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Holland Christian
950 Ottawa Ave.
Holland, Michigan
49423
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 2006 Season |
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Thursday, June 22
27-6
School Record For Season Wins
MHSAA Quarterfinalist
Regional Champions
School's First Regional Title
District Champions
 | | Arendsen pitched 2 scoreless innings at the East-West All-Star Classic. | |
Wednesday, June 21
Arendsen Pitches as a Maroon for Final Time
Jake Arendsen has been a high school baseball player tied to the Holland Christian Maroons for 4 years. Tonight was the final time he pitched as a member of the Maroons. In the 25th East-West All-Star Game at Comerica Park, Arendsen pitched 2 scoreless innings looking very sharp. Jake entered in the third inning and left the game with the East winning by a score of 1-0. The West eventually won the game by a score of 9-4. He walked 0, struck out 2 and gave up 2 hits, 1 to the East MVP Alan Oaks of Dearborn Divine Child. He also successfuly completed a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the 3rd inning. "This was an excellent way for him to end his career" said varsity head coach Mike Ott. "He looked great and he loved every minute. Not speaking as his coach but a baseball fan, I felt like he was one of the best, if not the best pitcher who threw tonight. We had a good crowd there for Jake with his family, friends and teammates and it was a great way for him to end. It's bittersweet because I will miss having him as one of my players."
Arendsen ends his career as a Maroon finishing with a 19-4 record and earning All-Conference, All-Arera and All-District honors two years in a row. He was also named All-Regional, the Holland Sentinel Baseball Player of the Year and First Team All-State in 2006. "All the work he put in paid off and I am very, very proud of him" added Ott. Arendsen now joins Oakland University where he accepted a full ride Division I scholarship.
 | | Jeff Nykerk delivers for one of his 9 wins in his All-State season. | |
Tuesday, June 20
Maroons Highlight All-State Team
| |  | | Jake Arendsen fires a pitch in 1 of 2 no hitters boosting him to All-State. |
The season may have ended, but the coaches in the MHSBCA have not forgotten about the Holland Christian Maroons. It was announced today that three members of the Maroons were named to the All-State team. This is the greatest amount of members the Maroons have ever placed on the All-State team. Seniors Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk and junior Nick Scholten were all awarded the All-State award. Arendsen was named First Team All-State while Nykerk and Scholten earned Second Team honors. I am incredibly proud of these three guys said varsity head coach Mike Ott. All my guys are important to our success but when you look at the numbers of this year we had several guys have career years and these were three of them. I knew they had the credentials to be All-State and it a great honor for them and our program to actually be recognized for their efforts. They deserve this more than anyone knows.
Arendsen, named to the All-State team for the first time, put together one of the best season on the mound a Maroons player has ever accomplished. He finished the season 10-3 with a 1.31 ERA. Arendsen, who was named the Holland Sentinel Baseball Player of the Year, has now been named All-Conference and All-District for the second consecutive year and now All-Regional and All-State for 2006. He ended the year with 69.2 innings pitched, 119 strikeouts and only 33 walks. Opponents only hit an impressive .123 against him as he only gave up 29 hits. He gave up the greatest amount of hits in his last start, with 6, in the MHSAA Quarterfinal against Battle Creek Lakeview. Two no hitters also highlighted Arendsens 2006 season. Along with all the awards, he is also pitching in the East-West All Star Game at Comerica Park on Tuesday June 20 as only the second Maroon to ever play in the game. I think the only way he could have ended his career at HC more appropriately would have been with a State Title and boy did we almost do that said Ott. He has had a remarkable career, one that anyone would be blown away by. The fact of the matter is it didnt just fall in his lap. He worked and worked for it and he had his peaks and valleys just like anyone but he showed what a talent and true competitor he was by always listening and believing and look what he has accomplished. I am so proud of him.
Nykerk, also a senior captain along with Arendsen, received his first All-State award for his tremendous season on the mound. I am extremely happy for and proud of Jeff added Ott. For him to not pitch much last year because he had to catch, this might surprise some people. But we knew what a talent he was and why we were so optimistic coming into this season. We tried telling colleges how great he was but no one understood why he did not throw much his junior season. It drove me crazy because I knew what we had. By the end of the year, these colleges were the one being driven crazy knowing they had no chance at such a special kid and pitcher. He is a horse up there and has the potential to be an extremely great pitcher in college. He has the size, pitches and talent and he is just starting. He will be a big loss for the Maroons but it was an honor to have coached him the past two seasons. Nykerk finished second on the team with 67 innings and a 9-2 record but had a team leading 1.15 ERA. He also contributed 97 strikeouts while only walking 13 men. Opponents hit an impressive .150 against him. Nykerk has also earned All-Conference for two consecutive seasons and added All-District, All-Regional and now All-State for his 2006 season.
Junior Nick Scholten had many titles this year according to head coach Mike Ott. Scholt was our catalyst, our table setter, our sparkplug, our lead-off hitter. Anyway you put it his new title to end the year is All-State and Im pumped for him. Ott added Scholt put a lot of work in the off-season, probably more than he ever thought he would, and look what it got him. He had a remarkable season and sometimes I would just look at my assistant (Ken Beelen) and say is this kid really doing what I saw. He was big for us all season but he emerged in the post season like big time players do and helped carry us where no team had ever been. He was the ideal of a lead-off hitter that any coach would want and I am extremely proud of him. Scholten finished the 2006 season with a .500 batting average. He contributed 51 hits and of those 50, 10 were doubles and 3 were triples. He also led the Maroons with 43 runs scored, 35 stolen bases, 41 RBIs and a .580 on base percentage. He was a perfect 35 for 35 in stolen bases setting the single season record for Holland Christian. Beyond his offensive numbers, Scholten often sparked the Maroons offense by reaching base in more ways than hits but via walk, error or hit by pitch. The Maroons scored in 74% of the innings Scholten reached base with less than 2 outs. Along with this, Scholten committed only 1 error all season at second base. Too many times people forget the defensive side of the game and he was incredible for us at second. We worked a long time on his defense game in the off-season and he was rock solid for us all year replied Ott.
Ott added, Scholten will highlight a great group coming back next season (Bosma, Cousins, DeLoof, Hill, Scholten, Schonewill, VanAlten, and Zoerhof) where we have 8 of our 9 starters back so his hard work has been rewarded but it doesnt stop here. This is just the beginning for Nick and all our returners. Our program is headed in the right direction and I am so proud of every member of our team this year and they should see what all their hard work accomplished and know what they need to do this coming off-season as 2007 is quickly approaching.
 | | Nick Scholten on one of his 50 hits in 2006 earning him All-State honors. |
 | | The Maroons finished better than 97% of Division II teams in 2006. | |
Saturday, June 17
Maroons 5th team Remaining in 2006
The Maroons magical 2006 season was ended by the Division II MHSAA State Champions. Battle Creek Lakeview made quick work in the State Semifinals and Championship Game to win their third baseball State Championship in school history today over Escanaba by a score of 10-2. By virtue of losing to the eventual State Champion, the MHSAA considers the Maroons to be the fifth of the eight teams remaining. No Holland Christian team has ever finished higher or went further. Basically there are eight teams that make the Quarterfinals, 4 of which lose. Therefore the team that lost to the State Champion is fifth, the one that lost to the runner up is sixth and so on. It is a nice thing to say to our kids and about our program that we were the fifth team left out of 162 that started the year. We finished better than 97% of the other teams explained head coach Mike Ott. Most would just be happy with our 2006 season and do not get me wrong I am, but I am not satisfied and will not stop working. We wanted that State Title and still are disappointed our season was ended short of our goal but we had a year that was incredible and pushed our program further than any had ever been so this is just more icing on the cake. I would figure we will end up ranked between 3 and 5 on the season higher than any HC team has ever been
The Maroons finished the season 27-6 and set virtually all school records in a tremendous season. Ott finished by stating, our guys gave everything they had this year and I already miss them. I love those kids and I hope they realize what a year and ride they actually put together. I am beaming with pride for all of them and this program.
 | | Nick Scholten heads 3 Maroon members of the All-Regional Team. | |
Wednesday, June 14
3 Maroons Headline All-Regional Team
| |  | | Jake Arendsen earned his first All-Regional award for his stellar 2006 season. |
The accolades for the Holland Christian Maroons continue to pile in after their season was ended yesterday in the MHSAA Quarterfinals. The MHSAA announced the Division II All-Regional teams and the Maroons were represented with three players. Seniors Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk, alone with junior Nick Scholten made up the Maroons three players. According to an MHSAA official this is the most members of Maroons players on the All-Regional team since the award started.
