Zac Benham, Cody

Cooper, Victor Lafata, Louis Metheny.SophomoreS: Evan Boes,

Shane Dwyer, Dylan Hearns, Austin Larr, Eldon McCabe, Ryan Mount, Matt Quinn, Ethan Rybicki, Jacob Shoop, Trenton Strejcek, Carl Townsend, Travis Tyndall, Jon Zoscsak.FreShmen: Shane Battice,

Ethan Beetz, Nolan Eisenlohr, Gus Quigley, Hunter Wood, Seth Wood.

Briggs’ main assistant coach will be Tom Johnson. “I don’t know what I’d do without Tom,” said Briggs. “He does a great job with the middle distance and dis-tance runners. Really, all of our assistant coaches have been a big part of what our teams have accomplished in recent years. We all work well together.”

The other assistants are Maria Holbrook, Maurie Hol-brook, Cathy Laman, Randy Wyman and Jeff Mount.

Again, it is Whitehall that will be the team to beat in the WMC.

“They are definitely the front runners,” said Briggs. “They have a lot coming back. And they are so deep.”

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central boys track team include, front row, from left, Ethan Rybicki, Jacob Shoop, Drew Griffis, Zac Benham, John Trivisonno, Cody Cooper, Hunter Wood, Seth Wood, Ryan Mount and Gus Quigley, second row, Shane Dwyer, Evan Boes, Carl Townsend, Eldon McCabe, Sheldon Carey, Nate Strejcek, Trenton Strejcek, Nolan Eisenlohr, Louis Metheny and Victor Lafata; third row, Jon Zoscsak, Matt Quinn, Austin Larr, Shawn Battice, Ethan Beetz, Blaine Beemer and Kenny Maurer; back row, coach Scott Briggs and assistant Tom Johnson.

Mason County Central boys track

MCC in search of points for 2015

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Berndt takes reins of softball program with eight juniors


SCOTTVILLE — A familiar face will takes over the reins of the Mason County Central softball program this spring. Former Spartan player and recent junior varsity coach Julie Berndt will replace Pete Lundberg.

Berndt will field a very in-experienced team, at least at the varsity level.

“We have a lot of juniors this year. Eight in all,” said Berndt, who has coached the Spartans junior varsity squad the last four seasons. “All but one of them were with me last spring on the junior varsity. It will be excit-ing to see how they do on the varsity this year.”

Last season, Central post-ed a 10-22 record. And from that team, eight players have been lost to graduation. The Spartans have lost short-stop Madison Geers, pitcher Kalee Stankowksi, second baseman Katelyn Graczyk, pitcher Jessie Johnson, catcher Amber Parrish and center fielder Ashleigh Mc-Cabe.

“Our inexperience will probably hurt us at times,” said Berndt. “There will be ups and downs with these girls. But I feel they will push their way through it.”

Central has one return-ing senior in second base-man Carly Davis. Also back is junior first baseman Brooke Thurow, who will be counted on to handle a lot

of the pitching duties. One last returnee is sophomore catcher Courtney Palmer, who was called up from the junior varsity part way through last season. Palmer could also do some pitch-ing and get some time in center field.

“We have five girls that can pitch,” added Berndt. “There will be a lot of switching

around when someone new takes over as the pitcher. My girls will have to play a lot of different positions. I like to teach them that way.”

Others expected to help out this spring include ju-nior pitcher/outfielder Devin Battenfield; junior pitcher/first baseman-out-fielder Nicole Johnson; ju-nior third baseman/catcher

Danielle Gerbers and out-fielder Savannah Keefer, who is back with softball af-ter one season away.

Battenfield is projected to share the bulk of the pitch-ing with Thurow.

“Courtney Palmer also shows some promise as a pitcher,” added Berndt.

The 2015 Mason County Central softball team ros-

ter:

SeniorS: Carly Davis, Lee Ann Viera.JuniorS: Devin Battenfield,

Veronica Beemer, Alexis Del Tour, Danielle Gerbers, Payton Hutchinson, Nicole Johnson, Savannah Keefer, Brooke Thurow.Sophomore: Courtney Palmer.

