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Last week the Cedar Springs varsity baseball team had to deal with a combination of Covid quarantines and colder temperatures, with wind chills that were below freezing.  That being said, there were some changes in the schedule. The Red Hawks played a conference double-header at Thornapple Kellogg on Thursday and another double against Traverse City West on Friday at home.  

Aiden Brunin took the mound in the opening game of the TK series.  He cruised through the first inning striking out 2 and allowing one earned run but had to come out of the game with some elbow discomfort. This left the remainder of the game to senior Trenton Snoeyink, who did a great job striking out a dozen Trojans, walking only 3. At the plate, the Red Hawks managed 4 walks and only 2 hits, a double by Snoeyink and a single by freshman Walker Glyshaw. Both hits were timely, as they each knocked in a run, but a devastating error in the bottom of the 7th inning caused the Red Hawks the game as they dropped their 5th in a row, this time losing 3-2.

In the second game of the double header the Red Hawks got a brilliant pitching performance from senior Dylan Knauf as he earned the victory, striking out 10 in what would be a one-hit, complete game shutout. In a game that ended 5-0, Cedar scattered 7 total hits, but really came alive in the 4th inning, scoring all 5 runs with two outs. Snoeyink was again the leader at the plate with a pair of hits. Seniors  Alec McDonald, Dylan Greenland and Willy Zain each had a hit, Greenland’s being a 2 RBI double.  Juniors Aiden Brunin and Jake Rocafort each added a hit as well.  

On Friday the Red Hawks played host to the Titans of Traverse City West in a double header. West marched out a southpaw junior, Wyatt Danilowicz, who recently committed to #3 ranked Louisville. He was dominant on the mound, striking out 16 Red Hawk batters, walking one and hitting one as he put his 90 mph fastball on display. The Red Hawks were able to bring up a pair of JV pitchers to get some valuable varsity experience. Sophomore Clay Oosting took the mound and was able to battle the Titans for 5 complete innings, striking out 4 and walking 2, while allowing one run. Sophomore Braydon Gregory came on to finish out the final 2 innings of the game, striking out one and allowing a pair of runs. The Titans defeated the Red Hawks in the first half of the double header 3-0.

In the nightcap, Cedar Springs again started a sophomore. This time Haydon Koepke took the hill. He walked a pair of Titan hitters and allowed 7 runs in his 2 innings of work, only 2 of which were earned. A pair of early defensive errors extended innings for Traverse City, forcing a pitching change. Freshman switch pitcher Walker Glyshaw came on and finished out the game on the mound, striking out 10 and walking 3 in five innings of work. Again, a few errors allowed in 5 more runs and, again, only 2 were earned. At the plate the Red Hawks scattered 8 hits throughout the game. Senior Willy Zain had a single and a double. Dylan Greenland also added a double. Caleb Menefee and Dylan Knauf each added two singles, while Alec McDonald added one. With a final score of 12-5, the Red Hawks finished their third week of play with a 3-7 record.  

Coach Glyshaw said, “If we can get to the point where we can play crisp, error free baseball, we could be really good.  It’s frustrating when I look at our record and realized our win-loss record could be reversed.”

This week the varsity baseball team will play a trio of games against conference opponent, Wayland, while hosting Central Montcalm for a single game. The results of these games will be in next week’s paper.

Next week’s schedule:

5/3 Home Double vs Sparta

5/4 Double @ Catholic Central

5/6 Home Single vs Catholic Central

By Judy Reed

Two of the toughest teams in the OK Gold went head to head last Friday evening: Catholic Central—the reigning Division 4 state champs, and Cedar Springs—conference champs in the OK White two years in a row. Both teams were 2-0 on the season. 

But another win for Cedar Springs just wasn’t in the cards Friday night. They took it on the chin 42-28, in spite of a rally in the second half that brought them within a touchdown of the Falcons.

“We obviously ran the ball extremely well and controlled time of possession, but we gave up too many big plays on defense and couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down,” explained Cedar Springs Coach Gus Kapolka. “I’m proud of the fight our kids showed in the second half, scoring on three consecutive drives and recovering an onside kick.”  

Catholic Central scored first at the 2:10 mark in the first quarter when Joey Silveri completed a pass to Danny Mikolay for a 21-yard touchdown. The kick by Jack Barlow was good for the extra point. 

At 9:56 in the second quarter, Silveri completed another pass, this time to Jace Williams for a 5-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was good.

With 7:16 left in the second, the Red Hawks scored when Alex Ream ran to the left and into the endzone for a 3-yard touchdown. Quarterback Jeremy Campione then ran the ball in for the two-point conversion. 

Just seconds later, Catholic Central came back and scored again with 6:59 left in the half on another pass from Silveri, this time to Nolan Zeigler, for a 49-yard touchdown. The extra point kick by Barlow was good. At the end of the half, the score was CC 21, CS 8.

Cedar Springs came out in the second half determined to make up for lost opportunities.

Catholic Central scored first, with 10:29 on the clock, on a one-yard run by Nick Hollern. The extra point kick was good.

Cedar Springs then scored with 5:01 left on the clock in the third when Aiden Brunin ran for an 18-yard touchdown. Alex Ream’s two-point conversion was good, making the score 28-16.

CC scored again when Silveri passed to Hollern for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was good, making the score 35-16.

Cedar Springs rallied and scored twice in the fourth quarter, for 12 more points. The first was on a run by Brunin for a 7-yard touchdown, and the second on a one-yard run by Campione. Extra points were no good. The score was now 35-28.

Catholic Central sealed the victory with 1:28 left in the game on a 28-yard run up the middle by Silveri. The extra point kick was good, making the final score CC 42, CS 28.

Cedar Springs had 383 yards on the ground. Leading the charge was Aiden Brunin with 151; Antwuan Nicholls with 88; Alex Ream with 87; Jeremy Campione with 28; Nathan Elliston with 20; Kyle Hoort with 6; and Da’Montae Barnett with 3.

Catholic Central had 191 yards rushing. Joey Silveri had 110, and Nick Hollern had 81. Silveri also completed 7 out of 8 passes for 191 yards on the air.

Defensively, Cedar Springs had 21 tackles, and Catholic Central had 73.

Cedar Springs (2-1) hosts South Christian (3-0) this Friday for homecoming. What does Coach Kapolka think they need to do win that game?

“We need to repeat our success on the ground against South Christian and limit the big plays on defense,” he said. “Those are our goals this week.”

While fans can buy tickets to the freshman and JV games this week, none are being sold at the gate for the Varsity Friday night, as it would exceed the 1,000 person cap. Three tickets to the game are being made available to participants (football, cheer, band) and extras to students.t

For others to watch, you will need to stream the game at https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cedar-springs-high-school-cedar-springs-mi/game2f253c198. According to a post by teacher Justin Harnden, their crew will be filming the game, not using the automated camera.

The cost for the streaming subscription to nfhsnetwork.com is $10.99 per month and less for a year’s subscription. A subscription allows you to watch games from all over the state of Michigan.