Jake Arendsen, who ended the season 10-3 record and a 1.31 ERA, adds this award to his already award winning season. Arendsen, who was named the Holland Sentinel Baseball Player of the Year, has now been named All-Conference and All-District for the second consecutive year and now All-Regional for 2006. Jake had a wonderful season and I am extremely excited for him said varsity head coach Mike Ott. If people could see what he has done the last two seasons they would see how well deserving he is of any award he receives. I am going to miss him in this program. Arendsen ended the year with 69.2 innings pitched, 119 strikeouts and only 33 walks. Opponents only hit an impressive .123 against him as he only gave up 29 hits. He gave up the most amount of hits in his last start, with 6, in the MHSAA Quarterfinal against Battle Creek Lakeview. Arendsen, who was selected to pitch in the East-West All Star Classis on Tuesday June 20, ended his Maroons career 19-4. Arendsen has accepted a full ride scholarship to pitch at Division I Oakland University
Jeff Nykerk enjoyed a tremendous senior season for the Maroons. He was rewarded for his work on the mound however. Nykerk, who pitched only 10 innings his junior year, logged 67 innings, a 9-2 record and a team leading 1.15 ERA. He also contributed 97 strikeouts while only walking 13 men. Jeff was a huge reason for our success this year. Not only was he strong behind the plate but he became a legit go to guy all season long added Ott. Last year he wasnt able to pitch because he had to catch but he was as good as anyone this year and Trinity will be getting a legit ace. Jeff just got better and better each time he threw and he has 3 go to pitches. Our program is losing a lot with his graduation. Nykerk, who has earned All-Conference for his second straight year, All-District and All-Regional awards this season, will be attending Trinity Christian College, an NAIA school in Chicago, IL.
Junior Nick Scholten emerged as the catalyst for the Maroons program and enjoyed a career season and one of the finest statistical season of any Maroon player. Scholten, who played sparingly on the varsity squad his sophomore season led the Maroons in most offensive categories. He ended the 2006 season with a .500 batting average amassing 51 hits. Of those 51 hits, 10 were doubles and 3 were triples. He also led the Maroons with 43 runs scored, 35 stolen bases, 41 RBIs and a .580 on base percentage. Nick was fabulous all season. He is a huge reason our offense was so productive with him not only getting on base so often, but his ability to steal bases, put pressure on opposing teams and also drive runs in. For him to lead our offense in so many totals as a lead-off hitter is impressive. His ability to get the timely hit and drive runs in was as impressive of a feat that I saw all season. He set the table, he drove in runs and played great defense. He deserves this added Ott. Scholten will be a strong feature for the 2007 Maroons with 8 returning everyday starters.
Arendsen, Nykerk and Scholten will now be voted upon at the All-State meeting held by the MHSAA on Monday June 19th after the Michigan State Finals. "All 3 have the numbers to make All-State and I really hope they get the award they deserve. It would be great fit for them to end the season."
 | | Jeff Nykerk's sparkling senior season earns him another award, All-Regional. |
 | | Ott becomes the first Maroons head coach to be named Regional Coach of the Year. | |
Wednesday, June 14
Ott named Regional Coach of the Year
| |  | | Ott, on the left, signals in a pitch call. |
After the greatest season in Holland Christian Baseball history, Mike Ott, the Maroons skipper, has been named the Regional Coach of the Year by the MHSAA to make the fourth member of HC's team on the All-Regional squad. This award is given to only 8 of the 162 Division II coaches and is the first Maroons baseball coach to earn this award in school history. Ott guided the Maroons to the best single season in school history in only his second season. They were able to set the single season mark for wins and winning percentage, among other team records, and take the first Regional Title in HC history. The Maroons season ended in the MHSAA Quarterfinal. Along with this, the Maroons were ranked in the top 10 of Division II schools all season obtaining its highest ranking in school history when it was ranked 3rd in the state midway through the 2006 season. The amount of time and effort he puts into that program I am very proud of the fact that he is being recognized for all the work and preparation he does. He cares about these kids and the program more than people can realize and is doing wonderful things at Holland Christian commented the one person who sees the effect of the work the most, his wife Liz Ott. "Sometimes I think he's crazy but he loves what he does and his kids and it is great to see their success."
I came here and wanted to build a program and we are well on our way stated Ott. I cannot take a lot of the credit though as I have great kids who are coach able and do a tremendous amount of work. I owe a lot to my assistants in Ken, Spiegel and Heuker for their work and they are a huge part of this and I accept this award with them as equal participants in me gaining it. I am sad our season ended because one of the main things I try and instill is that I care much more about my guys than just what they do on the field. I wanted to incorporate a family atmosphere and as much time as we spend together each of them are my family and vice versa and I love my guys. We did some special things this year and I am extremely proud of all of them.
The Maroons are 44-15 under Ott in his 2 years for a remarkable 75% winning percentage. Along with the atmosphere change of Maroons Baseball, there is a greater commitment to hard work and preparation. I am huge on you cannot succeed if you do not prepare to succeed and why we work so hard as a coaching staff and together as a team. It is catching on and why some of these guys are reaching heights they probably never figured them individually or us as a team could achieve. This is more than just baseball but about life and life skills for the betterment of each individual in our program and I feel we have one of the best programs going right now. Its amazing what belief and attitude can accomplish and this program is starting to achieve that.
 | | Jake Arendsen ends his career as a Maroon with a 19-4 career record. | |
Tuesday, June 13
Maroons Miraculous Run Ends
|  | | Jeff Nykerk fires a pitch against Lakeview. He ended his senior season 9-2. | |
Holland Christians quest to continue to carry the schools baseball program further than it had ever been prior to the 2006 season ended quietly at Jenison High School in the MHSAA Quarterfinals. This was the Maroons first Regional Title and trip to the Quarterfinals in school history. The Maroons were defeated by the top ranked Spartans of Battle Creek Lakeview 5-0 to end their miraculous season at 27-6. This also was the first time the Maroons have been shut out in Coach Ott's two seasons. Not only were the 27 wins a school record, but the Maroons set nearly every positive team statistic for a season. When asked regarding the season Head Varsity Coach Mike Ott said this was a wonderful group that came together and we had a magical ride. I am very proud to have led them for all the months we worked together. Im very sad that it is over but they need to remember the strides they made for this baseball program.
The Spartans scored in their first at bat to gain a 1-0 lead which they would never relinquish. The Maroons hung in a 1-0 game until the fifth inning when Lakeview pushed across 3 runs all with 2 outs. BC Lakeview would add a fifth run in the sixth inning to cap their scoring. Ott added, Lakeview is a tough team and today they executed better than us. Any time they had to execute they did. They scored all their runs with 2 outs and pushed across the runners in scoring position, we did not. One hit by us or getting out of an inning and it may have been a different game but Lakeview deserved it.
The Maroons offense was stymied by two Division 1 bound pitchers in Brett Schwartz and David Mills. Schwartz, bound for Western Michigan, was erratic walking 7 Maroons but HC was not able to capitalize on the lack of control. Schwartz threw hard and was effectively wild and we could not capitalize with guys in scoring position said Ott. Mills came on in the sixth to close the door. The Maroons left 8 men on base, 5 of which were in scoring position. We had the opportunity early having guys in scoring position in three of the first four innings but just could not get the timely hit and thats what it came down to, having the opportunity and taking advantage of it. Nick Scholten aided the Maroons with one of their two hits, as he broke the no hitter in the fifth inning. Jake Arendsen added a single in the sixth for the Maroons final hit.