Assisting Berndt with the varsity will be Gen Knudsen.

Central will again field a junior varsity squad. Tiffa-ny Christmas will take over the coaching duties for the young Spartans.

“We have 12 players on the JV right now,” said Berndt. “That is a good number.”

Mason County Central softball

Lots of new faces on varsity team

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central softball team are, sitting, from left, Danielle Gerbers and Payton Hutchinson; kneeling, Jessica Gerbers, Alexus Del Tour, Ve-ronica Beemer and Nicole Johnson; standing, assistant Gen Knudsen, Devin Battenfield, Savannah Keefer, Lee Ann Viera, assistant Kent Knudsen, Courtney Palmer, Brooke Thurow, manager Lindsay Billow and coach Julie Berndt. Not pictured: Carly Davis.

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SCOTTVILLE — Last sea-son, the Mason County Cen-tral girls soccer team won just two games. But with se-nior all-West Michigan Con-ference goalkeeper Makila Hodges back, the defensive positions looking solid and with an infusion of new-comers to boost the offense, third-year coach Cheri Stib-itz has renewed hope for

this spring.“We want Makila in goal as

much as possible,” said Stib-itz. “But she is also a great player in the field. So, we will try and get her out there from time to time.”

From last year’s squad, the Spartans have graduated, all-conference defender Pay-ton Bladzik, Jessica Allen, Ashley Pyke and Rosa Ren-don.

Stibitz hopes that four re-turnees, senior Abbie Berrin-

ger, junior Miranda Beebe, junior Amanda Watkins and sophomore Morgan Cook and junior newcomer Jacy Larson can form a solid de-fensive wall for the Spartans.

“Our game has been to play more of a defensive game,” added Stibitz. “I think this group can do well.”

Two junior newcomers are expected to make the Spar-tans offense a bit more po-tent this spring on the pitch. Center/midfielder Jordyn

Sanders and forward Leeann Wabsis will join with return-ing junior forward Kendal Wietecha and returning se-nior midfielder Ashley Ingi-son to see if they can get the ball in the net with more fre-quency this season.

“I am excited to have these new girls,” said Stibitz. “They have not played a lot of soc-cer, but they are very coach-able. And Kendal has im-proved her game so much.”

The 2015 Mason Coun-

ty Central girls soccer team roster:

SeniorS: Abbie Berringer, Makila Hodges, Ashley Ingison.JuniorS: Miranda Beebe, Jacy

Larson, Izzie Raines, Jordyn Sanders, Stephanie Schultz, Leeann Wabsis, Amanda Wat-kins, Kendal Wietecha.SophomoreS: Kayla Berringer,

Morgan Cook, Hannah Pettis, Amari Rivera, Faith Vidak.FreShmen: Raven Bretsch-

neider, Faith Whitaker.

Assisting Stibitz with the team this spring will be West Shore Community College students Payton Bladzik and Jessica Allen, who were main-stays on last year’s team.

In the league race, Stibitz sees Muskegon Oakridge as the top challenger for the top spot.

“They have an excel-lent program,” said Stibitz. “North Muskegon and White-hall should also be strong.”

jEff kiESSEl | daiLy newSMembers of the Mason County Central girls soccer team are, sitting, from left, Abbie Berringer, Makila Hodges and Ashley Ingison; kneeling, Faith Vidak, Miranda Beebe, Leeann Wabsis, Isabel Raines, Kendal Wietecha and Faith Whitaker; standing, Kayla Berringer, Morgan Cook, Amari Rivera, Stephanie Schultz, coach Cheri Stibitz, assistant Payton Bladzik, Jacy Larson, Jordyn Sanders, Amanda Watkins and Hannah Pettis.

Mason County Central girls soccer

Hodges anchors Central’s chances

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vArSity BASEBAllTue., April 7, at Benzie Central, 4:15 p.m.Thur., April 9, at Hart, 4 p.m.Tue., April 14, Cadillac, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Holton TournamentTue., April 21, MontagueFri., April 24, at Ravenna, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Thurs., April 30, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, Briggs True-Value tourney, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at North Muskegon, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Frankfort, 4 p.m.Sat., May 9, at Lakeview Tournament, 10 a.m.Tue., May 12, Shelby, 4 p.m.Thur., May 14, at Suttons Bay, 4:30 p.m.Sat., May 18, at ManisteeTue., May 19, Oakridge, 4 p.m.Thur., May 21, at T.C. Christian, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 26, Mason County Eastern

vArSity SoftBAllTue., April 7, at Benzie Central, 4:15 p.m.Thur., Apirl 9, at Hart, 4 p.m.Tue., April 14, Cadillac, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Holton tournamentTue., April 21, Montague, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Ravenna, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, Briggs True-Value tourney, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at North Muskegon, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Frankfort, 4 p.m.Sat., May 9, at Lakeview tournament, 10 a.m.Tue., May 12, Shelby, 4 p.m.Thur., May 14, at Suttons Bay, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 19, Oakridge, 4 p.m.Thur., May 21, at T.C. Christian, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 26, Mason County Eastern, 4 p.m.

girlS SoccErTue., March 24, at Shelby, 5 p.m.

Tue., April 7, Hart, 5 p.m.Thur., April 9, Ludington, 4:30 p.m.Tue., April 14, Whitehall, 5 p.m.Tue., April 21, at Ravenna, 5:45 p.m.Fri., April, 24 at Benzie Central, 5 p.m.Tue., April 28, Montague, 5 p.m.Mon., May 4, at Manistee, 5 p.m.Tue., May 5, North Muskegon, 5 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Brethren, 5 p.m.Mon., May 11, at Oakridge, 7 p.m.Wed., May 13, WMC tournament, 5 p.m.Fri., May 15, Mason County Eastern, 4:40 p.m.Mon., May 18, WMC tournament, 5 p.m.Wed., May 20, WMC tournament, 5 p.m.

trAck AnD fiElDThur., April 9, at Hart, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, No. Muskegon, Ravenna, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Cadillac Invite, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, Shelby & Oakridge, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, Optimist Invitational, 2:30 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Montague, Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, at T.C. Central Invite, noonFri., May 8, at Manton Invite, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, WMC meet at Montague, 3 p.m.

golfThur., April 9, home quad, 4 p.m.Tue., April 14, WMC at Ravenna, 3:30 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, WMC at Whitehall, 3:30 p.m.Wed., April 22, WMC at North Muskegon,

1:30 p.m.Fri., April 24, Ludington Invitational, 9:30 a.m.Mon., April 27, at Shelby Invitational, 1 p.m.Tue., April 28, WMC at Montague, 3:30 p.m.Tue., May 5, WMC at Shelby, 3:30 p.m.Fri., May 8, East Living Flooring Invite, 9 a.m.Mon., May 11, WMC at Hart, 3:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, WMC jamboree, 3:30 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Montague Invite, 9:30 a.m.Sat., May 16, at Big Rapids Invitational, 9 a.m.

vArSity BASEBAllThur., Mar. 26, Pentwater, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 7, Manistee Catholic, 4:15 p.m.Thur., April 9, Mason Co. Central, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 14, at Montague, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, at Big Rapids Crossroads, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, at Oakridge, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, Manistee, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 28, North Muskegon, 4:15 p.m.Sat., May 2, Briggs True Value Tournament,

Mason County Central, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, Shelby, 4:15 p.m.Thur., May 7, at White Cloud, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Mon., May 18, at Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 19, Ravenna, 4:15 p.m.

vArSity SoftBAllTue., April 7, Manistee Catholic, 4:15 p.m.Thur., April 9, Mason Co. Central, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 14, at Montague, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, Big Rapids Crossroads, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 21, at Oakridge, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, Manistee, 4:15 p.m.Tue., April 28, North Muskegon, 4:15 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs True Value tournament,