Arendsen, who pitched on two days rest for the second time in two weeks, took the loss to end the season 9-3. Jake was pitching on pure heart added Ott. He was asked to pitch on short rest again and we felt he gave us the best chance to win and I still believe that. He has been the leader of the staff this season and unfortunately he got a few pitches up and a good team took advantage of it. Arendsen threw 5 innings, giving up 6 hits. He also struck out 4 and walked 4. Jeff Nykerk finished the game pitching the final 2 innings giving up 1 run and striking out 2. Jake and Jeff have been huge for us all season and if we were going to go down I wanted both of them to have a chance to pitch one more time as a Maroon replied Ott. Also marking the end of their Maroons career was John Prins. I love my guys and I am going to miss these seniors. added Ott. From the day I took over these have been some of the main guys working their tails off and they have made the program better by being a part of it. We will greatly miss them and they all know how highly I think of each of them. Arendsen will be pitching for Oakland University and Nykerk will be pitching for Trinity Christian College. Prins will be attending the University of Michigan in the Engineering program.
The end of the season is bittersweet because we wanted to win the State Title and I feel we had the talent and team to do it said Ott. These guys have been my family for the past 7 months and I will miss that. Unfortunately with the way I am I am already scheming for the off-season and how to get us back here and advance further. One thing I can promise that if I am back, this program will not settle for the type of season we had. We still have a lot of work to do to get to the level I want. I am extremely proud of this team, as I hope everyone is, for doing things no other HC team has ever done. We have a lot returning next year and this team needs to realize what a seed it has planted for the baseball program.
 | | Nick Scholten ends the no hitter with a single in the fifth inning. |
 | | The Maroons hoist their first Regional Title after 2 fundamentally sound games. | |
Saturday, June 10
Maroons Claim First Regional Title in School History
|  | | Arendsen's 1 hit shutout sent the Maroons to the Regional Final. | |
The Holland Christian Maroons claimed the Regional Championship with back to back victories over the host Lakewood Vikings and the 2005 Division II Runner-Up Grand Rapids Christian Eagles. The victories continued the Maroons record breaking season increasing their record 27 wins in a season. The Maroons overall record now stands at 27-5 as they move into the MHSAA Quarterfinals where only 8 teams remain. This is the first Regional Championship in Holland Christian school history. We are having a magical season but it is well worth it after the amount of work we have all put in said varsity head coach Mike Ott. To do something that no team ever at HC has done is special but we knew we belonged here and we proved that. We want three more wins this season.
HC pounded out 10 hits in the first Regional game of the day against Lakewood High School. Lakewood entered the tournament with a 31-10 record. The Maroons started strong with Nick Scholten continuing his torrid pace lacing a double on the left centerfield gap and advanced to third on an error. He then scored on Alex Beelens RBI single. The Maroons would then wait until the third inning as Beelen walked and then was brought in later in the inning on a Kirk Cousins sacrifice fly. HC opened the game up in the fifth inning plating 5 runs with Scholten and Beelen reaching with base hits. Kyle Schonewill was hit by a pitch and then Cousins gained his second RBI by gaining a bases loaded walk. The Maroons then took advantage of a Viking error and Jeff Nykerk then laced a 2 RBI single to score Cousins and Arendsen. The Maroons led after 5 innings by a score of 7-0 and would add a run in the seventh to get the final score of 8-0. John Prins, inserted as a pinch hitter, stroked a single up the middle. Jake VanAlten then re-entered and reached second base on a wild pitch. Nick Scholten added a groundout to move VanAlten to third and then scored on Alex Beelens third hit of the game. Scholten and Beelen both finished with 3 hits. Nykerk added 2 hits while Prins and Kyle Schonewill added singles to give the Maroons their ten hits. We hit the ball real well and did exactly what we had worked on all week added Ott. I was very pleased with our fundamental approaches and manufacturing runs with situational hitting and moving runners up with productive outs which led to several of our runs.
Jake Arendsen made his twelfth start of the season count for the Maroons tossing a one hit shutout to gain his tenth victory of the season. Jake was once again dominant and one fly ball from another no hitter said Ott. Arendsen struck out 3, walked 1 and allowed only the one hit. The impressive fact was Arendsen held Lakewood scoreless using only 62 pitches on the afternoon. He pounded the zone and was ahead all day and he is tough to beat when he does that. Plus our defense behind him was flawless Ott added.
The Maroons with the victory were then set up to play last years Division II Runner-Up in Grand Rapids Christian. Ott noted, I had seen Christian earlier this season and was impressed with how they played and we needed to play a fundamentally sound baseball game. Thats exactly what we did again only committing one error in the final inning which did not come back to hurt us. We made adjustments, stressed the fundamentals that had gotten us here and took advantage of some Eagle mistakes.
HC did not hesitate or crack under the pressure of the Regional Championship game. Despite the fact Christian played and won this Regional last year, we looked like and played like the team that had been here before and that is a testament to our mental toughness said Ott. The Maroons struck first in the second inning as Kirk Cousins started the inning with a single. He then moved to second after Nykerk was hit by a pitch. After the bases were loaded with two outs, Jake VanAlten earned an RBI after getting hit by a pitch. Nate DeLoof, courtesy running for Nykerk, then scored on a wild pitch. Then stepped to the plate Nick Scholten with two men on, two outs and two strikes and once again delivered a 2 RBI single to make the score 4-0. Scholt did that in our districts and came through again. He is prepared and executes and came up big for us said Ott. The Maroons would hold Christian scoreless until they scored in the fourth inning. Andrew Bosma started the fourth with a single and then stole second base. He was then moved up by Austin Zoerhof and scored on a wild pitch. That is manufacturing a necessary run and shows how well we understand the game with our situational hitting Ott commented. HC added their sixth run in the seventh as VanAlten worked a walk and then scored on Nick Scholtens RBI single, his third of the game. Scholten and Cousins went 2 for 4 in the championship game. Jake Arendsen added a single, as did Bosma and Schonewill for the Maroons for their seven hits. Ott stressed, Our game today went beyond statistics with situational hitting and taking advantage of mistakes and those things are not in box scores. We have stressed that all year and I am very proud of our guys.
Not to be outdone on the mound, Jeff Nykerk dominated the Eagles holding them to one run in seven innings. This was a very strong hitting club that Jeff held down and is proof of just how good his stuff was today said Ott. Nykerk registered his eighth complete game of the year and moved his record to 9-2 on the year. The one run was unearned and scored with 2 outs in the seventh inning. Nykerk struck out 7 men, walked 2 and only gave up 3 hits. At one time Nykerk set down 16 straight Eagles batters.
The Maroons will now move to the Quarterfinals which are being hosted at Jenison High School. HC will face Battle Creek Lakeview at 4:15 on Tuesday, June 13. BC Lakeview has had a good year and is currently ranked 1 in the state but we are playing great baseball right now. They have a strong pitching staff and we will need to execute the way we are capable of. I am very confident in our group and the way we are playing right now and this should be a good show down. Anytime only eight teams remain in the State you know it will be good competition added Ott. The cost of admission is $5.00 and directions can be found under the schedules section of the Maroons webpage.
| | Nick Scholten went 5-8 with 3 RBI on the day for the Maroons. |
 | | Nick Scholten singles in 2 of his 4 RBI to pace the Maroons. | |
Monday, June 5
Maroons clinch District Championship & School Win Record
|  | | Jeff Nykerk delivers the final pitch of Districts in his complete game victory. | |
After 7 long years, the District 47 trophy will be stored at Holland Christian High School. The Maroons continued their magical season defeating the host Rogers High School by a score of 7-4 on Monday. The game was suspended from Saturday in the top of the first inning. Along with the district title, the Maroons sealed themselves in the Holland Christian record books with their 25th win of the season. This sets the schools record for wins in a season, along with several other season records such as team batting average, team ERA and winning percentage to name a few. The victory pushed the Maroons 20 games over .500 to a record of 25-5. I am extremely proud of this group for what we have accomplished said varsity head coach Mike Ott. This is terrific for our kids, our parents and the school because it has been a long time coming. We will enjoy this for a day or so and then get focused on Regionals.