Mason County Central, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, Shelby, 4:15 p.m.Thur., May 7, at White Cloud, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., May 15, Constantine, 4:30 p.m.Mon., May 18, at Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 19, Ravenna, 4:15 p.m.

girlS SoccErTue., April 7, at Mason County Central, 5 p.m.Thur., April 9, Brethren, 5 p.m.Tue., April 14, at Montague, 4:30 p.m.Thur., April 16, Reed City, 5 p.m.Sat., April 18, Hart tournament, 9:30 a.m.Mon., April 20, Oakridge, 5 p.m.

Tue., April 21, at North Muskegon, 7 p.m.Thur., April 23, Big Rapids, 4:30 p.m.Tue., April 28, Ravenna, 4:30 p.m.Thur., April 30, Mason Co. Eastern, 4:30 p.m.Tue., May 5, at Whitehall, 5 p.m.Thur., May 7, Manistee, 5 p.m.Mon., May 11, Shelby, 4:30 p.m.Wed., May 13, WMC tournamentMon., May 18, WMC tournamentWed., May 20, WMC tournament

trAck AnD fiElDThur., April 9, Mason County Central, 4 p.m.Sat., April 11, at Rodes Relays, 9 a.m.Thur., April 16, at Montague with Oakridge,

4 p.m.Tue., April 21, WMC triangular, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Scottville Optimist Invite, 3 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Shelby with North Muske-

gon, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at LeRoy Pine River, 10 a.m.Fri., May 8, at Oceana County Meet, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at WMC meet at Montague, 3

p.m.

golfTue., April 14, WMC at Ravenna, 3:30 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Golden Sands Quad, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, WMC at Whitehall, 3:30 p.m.Wed., April 22, WMC at North Muskegon,

1:30 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Ludington Invitational, 9:30

a.m.Tue., April 28, WMC at Montague, 3:30 p.m.Thur., April 30, Oceana County Tournament,

3 p.m.Tue., May 5, WMC at Shelby, 3:30 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Shelby Invite, 12:30 p .m.Mon., May 11, WMC, 3:30 p.m.Thur., May 14, WMC at Mason County Cen-

tral, 3:30 p.m.

Mason County Central schedules

Hartschedules

from PAgE 2

“We have a ton of infield-ers, but I need outfielders,” said Thomas. “That may force some position chang-es.”

Other junior newcomers besides Carrier are catcher/pitcher Matt Dilliner, out-fielder/catcher Chance Isles,

first baseman/pitcher Aus-tin MacDougall, outfielder Jake Martin and Tyler Liske, who is working with the team after suffering severe burns in a work-related acci-dent last year.

The team’s lone sopho-more, outfielder/infielder/pitcher Cody Soberalski, should be able to help out at

several positions.“I like the versatility of this

team and they are always hustling,” said Thomas.

The 2015 Mason County Central baseball team roster:

SeniorS: Austin Krusinski, Sean Wells, Jon Wittlieff.JuniorS: Nolan Asiala, Blake

Bladzik, Trevor Carrier, Matt

Dilliner, Chance Isles, Spencer Knizacky, Mitch Lange, Tyler Liske, Austin MacDougall, Jake Martin.Sophomore: Cody Soberalski.

Assisting Thomas with the varsity once again will be Seth Bush. At the junior var-sity level, Karl Shafer returns to lead the young Spartans.

Chris Carr will be his assis-tant.

Thomas sees defend-ing champion Muskegon Oakridge as the team to beat again.

“Everyone in the league will be decent,” added Thomas. “When you look at the veteran baseball coach-es we have in our league, we

can see why the conference is so tough. Guys like Brian Wright at Shelby and Warren Zweigle at Whitehall have been winning games for many years. In the league, I have the third lowest num-ber of years of service, nine.”

baSebaLL: Spartans shooting for more than 20 victories for 2015 campaign

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By AnDy roBErtSShoReLine Media

HART — Hart baseball won just three games last year, but were competitive more of-ten than in previous seasons, reaching the district finals and taking several league con-tests to the final inning before they were decided.

Unfortunately for the Pi-rates and coach Michael Gid-dings, several key members of that team graduated, in-cluding batting average lead-er Dakotah Cutter, leading pitcher Brandon Amstutz, and consistent leaders Con-nor Boundy, James Freeman and Tyler Lenon. In all, seven starters graduated.

This leaves several spots to fill for younger players, and Hart has no shortage of those. Leading them will be first baseman/pitcher Orlan-do Guzman, the top return-ing hitter for the Pirates, and catcher Brett Bonstell. Cen-terfielder Ty Davis is also back and will be counted on for his strong baserunning.

Moving up from the 2014 junior varsity squad will be Dylan VanderZwaag and Aus-tin Boundy, each of whom will pitch and play the middle in-field. (Despite being a varsity newcomer, VanderZwaag was voted a team captain along with Jaxon Riley and Guz-man.) Braden Schaner is also moving up and will occasion-ally relieve Bonstell behind the plate as just one of sever-al positions he’s projected to play.

Hart won’t be entirely be-reft of veteran leadership,

as seniors Jordan Self, Riley and Rusty Gleason will each have opportunities to earn key roles. Self and Gleason will likely see time in the out-field, while Riley, once recov-ered from a winter wrist in-jury, should see time at first base when Guzman pitches.

Some new faces that could make an impact include Joe

McClatchy, who came over from the golf team, as well as Brandon McCulley and Ja-cob Smith. McCulley is in only his second season of baseball, while Smith is in his first. Each should provide off-field con-tributions and should work their way into the lineup on occasion as well.

Giddings is trying to instill

a fighting spirit into his team this season by making every-thing a competition in prac-tice.

“There will be a winner and loser in every drill,” Gid-dings said. “One of our goals as a team this season is to work hard all the time. We will do this by focusing on every drill, every throw, ev-

ery swing, every practice ev-eryday.”

Hart also brings in a new varsity assistant this year, Ken Green. Giddings said he’s hopeful Green will have a positive impact on his team on and off the field.

On the diamond, Hart will face an always-difficult West Michigan Conference, but

the Pirates will hope to sur-prise some teams. Outside the league, Hart will face Manistee, the team it beat in last year’s district semifi-nals, as well as Mason Coun-ty Eastern and White Cloud, among others.

“We hope to improve as a team every game,” Giddings said.

Hart baseball

Pirates aim to turn losses to wins

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart baseball team are, front row, from left, Joe McClatchy, Ty Davis, Braden Schaner, Jacob Smith and Dylan VanderZwaag; second row, coach Michael Giddings, Jaxon Riley, Orlando Guzman, Jordan Self, Austin Boundy, Brandon McCulley and assistant Ken Green. Not pictured are Brett Bonstell and Rusty Gleason.

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HART — Hart track and field has done its best work in the running events in re-cent years, and there’s little to suggest that pattern will abate in 2015, as most of the Pirates’ key returners will perform on the track.

Hart did lose key perform-ers Derrek Broaddus, Lenin Castillo and Travess Smith, among others, to gradua-tion, from the boys team, as well as Sabrina Smith from the girls team, but many of last year’s top contributors have returned, putting the Pirates in a good position.

The girls track team, like the cross-country team in the fall, should be led by Jennie Gottardo and Sierra Albus, each of whom competed in

last year’s state finals. Albus excels in the longer distance events while Gottardo leads Hart in the middle distances. Kayleigh Gordon, Edna Lopez and Yolanda Gonzalez are back to lead the Pirates in the sprints, and Maddie Hodges will again be a key relay per-former.

On the boys’ side, Hart has Esteven Escamilla again ready to pace the sprinters and will get solid contributions from Devin Whitney and Brady Tate in that area as well. Jacob Hoebecke should again be on the pole vault. However, with Broaddus and Smith gone, the Pirates have a gap to fill in the middle distances, and Castillo’s departure leaves a massive hole at the high jump spot.