The road to the title was side tracked twice in the past week by weather forcing the championship game to be played on Monday. Holland Christian defeated Hamilton, Zeeland East and then Rogers. The Maroons were forced to rally to defeat the Golden Hawks. HC fell down early by a score of 3-0 after the first inning. Rogers used three straight singles in the first off starter Jeff Nykerk to gain their lead. I thought we were very tight in the first inning said Ott. Jeff uncharacteristically hung a few pitches and they were flared into right field. We got together before the second and reassured them we were ok and to take a few deep breaths. After that we settled into our game and played very strong baseball. After the first inning, Nykerk got into a grooved only allowing one other run in the fourth inning, which was unearned. In the fourth, the Golden Hawks had the bases loaded with no one out and then Nykerk proceeded to strike out the number eight hitter. Rogers number nine hitter flared a pitch into right field and right fielder Austin Zoerhof gave a perfect deke to the runners as if we were going to catch the ball. The ball dropped in front of Zoerhof and he made a strong throw to Alex Beelen at second to get the second out. This forced the run in for Rogers. The Hawks lead off man then almost broke the game open stroking a groundball between second and first. Nick Scholten however saved the day making a spectacular sliding play in shallow right and pounced up and made the throw to end the inning. Scholten made a fabulous play which kept us in the game and looking back may have saved it for us said Ott. Nykerk downed the Hawks 1-2-3 in the seventh inning to push his record to 8-2 on the season and his fifth complete game of the year. He gave up four runs, three earned, 5 hits and ended with 9 strikeouts and only 1 walk.
Nick Scholten not only made the huge play in the field but came up with one of his best clutch performances of his career. Facing two different 2 strike counts with 2 outs and runners on second and third he delivered both times with singles into right field which scored 4 of the Maroons 7 runs. What can I say about Scholten? said Ott. It was his coming out party and he was as clutch as we have seen him all year. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in him and he delivered big time today. Scholten ended the day with 4 RBI going 2 for 3 with a walk and scoring a run. Kyle Schonewill also added a single in the first inning for the Maroons third and final hit. Ott added, it was not the prettiest game our offense has come up with gaining only 3 hits but the little things are what make the difference. We scored 2 runs without gaining a hit using a walk, an error and wild pitch and then Schonewill and Cousins did their jobs grounding out to the second baseman to get 2 runs in. That is great baseball manufacturing runs and good teams are able to do that. You look in the box score and people dont see those things but they are huge in winning and losing ball games. We had guys executing great bunts like John Prins, running the bases, situational hitting, it was great to see the strong mental understanding of the game today from our guys. HC also added seven more stolen bases setting up the timely Maroon hits.
HC will now be off until their first Regional trip in 7 years. It has been reported no team from HC has ever won a Regional game said Ott. Our goal is to continue making a run at the State title, not just win a district. We have cleared a hurdle and need to start looking at the next one. The next hurdle will be Lakewood-Lake Odessa. The game will be played at Lakewood-Lade Odessa High School in Lake Odessa, MI. Directions can be found in the schedules section of the Maroons webpage. Game time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday June 10. More information on the Regional will be made public later in the week.
 | | The Maroons begin the celeberation of District Champions! |
 | | Alex Beelen and Jake Arendsen celebrate the District and All-District honors. | |
Monday, June 5
5 Maroons Named All-District/Cousins earns Academic All-District
| |  | | Junior Kirk Cousins was named All-District and Academic All-District. |
Holland Christians record setting day started out very strongly but was not on the baseball field. It took place in a classroom at Lakewood High School in Lake Odessa, MI. All 12 schools involved in the Maroons District gathered to name the top players for All-District Awards. This is the next step in moving on to make All-Regional and then finally All-State. HC had 5 players garner the All-District award and will move on to the next step in postseason honors.
Seniors Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk, juniors Kirk Cousins and Nick Scholten and sophomore Alex Beelen all earned All-District Awards. Jake Arendsen took home the most votes for pitchers having pitched in 63.2 innings striking out 114 men while only walking 28 men. He has highlighted his 2006 season tossing 2 no hitters which aid him in only giving up 23 hits on the season. Jakes numbers are mind boggling and he deserves every award he gets after how hard he has worked the last two years said varsity head coach Mike Ott. Arendsen has a 9-2 record and a .99 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .108 batting average.
Nykerk was also named All-District as a pitcher having put together a fantastic season. The unfortunate thing is that Jake and Jeff overshadow one another but Jeff has been great all year. He pounds the zone and he is a huge reason why we are where we are said Ott. Nykerk gained his eighth victory of the season in the District Championship moving his record to 8-2. He has tossed 57 innings striking out 90 men while only walking 10 men. Jeff has a 1.21 ERA giving up 30 hits and opposing hitters are hitting only .146 against him.
Nick Scholten, coming off his strong district tournament, was named the top infielder vote getter. Scholten has highlighted the Maroons season hitting .490 on the year with 44 hits and 34 RBI, good for a tie for the team high. Scholten is also a perfect 34-34 in stolen bases and has played flawless defense. He has an eye popping .560 on base percentage and leads the team with 41 runs scored. Nick Scholten has only struck out 8 times in over 100 plate appearances. Scholten has had an amazing year; as good of offensive numbers as I have been around in my 5 years of coaching. It is a testament to his attitude and work ethic and I am very proud of him said Ott.
Cousins was the next Maroons selected for his work at third base. Cousins, in 30 games, has hit .427 with 35 hits. He has contributed 4 doubles and 4 triples along with 24 RBI. Cousins has enjoyed a strong season at the plate and on the bases enjoying a .536 on base percentage, a perfect 19-19 in stolen bases and having scored 32 runs. Kirk has also been very solid at third base only committing 4 errors on the year. Kirk has been one of our steadiest players all season and his ability to move all over the field as been huge. He is a natural athlete and is one of our best leaders and really deserves this said Ott. Cousins also earned Academica All-District as the lone member of the Holland Christian team selected. Kirk Cousins was selected as he maintains a 4.0 during his entire high school career. "To be the caliber of athlete that Kirk is and maintain a 4.0 says a lot for teh Cousins' family, Kirk and his work ethic and I am very proud to be his coach"
Alex Beelen rounded out the third of the six All-District infielders. Beelen, who is only a sophomore, has flourished in his second season as the starting shortstop for the Maroons. Beelen heads to Regionals batting .429 with 39 hits, five of which are doubles. He has also contributed 22 RBI and has scored 32 runs. Beelen is 17-20 in stolen bases and maintains a .531 on base percentage. Besides his play at the plate, Beelen has solidified the middle of the infield with a .963 fielding percentage only making 3 errors all season. Alex has been great all year. He understands the game and after struggling as a freshmen, has been great for us. He fits perfectly into the #2 spot in our lineup and I am very happy he was awarded for his play said Ott.