See trAck, 12

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart boys track team are, front row, from left, Luis Deblas, Amador Estrada, Devin Kaat, Daniel Farias, Michael Sosnowski, Joghan Ramirez, Estevan Escamilla, Emillio Ortiz, Jacob Bosley, Manuel Riley and Rafel Riley; second row, Devin Whitney, Willard Dold, Fher Mendez, Christian Salgado, Adrianne Hammerle, Brady Tate, Payton Vansickle, Michael Michalko, Aaron Vansickle and Assistant Coach Terry Peters; third row, Head Coach Mindy Whitney, Assistant Coach Josh Armstrong, Art Brandel, Jonah Gale, Austin Enns, Liam Wieringa, Cameron Tanner, Andy Rendon, Logan Wells, Kaleb Adams and Braxton Platt. Not pictured are Angel Aguilar, Jacob Hoebecke, Omar Ruiz and Benny Escamilla.

Hart track and field

Running events key for Pirates

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart girls track team members are, front row, from left, Hanna Mead, Edna Lopez and Maddie Hodges; second row, Makenzi Michalko, Jessica Riggs, Mary Ann Tate, Rikki Callaway, Cassidy Owens, Jaden Hanks, Lexi Gale and Alayna Ackley; third row, Assistant Coach Terry Peters, Mahayla Burns, Katiana Bishop, Norma Gonzalez, Kayleigh Gordon, Brenna McCann, Eryn Frinkle, Mirella Barco, Head Coach Mindy Whitney and Assistant Coach Josh Armstrong. Not pictured are Sierra Albus, Kassidy Baum, Alyx Beachum, Grace Compagner, Yolanda Gonzalez, Jennie Gottardo, Kaylin Swihart and Sadie Vanderstelt.



HART — The Hart girls soccer team shares some-thing in common with intra-county rival Shelby’s soccer team this season: Both have new coaches, and both of those coaches are also the boys soccer coaches.

Wilmer Barrera, a former player himself in his native Honduras and with an MLS development team, became the Hart boys soccer coach last fall and took on the girls job over the winter, re-placing Rebecca Gaarde. At-tempts to reach Barrera for comment were unsuccess-ful.

The Pirates struggled last year, falling short of their usual district title, but they also bring back many of their top players, so hopes

See SoccEr, 12


HART — Hart’s golf team brings back of its top scorers from last season, so the Pi-rates are hopeful they will be able to improve upon 2014, when they did not have a full lineup at the district tourna-ment.

Joe McClatchy elected to play baseball this spring and Joe Fillips graduated, but the Pirates bring back Matt Wil-son and Matt Vanderwall, as well as several new players.

The Pirates’ new golfers are Dale Thompson, Mark Willett, Walker Baum, Parker Holliday, Cornelius Karow and Timmy Carskadon.

Hart coach Chris Griffin takes over the full coaching duties after sharing them with Michael DeRuiter last season.

The Pirates will compete in three invitationals outside of their conference schedule and the county meet, those being a quad at Golden Sands and tournaments in Luding-ton and Shelby.

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart golf team members are, from left, coach Chris Griffin, Matt Wilson, Matt Vanderwall, Dale Thompson, Timmy Carskadon, Walker Baum and Mark Willett. Not pictured: Parker Holladay and Cornelius Karow.

Hart golfHart can field

full team in ’15

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart soccer team members are, kneeling, from left, Diana Giles, Brooke Hodges, Nichole Jorissen, Alexis Trocher Lopez, Megan Rasmussen, Anna Homminga, Faith Ramirez, Erika Wadel and Haley Alvesteffer; standing, assistant Stacey Baylis, Jillian Homminga, Mariah Foster, Anna Drenth, Aubrey Hertzler, Madison Hegedus, Yasmine Colon, Terri Carlson, Malaina Monroe and coach Wilmer Barrera. Not pictured: Lauren Hegedus, Manager Liliana Acosta and manager Damian Gonzalez.