The Maroons had the most players nominated to the All-District team with 5 members of the 22 players. No other school had more than 3 players selected. It is a great honor for these 5 but also for our entire program and the season we have been enjoying added Ott. The Maroons will look to add to their honors in their first appearance in Regionals this coming Saturday, June 10 at Lakewood High School.
 | | Jeff Nykerk and Nick Scholten gained All-District honors. |
 | | Coach Ott hoists the district title. HC is 42-14 under Ott in his 2 years. | |
Monday, June 5
Ott Named District Coach of the Year
| |  | | Coach Ott flashes signs during the Maroons district title run. |
It is not the result but the process. Coach Mike Ott from Holland Christian High School has been preaching these words since taking over the Maroons program and the result of this process has garnered him District Coach of the Year for the Maroons baseball program. Coach Ott is in his second year at the helm and has reestablished the Holland Christian baseball program after winning a district title after a seven year drought. I have never been around anybody that is so prepared to lead a team, said varsity assistant coach Ken Beelen. Beelen continued to express his excitement about working with some one that goes out of his way and works so hard to help prepare young men not only to succeed on the baseball field, but also in life. He expects a lot and has high standards for these young men but he does not expect anything out of them that they cannot achieve said Beelen. The Maroons of 2006 have had a good ride thus far surpassing and setting many school records along the way. Beelen said Coach Ott would enjoy this district championship for a short time and then begin preparing for the next step in the process. He completely practices what he preaches Beelen said. Ott, who took over in the fall of 2004, is 42-14 in his two years for a remarkable 75 percent winning percentage. He has changed this program and we are extremely lucky to have him. Along with the District Coach of the Year Award for 2006, Coach Ott was awarded as the OK-Gold Coach of the Year in 2005 and was the head coach of the OK-Gold John Bos All-Star Team. In his two seasons, the Maroons have a conference title (OK-Gold) in 2005 and placed second in conference in 2006 (OK-Green). They have also advanced to the district title game two years in a row winning in 2006. The award for being District Coach of the Year is extremely well deserved, echoed several of the HC parents. Coach Ott was honored to accept it, but true to his character he said, I have preached all year long that awards and recognition are nice and I am grateful for it, but Maroons baseball is not finished with this journey and we will get back to work at practice tomorrow to begin preparing for our next game. Beelen laughed, If he gets more than three hours of sleep tonight I will be surprised, like I said earlier, the man will be prepared. The Holland Christian Maroons of 2006 continue to prepare, moving on to regional play at Lakewood High School in Lake Odessa. Congratulations are to be extended to the Maroons baseball program for their district championship and special congratulations are to go out to coach Mike Ott on being named District Coach of the year.
 | | Arendsen no hits Chix and is named Holland Sentinel baseball player of the year. | |
Saturday, June 3
Arendsen's no hits Chix to move to District Championship/Weather suspends Championship
| |  | | Nick Scholten led the Maroons with 3 hits on the afternoon. |
The Holland Christian Maroons looked to enjoy a long Saturday afternoon at Rogers High School looking to take the district title. The day was half a success. The Maroons defeated Zeeland East for the third time this season by a score of 6-1 behind Jake Arendsens second no hitter of the season and his career. This win advanced the Maroons to their third straight district title game. Mother Nature once again took over though. With the win, the Maroons have matched Holland Christians all-time record for wins in a season with 24. The Maroons record is now 24-5. We have been having a great year but we are still a game short of a big goal of ours and we will have to be really ready to go on Monday against a good Rogers team said varsity head coach Mike Ott. "I didn't like the feeling (lack of intensity and urgency) starting the game so maybe the weather is a blessing. We have to have the greatest intensity of the season as it is a lose and go home situation. However I am very confident in the fact we must do what we have done all year and execute our fundamentals and we should be alright." In the championship game against Rogers, who defeated Wyoming Park 8-3 in their semi-final game which was also a no hitter, the skies opened and the field was flooded with rain. The game was suspended with 2 outs in the top of the first inning with the score 0-0 with HC at the plate. The game will be made up on Monday June 5 at 4:00 p.m. Ott added, "we haven't worked this hard just to get to this game and the guys need to realize it is not routine to be in this spot. We have been here before and not executed in the past but we are a different team this year. We must come out focused and intense on Monday in order to become district champions."
In the district semi-final game, the Maroons jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Nick Scholten, who led the Maroons going 3 for 4 with a triple and double and 3 RBI, led off the game with a triple. He scored on the next at bat as Alex Beelen gained the RBI on a groundout. Kirk Cousins later scored in the first on an RBI single by Jeff Nykerk. Jake VanAlten pushed the third run across the plate in the second inning by gathering a walk, stealing second and advancing to third on an error. He then was driven in on a RBI sac fly by Nick Scholten. VanAlten would score the Maroons fourth run in the third inning by getting on base with a single, stealing second base and once again being driven in by Nick Scholtens RBI single. Jeff Nykerk, who was 2 for 4 on the day, got his second RBI driving in Kirk Cousins with a RBI single in the fourth inning. The scoring was halted until the seventh inning when Andrew Bosma led off with a single. John Prints then pinch hit and dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt. Scholten came to the plate once again with 2 outs and drove a RBI double to the right field corner for his third RBI and third hit. The Maroons pounded out 13 hits on the afternoon. Alex Beelen, Kirk Cousins, Jake Arendsen and Jake VanAlten all added a single. Kyle Schonewill and Andrew Bosma both collected 2 singles.
The story of the semi-final game was how starter Jake Arendsen would rebound from 2 days rest for the first time in his career. The obvious answer was quite well. Arendsen held the Chix to no hits throwing a complete game for his second career no hitter. This was not as dominant as his first no hitter a week ago (17 K, 0 hits) but he was on 2 days rest for the first time in his career said Ott. Jake showed great mental toughness battling his fatigue and says a lot for his makeup. He battled one really poor inning and I was very proud of how he handled himself today. Arendsen pitched all seven innings striking out 11 men while walking 5. The lone Chix run scored after 2 Arendsen walks, a hit batter and an Arendsen balk, his first of the season. The win moves Arendsen to 8-2 on the season. Along with the no-hitter, it was announced after the game that the Holland Sentinel has named Arendsen their baseball player of the year. This award is given considering all local Holland area teams. "It is a great honor for Jake and he certianly deserves it" said Ott. He will be awarded on June 12th at the DeVos Fieldhouse.
The Maroons will travel once again to Rogers High School on Monday June 5th for the district championship. Jeff Nykerk will start for HC with game time at 4:00 p.m. The cost of admission is $5.00 and the winner of this game will move onto Regionals which will be held on Saturday June 10.
 | | Jake VanAlten beats the relay throw for the Maroons third run. |
 | | Senior Jake Arendsen will pitch in the East-West All-Star Classic. | |
Thursday, June 1
Arendsen named to East-West All-Star Game
Only a few of Michigans High School Baseball Players will still be playing baseball associated with their high school in late June, Jake Arendsen will now be one of those few. The Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association announced today that Arendsen was named a member of the 25th East-West All-Star Baseball Classic to be played at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. This is a prestigious honor and a game pitting the best of the best from the State of Michigan with the All-Stars from the east side of Michigan facing the west side All-Stars. Arendsen will suit up for the west side All-Stars. This marks the second player from Holland Christian to play in the game as Dave Ekdom (04) also played as a member of the west side All-Stars.
Arendsen, who earned his seventh win of the season yesterday in the 6-0 victory over Hamilton, brings a 17-3 career record to Comerica with a 1.24 career ERA. Two of his three losses have been by one run. Jake has also logged 130 innings pitched in his three years amassed over 22 starts. In those 130 innings, Jake has struck out 230 men while only walking 55. In his career, Jake has 7 complete games, one of which was a no hitter and four games of 15 or more strikeouts. The most impressive statistic is that opposing teams are hitting a meager .117 against Arendsen in his career and has given up only 4 extra base hits in his varsity career which began his sophomore season. I am extremely excited for Jake said varsity head coach Mike Ott. To see where he began a few years ago and the strides he has made is a testament to his work ethic, his ability to be coached, his desire and his talent. He has dominated this area for a few years now and deserves this more than anyone I have worked with. This is a huge honor and I am very proud of him.
Information on the East-West All-Star game can be found on the MHSBCAs webpage at www.mhsbca.org. The game will be held on Tuesday, June 20th at 7:00 p.m. in Detroit, MI at Comerica Park. Arendsen will be honored, along with all the other members of the All-Star team, on Monday June 19th in a banquet in Detroit. The cost of admission to the game is $5.00.
 | | Alex Beelen slides in for the 4th run. The aggressive baserunning led to 6 runs. | |
Wednesday, May 31
Maroons silence Hamilton
|  | | Jeff Nykerk led the Maroons offense going 2-2 with 2 RBI. | |
The anticipated rematch of Hamilton and Holland Christian High School did not disappoint on Wednesday afternoon at Lamar Park. The Maroons notched their third win over the Hawkeyes of Hamilton on the season with a 6-0 victory. This marked the third shutout of Hamilton in as many tries and 20 innings overall. Hamilton finishes its most successful season at 22-9 while Holland Christian continues its record setting season with its overall record at 23-5. The Maroons will now face the Chix of Zeeland East, a fellow OK-Green team, at 1:00 p.m. in the district semi-final at Rogers High School.
Hamilton sent its ace to the mound in Michael Dekker. Dekker, who was 9-1 entering Wednesdays game, brought an impressive resume to the matchup. He ended up pitching the entire game yielding 6 runs, 5 of which were charged as earned and 7 hits. I was impressed with Dekker and his makeup added varsity head coach Mike Ott. We beat a good team and a very good pitcher doing the things that got us here. We had Hamilton well scouted and the game plan was executed flawlessly by our guys. The Maroons went quietly the first 2 innings and then batted around the lineup in the 3rd inning pushing across 6 runs. Austin Zoerhof started the inning with an infield single and then was moved on by a bunt single by Jake VanAlten. VanAlten then stole second and both runs were brought in on Nick Scholtens 2 RBI single. Scholten then promptly stole second and was brought in on an RBI single by Alex Beelen. Beelen advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then was brought in on one of Hamiltons 2 errors. Jake Arendsen followed with a double placing runners at 2nd and 3rd. Senior Jeff Nykerk, who was 2-2 on the day, stepped to the plate and delivered a two strike, two out, 2 RBI single to end the scoring at 6. HC ended the game with 7 hits and 2 stolen bases. We were aggressive on the bases taking the extra bases and it paid off said Ott. We have to be able to put more on the board than just one innings worth of scoring but I am very happy in the victory.
The 6-0 shutout of Hamilton was the eighth shutout of the season which set another school record for Holland Christian. Jake Arendsen started for the Maroons and logged 4 strong innings and kept his pitch count very low. Arendsen ended the day with 2 hits allowed, 7 strikeouts and 1 walk. Arendsen received the win moving his record to 7-2 on the year. Jeff Nykerk emerged onto the mound to pick up his 2nd save of the year pitching the final 3 innings with only 29 pitches. Nykerk gathered 3 strikeouts and only allowed 2 hits. My plan going in today was to have us get ahead early and keep our aces pitch counts down said Ott. We were fortunate to get ahead and the guys were great on the mound. They had pitch counts that were very low and both will be ready to go with the 2 days rest on Saturday. Now who starts game 1 is the question that is yet to be answered!
HC will be off until the semi-final game on Saturday when they face local and conference rival Zeeland East. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at Rogers High School on Saturday June 3.
 | | The Maroons celebrate the district win over Hamilton, 2 games to go! |
 | | Jake Arendsen, Jeff Nykerk, Kirk Cousins & Nick Scholten earn All-Conference. | |
Thursday, May 25
5 Maroons earn All-Conference Awards
The OK-Green announced its baseball All-Conference awards late Thursday evening. The Holland Christian Maroons earned 5 of the All-Conference awards. HC was granted the highest amount of first team All-Conference players of the seven OK-Green schools with 4 players. Jake Arendsen, Jeff Nykerk, Kirk Cousins and Nick Scholten were the four Maroons who earned the first team honor. Sophomore Alex Beelen earned the fifth award being named Honorable Mention All-Conference. I am very proud of these five guys, along with our entire team, on the season we have put together. We have never been about numbers or statistics, just playing the game the right way at all times, Maroons Baseball. To have them recognized for their hard work it is an excellent honor for each of them and our entire team said varsity head coach Mike Ott.
Jake Arendsen was named All-Conference first team for his second year, having previously won the award in the OK-Gold. Arendsen was one of the three pitchers selected for the first team and he did so in dominating fashion. He finished the conference season with a 3-2 record, a 1.13 ERA with 2 complete games. He also led the league in strikeouts for his second consecutive season with 53 strikeouts while only walking 12 men. Opponents hit only .121 against him all season. Jake contributed a resounding final start to his conference season with a 17 strikeout, no hit performance against Reeths-Puffer.
Jeff Nykerk was also named All-Conference first team for his second year, following in the path of Arendsen. Nykerk was also one of the three pitchers making All-Conference after having a solid season on the mound. Jeff finished the year 3-2, a 1.62 ERA and 2 complete games. In 26 innings he struck out 37 men while only walking 2. Nykerks final start was also a strong one earning a complete game, 1 hit, 11 strikeout performance over Reeths-Puffer. To have two of the three pitchers says a lot about the work these two have put in in the last two seasons, both during the season and in the off-season. We have two dominant number one pitchers, a dilemma any coach would love to have said Ott.
Kirk Cousins marks his first season on the All-Conference first team after a stellar season at the hot corner. Cousins was named the OK-Green third baseman after posting eye popping numbers at the plate. In 12 conference games, Cousins hit .444 with 16 hits (2 doubles and 3 triples), a .542 on-base percentage and 14 runs scored. He also led the Maroons with 14 RBI, a .667 slugging percentage and a .500 average with runners in scoring position. Kirk is a phenomenal athlete and has been key to our season batting in the three or four hole all yearlong. He has thrived under pressure and has come up with key hits in big situations added Ott.
Nick Scholten rounded out the four Maroons named first team All-Conference. Scholten was named the OK-Green All-Conference second baseman after a fabulous conference season batting in the leadoff position. I have spoken with Nick about this all year about how important he is to our offense. He put a lot of work in the off-season and it is always nice to see it come to fruition. He is our catalyst and has helped this team and our offense thrive and Im glad the league recognized that said Ott. Scholten led the Maroons batting .455 in conference and with an astounding .565 on-base percentage. In only 12 conference games, he also led HC with 15 runs scored, 10 walks and a perfect 17-17 in stolen bases. In the field he backed up the strong pitching staff committing only 1 error all conference season.
Alex Beelen was named the lone Honorable Mention All-Conference award winner for the Maroons. Beelen, who has fit the #2 position in the batting order perfectly, has been the strongest member of the Maroons order in situational hitting with an impressive 1.000 average in moving runners up. He finished the conference season with only 1 error, a .333 batting average with 9 RBI, 11 runs scored and 2 doubles. I really felt B should make the first team but it came down to a numbers game. He is one of the smartest baseball players we have understanding situations and he has been unselfish all yearlong giving his at bats up for the betterment of the team. It is these intangibles of moving a runner up that doesnt show up in the box score but if you understand baseball then you see how special of a season he has had said Ott.
 | | Dan Kortering continues his 1.000 average with an RBI single. | |
Wednesday, May 24
Maroons record breaking regular season ends with a W
|  | | Alex Beelen with 1 of his 4 singles. | |
Holland Christian closed out its record breaking regular season with authority Wednesday defeating Covenant Christian 13-3 in a 5 inning mercy rule shortened game. The Maroons faced Covenant Christian because four of the six teams in HCs district have faced Covenant. This provides a common opponent for future reference. HCs victory helped to set the record for the highest winning percentage of any Holland Christian baseball team in school history. The Maroons finished the regular season at 22-5, an impressive 82% winning percentage. I am very proud of the year we have had said varsity head coach Mike Ott. This is a testament to the programs work ethic starting in November and forging through all season. We have found a way to play our game no matter the score or situation and we have to continue that now in the post-season.
HC once again brought their bats early in the game as it pushed its season batting average to .358 as a team, another HC record. HC has set a multitude of records this year including such records as team batting average, team ERA, runs scored, hits and stolen bases. The Maroons pounded out 13 hits in just 5 innings. HC scored 2 runs in the first, 5 in the second, 4 in the third and 2 in the fifth inning. Nick Scholten once again had a strong day going 2 for 3 at the plate. He also logged 3 stolen bases. Alex Beelen has kept his hot streak up going 4 for 4 on the day with 3 stolen bases and 1 RBI. Sophomore Dan Kortering kept his perfect batting average on the season going 1 for 1 with a walk and an RBI. Kirk Cousins helped his own cause gathering an RBI. Junior Kyle Schonewill gained 2 RBI's on the afternoon. Jake Arendsen once again was strong at the plate going 2 for 3 with a triple and 3 RBI. Junior Austin Zoerhof used his speed to gather 2 infield singles to go 2 for 3 on the day. Jake VanAlten and Nate DeLoof each also added singles on the day. The Maroons used the aggressive play that helped to gather them 22 wins stealing 13 bases in just 5 innings without being thrown out. This tied their record of 13 that they set earlier this season against Grand Rapids Union. This pushed the Maroons total for the regular season to 140 total stolen bases. I was happy again with our mentality for the most part. We have been working on working on playing our game and not making mistakes no matter the score. For the most part today we did not get complacent and played strong defense said Ott.