Hart girls soccerBarrera takes on girls soccer team for Hart, too

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from PAgE 11

abound that the team can take a step forward this spring.

Hart wasn’t as potent offen-sively as it’s used to in 2014, scoring more than two goals only a few times, but with more experience, the team should be able to find the back of the net more often this season.

Hart lost goalkeeper Natalie Switaj and key defender Syd-

ney Scarbrough as well as McK-enna Kaat to graduation, but among the key returners are Anna Drenth, who was con-sistently in the box score last spring, as well as Madison He-gedus, Mariah Foster, Terri Carlson and Nichole Jorissen, key veteran players. Hart also brings up several players from last season’s JV team, though it doesn’t have a JV team this year. Diana Giles, Erika Wadel

and Brooke Hodges are some of the names that should be among the contributors. Fresh-man Yasmine Colon, who quickly took on a big role with the basketball team, will hope to do the same on the pitch. The Pirates have two keepers to start the year in Megan Ras-mussen and Anna Homminga.

Hart was in the middle of the pack in the West Michigan Conference a season ago, but

hopes to move up this year. Oakridge is the clear favorite, but spots appear to be up for grabs below the Eagles.

Outside the conference, Hart will face several good tests, in-cluding from Reed City, Big Rapids and Manistee. The Pi-rates will host a tournament Saturday, Apr. 18 and will also host the Division 4 district tournament.

tRaCkfrom PAgE 10

“We will be looking for kids to step up to fill those positions,” Hart coach Mindy Whitney said. “We are looking for good things to come from our freshman boys and girls. One thing that they have brought already is depth to the team.”

Whitney has set her hopes high this year, shooting for a top three spot in the West Mich-igan Conference for both the boys and girls teams, a tall order with Whitehall and Mason County Central again set to lead the league.


HART — The Hart varsity soft-ball team hasn’t had the success it would like in the win-loss column of late, winning two games two seasons ago and three last year. The Pirates will return to the field this spring hoping to add to that total.

Hart lost veteran seniors Brean-na Escamilla and McKenna Miller to graduation from last season’s team, and some of the non-seniors from 2014 elected not to play this year, leaving Hart without a JV team. This puts the Pirates in the position of being a youthful squad.

Junior Haley Mast is one of the key returnees for the Pirates, as well as Hannah Brown and Lauryn Tanner. Haleigh Schaner and Ali-son Altland, up from last season’s JV team, have stood out to coach Meghan Scott as having made im-provements from last year.

“(They) have put in a lot of time in the off-season and I am starting to see the results in practice,” Scott said.

Scott said her team will look to develop throughout the season and hopes to compete more con-sistently with some of the other schools in the West Michigan Con-ference.

The league projects to be deep

once again this year, with Mon-tague, Whitehall and Oakridge among the better teams. Consis-tent power North Muskegon has lost several players to graduation

and may fall off a bit, but the WMC race is unpredictable, Scott said.

“It is difficult to say who will pose the biggest challenge this year,” Scott said. “I have a lot of re-

spect for all of the coaches and the teams and I am looking forward to competing this year.”

Out of the league, the Pirates will face several interesting tests,

including mainstay Manistee and smaller schools such as Manistee Catholic, Big Rapids Crossroads and Onekama.

Hart softball

Softball team young, without JV

AnDy roBErtS | ShoReLine MediaMembers of the Hart softball team are, kneeling, from left, Brooke Loudermilk, Adrianna Sawdy, Emily Highland, Taylor Summers, Alison Altland and Alexis Masunas; standing, coach Meghan Scott, Savannah Lazo, Haley Mast, Hannah Brown, Haleigh Schaner, Alyssa Hinojosa, Micki Smith, Lauryn Tanner and Allison Tiles. Not pictured are Kari Merten, Alexis Slade and Rocky Smith.

SoCCeR: Girls soccer team gets its third coach in three years

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