Kirk Cousins gained the start and threw 2 strong innings before moving to second base with a 7-0 lead. Nick Scholten then logged the final 3 innings to gain the win pushing his record to 3-0 on the season. Cousins was strong on the hill and Scholten battled some control issues for an inning which led to Covenant scoring. We again need to cut the walks out of the equation said Ott.
With the regular season ending, the Maroons now turn their attention to their first round district game against Hamilton High School. The Maroons will face the Hawkeyes at Rogers High School on Tuesday May 30 at 6:00 p.m. Our regular season has been great but we are to a point in the season where little things add up and our goals are nowhere near complete. We have to bring 110% of Maroons baseball to each and every game, each and every inning, and each and every pitch. We are facing a good team and will have to be at our very best said Ott.
 | | Austin Zoerhof contributed 2 of the Maroons 13 hits. |
Tuesday, May 23
JV seasons ends quietly
The JV Maroons ended their 2006 season with a disappointing defeat to West Ottawa by a score of 12-2 in a 5 inning mercy rule contest. This moves the JV's final record to 12-10 on the year.
Freshmen Ryan Dykstra earned the start on the mound and went 3 innings, striking out 2 men. He was charged with 4 earned runs. Jon Kloosterman relieved Dykstra with 2 innings pitched. Kloosterman struck out one and ended teh day charged with 6 earned runs.
The Maroons were silenced at the plate with the main offense coming from Steve Lynch who had a triple. He scored in the inning when freshmen Kris Lokker drove him in on an RBI single. Kevin Kloosterman later added an RBI single for the Maroons second run.
 | | Alex Beelen added 2 of the Maroons 11 hits including this RBI single. | |
Tuesday, May 23
Maroons sweep season series with Panthers
| |  | | Jake Arendsen watches his RBI double in the 1st inning. |
It had not happened in six years until this season and now it has happened twice in one season. Holland Christian has now defeated cross-town rival West Ottawa twice this year after the Maroons defeated the Panthers 5-2. In their home finale, the Maroons jumped out 3-0 in the first and then rode the arms of seniors Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk, along with some key hits, to victory. HC continues its strong season and increased its record to 21-5.
HC pounded out 10 hits on the afternoon, leading the way was Arendsen and Alex Beelen, both were 2 for 3 on the day. Beelen got the scoring started in the first inning with a single and then stole second base. He was then driven in on Andrew Bosmas RBI single. Bosma then stole second and scored on Kirk Cousins RBI single. In repeat fashion, Cousins stole second and was driven in on Arendsens RBI double. The first inning was as perfect of at bats as we have had in a long while against a good pitcher said varsity head coach Mike Ott. We were disciplined and did exactly what we work on in practice. We took the pitch were it was hit and had some great two strike hitting. The Maroons then scored one in the third inning when Kyle Schonewill laced a double down the right field line. He would advance to third on a wild pitch and then score on Arendsens RBI single. Jake made some good adjustments at the plate and overall on the day I was happy with our approaches. When we have those types of at bats and approaches and make productive outs and battle we are a hard team to beat added Ott. Nick Scholten would score the Maroons final run singling in the fifth inning and then stealing second. Alex Beelen brought Scholten in with an RBI single. Jeff Nykerk and Jake VanAlten also added singles on the afternoon. Junior Chad Hill, who has been sidelined the entire 2006 season after ACL surgery, made his debut grounding out in his only at bat. "Chad has been working his butt off at physical therapy and I wanted to reward that work by getting him in somehow. He is just as important to this program as if he were in the lineup everyday and it was great to have him in uniform again" said Ott. The Maroons stole five of five bases in the game.
On the mound, Jake Arendsen gained the start and battled himself all afternoon. Jake did not have his best stuff but he battled and kept us in the game said Ott. Jake, who was on a pitch count, exhausted those pitches in only four innings. He did last long enough to gain the victory going the four innings, giving up 3 hits, walking 6 and striking out 9 men. The two runs were charged to Arendsen. Jeff Nykerk gained the three inning save for his first save of the year. Nykerk came in and dominated said Ott. Nykerk struck out 5 men in the three innings without allowing a hit or walk. Arendsen pushed his record to 6-2 on the season. We have a solid 1-2 punch when we do not beat ourselves with walks and errors. We had one error which fortunately did not come back to hurt us but we cannot cause ourselves problems by walking men said Ott.
HC will travel to Grand Rapids tomorrow to face Covenant Christian. The game is slated to start at 4:15 p.m. and directions can be found in the schedule section of the website. Kirk Cousins gains the start in the final regular season game.
 | | A familiar site returned as Chad Hill made his 2006 debut. |
| | (L-R) Jake Arendsen, Jeff Nykerk, Kirk Cousins, Nick Scholten. | |
Monday, May 22
4 Maroons Make Zeeland Record All-Area
As always at the end of the regular season, post season awards have begun to roll in for four Holland Christian Maroons players. The Zeeland Record has announced it's All-Area Boys' Baseball Team and four Maroons were added to the list. This is an honor in itself as usually only three players per team are nominated. Seniors Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk, along with juniors Kirk Cousins and Nick Scholten were given this award. Sophomore Alex Beelen was credited with honorable mention.
Arendsen and Nykerk were credited with being All-Area pitchers as both share an ERA under 1.10 on the year. They both have also struck out more than 70 men in 43 innings pitched while only walking 25 men combined. Arendsen leads the team in strikeouts and ERA as Nykerk leads the team in wins.
Cousins, who has been arguably the most versatile player on the Maroons lineup this season, earned the award as the area's third baseman, despite a 4-0 year on the mound with 4 saves. Cousins has racked up 33 hits on the season and leads the team with 4 triples. He also is a perfect 14-14 in stolen bases.
Scholten, who leads the team in batting average, was selected as a second baseman. Only having made one error on the season, Scholten leads the team with 34 runs scored, 38 hits and 5 doubles. He is also a perfect 25-25 in stolen bases.
"I am extremely proud of the fact we got 4 guys on the team, though I really thought we should have 5" said varsity head coach Mike Ott. "I never preach statistics or awards, but it is nice for our guys and our program to get recognized for all their hard work. They certainly deserve this. Everyone on our team has been instrumental in our season thus far and will continue to be; our year has not been focused just on these four guys. They have put up some good numbers but every guy on our team is why we are where we are. Everyone should know its a reflection on these four guys, along with each of their teammates."
All statistics are current as of today and will be published at the end of the season. The HC Maroons are off until tomorrow when they face cross-town rival West Ottawa at Maroons Field. This also marks the final home game for seniors Jake Arendsen, Jeff Nykerk and John Prins (all whom will be starting). The first pitch is at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Kirk Cousins, about to hit his double, went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI. | |
Friday, May 19
10 hits pace Maroons victory
|  | | Jeff Nykerk added 2 hits, including a double. | |
Holland Christian wrapped up sole place of second place in their inaugural season in the OK-Green with an 11-3 victory over the Chix of Zeeland East. This also marked the Maroons 20th victory on the year pushing their record to 20-5 and 8-4 overall in the OK-Green. Our goal was to win the conference but we had some ups and down during the conference season said varsity head coach Mike Ott. We battled through some adversity and to maintain second place by ourselves by two games is a positive on the season. I am also very excited to crack the 20 win mark as this is an area not many HC teams have been in. We wont settle for just 20 wins though!
The Maroons scored in every inning, starting the game with 3 runs in the first to gather the lead they would never relinquish. Six of the nine Maroons starters gathered a hit on the day. Nick Scholten started the game with a single and ended the day going 2 for 4 scoring 2 runs. Andrew Bosma also enjoyed a 2 for 4 day using two bunt singles to help the offense. Kirk Cousins and Jeff Nykerk had big days at the plate. Cousins went 2 for 3 on the afternoon with a single, double and 2 RBI. Jeff Nykerk also went 2 for 3 with a single and double and also added 2 RBI. Jake VanAlten added a single and Kyle Schonewill drove in 2 runs in the first inning with a 2 RBI single. HC ended the day with 10 hits on the afternoon. Ott added, "we had some good approaches at the plate, especially late in the game. I liked the way our guys made adjustments and that is a huge step in the right direction for us. We again did not get complacent and scoring in every inning is a great sign of our aggressiveness and hustle." HC continued its running game stealing 8 more bases for a total of 122 on the season.
Kirk Cousins enjoyed a strong day on the mound as well gaining his fourth complete game on the year which pushed his record to 4-0. He ended the day pitching 7 innings, giving up 8 hits, 1 walk and striking out 2 men. By the numbers one might think he wasnt on, but Kirk was on today said Ott. He battled a few miscues in the field which unfortunately end up in the books as hits but he threw a great game. He had the lead and was in complete control the entire game. Backing up Cousins, the Maroons played near flawless defense, only making 1 error. Alex Beelen made 7 plays behind Cousins to lead the way defensively. I thought Beelen was great for us today. He did not have the best day at the plate but he did not take his offensive frustrations onto the field. That is a great sign of a baseball player understanding there are 2 sides to the game said Ott.
Holland Christian now enters its final week of the regular season as it will host cross-town rival West Ottawa on Tuesday. The first pitch is slated for 4:15 p.m. and will be at Maroons Field.
 | | Cousins delivers a pitch in his complete game victory pushing him to 4-0. |
Friday, May 19
Chix upend Maroons
| |  | | Brant Gray doubles to the wall with the Maroons lone extra base hit. |
The Zeeland East JV Chix defeated the Holland Christian Maroons 7-5. The Chix used 13 stolen bases to jump start their offense. The defeat ends the Maroons OK-Green season at 6-6 and drops their overall record to 12-9.
Monty VanderWall gained the start on the mound and went three innings. He gave up 7 hits while striking out 3 men and giving up 3 runs. Tom Baillargeon then entered in relief and also lasted three innings. He gave up 4 runs, although none were charged as earned runs. Steve Lynch continued his strong week on the mound finishing the game pitching a scoreless inning in relief.
The Maroons offense was not able to put up enough fire power to stop the Chix. Brant Gray added a double on the afternoon providing the only extra base hit. Steve Lynch gathered two hits, while Baillargeon, Kevin Kloosterman and Ben O'Neal each added a single a piece.
HC will travel to West Ottawa on Tuesday to face the Panthers at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Jake Arendsen delivers a pitch in his 17 strikeout no hitter. | |
Wednesday, May 17
Maroons sweep Rockets; Arendsen throws no-hitter
|  | | Jeff Nykerk gained his 7th win striking out 11 in Game 2. | |
On the cusp of two disappointing performances, Holland Christian emerged onto Maroons Field intent on stopping their first losing streak of the year. The task would be to topple the Rockets of Reeths-Puffer and overtake second place in the OK-Green. Mission Accomplished. In dominating fashion, the Maroons swept the doubleheader 2-0 and 18-0. This clinched at least a share of second place in the OK-Green as HCs record is now 7-4 in conference and 19-5 overall.
In Game 1, Jake Arendsen asserted himself to halt the losing streak. In one of the most dominating pitching performances the school may have ever witnessed, Arendsen no hit the visiting Rockets. He missed a chance for a perfect game in the fourth inning when a pop up was mishandled. To go along with Arendsens first career no hitter, he also struck out a career high 17 batters while walking 0. Jake was phenomenal said varsity head coach Mike Ott. He held us in that game and dominated from the first pitch. The key with him is when he attacks the strike zone and he again walked no one. Arendsen struck out 8 of the first 9 batters he faced, at one time striking out 7 in a row. This moved his overall record to 5-2 on the season.
Arendsen helped his own cause in the fourth inning by launching his eighth homerun of the year over the leftfield fence for what proved to be the game winning run. The Maroons were then able to ensure an insurance run in the fifth inning. Jake VanAlten laid a beautiful bunt down for a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. He was moved to third on Nick Scholtens sacrifice fly and then scored on an RBI single by Alex Beelen. Andrew Bosma also added a single in the second inning, as did Kirk Cousins. The Maroons totaled 6 hits in Game 1.
Not to be overshadowed, Jeff Nykerk dominated the Rockets in Game 2 striking out 11 men in the 5 inning mercy rule victory allowing only a fourth inning single. He walked only one. The Maroons took Game 2 by a score of 18-0. Jeff was excellent today and its hard to say a 1 hit, 11 strikeout performance shutout isnt the best thing on the day. Jeff and Jake have been trumping one another all season and the competition just makes themselves and this team much better said Ott.
The result of Game 2 was not long in doubt as the Maroons exploded for 8 runs in the first inning. I was very happy that we did not settle with our early runs and we finally put a team away said Ott. HC stroked out 20 hits in only 5 innings. There were several highlights at the plate with Dan Kortering, Jon Kloosterman and Tom Baillargeon making their varsity debuts at the plate. Kortering, who started Game 2 in left field, was 1 for 1 on the day with a single and an RBI. Kloosterman also ended the day 1 for 1 with a run scored. Baillargeon was 0 for 0 with 2 walks and a run scored.
The regulars for the Maroons were at it again as Cousins ended the day 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and managed to split time at third base, second base and shortstop. Jake Arendsen went 2 for 4 on the day. Austin Zoerhof improved his average on the season by going 3 for 4 on the afternoon. Sophomores Jake VanAlten, Alex Beelen and junior Kyle Schonewill all went 2 for 3 on the afternoon with Beelen driving in 3 runs. Andrew Bosma drove in 2 runs and drilled a double to the left field wall. Nate DeLoof also drilled a double down the left field line to aid the Maroons hit parade. Nick Scholten rounded out those who achieved hits on the afternoon.
Its always nice to have a game when you can get everyone some playing time and at bats and they execute said Ott. We have one more league game and we have to continue striving to make ourselves better. The Maroons travel to Zeeland East on Friday with the first pitch slated for 4:15 p.m.
 | | Nate DeLoof strokes a double, one of 20 Maroons hits. |
Wednesday, May 17
Rockets launch to win over Maroons
The JV Maroons had two bad innings and it cost them. The Rockets of Reeths Puffer scored three runs in the third and four in the fourth to amount to the 7-0 score for HC. This drops HC to 12-8 on the year and 6-5 in the OK-Green.
Ryan Dykstra took the loss pitching four innings giving up all seven runs. Steve Lynch threw two scoreless innings in relief.
Steve VanWyk led the JV squad at the plate going 2 for 3 with two singles. Sophomores Ben O'Neal and Josh Garvelink also each added a single going 1 for 3 on the day. The Maroons will host the Chix of Zeeland East at Maroons Field with the first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m. on Friday.
Monday, May 15
Four Maroon errors aid Big Reds
| |  | | Kirk Cousins only gave up 3 hits and struck out 8 in 6 innings. |
The weather in West Michigan has been up and down the past four days. The play of the Maroons can be described in the same terms after dropping an OK-Green match up with visiting Muskegon 8-5. The Maroons led the Big Reds 5-0 going into the fourth inning until Muskegon answered with 5 unearned runs after a critical pair of errors. They would then add three in the seventh off reliever Jeff Nykerk to break open the game. HC drops to 5-4 in the OK-Green and 17-5 on the season. We have focused upon pitching and defense all off-season and during the season and to make 4 errors is inexcusable. We are not playing good baseball right now said Mike Ott, varsity head coach. Our mission is to make ourselves better right now and we are far from that. It's very frustrating because I really like this team and know we are much better then we are showing lately. As the year goes on we are to be getting better and unfortunately we are in a little rut right now.
The Maroons opened the game in strong fashion plating two runs in the first and then three in the second. Alex Beelen went 2 for 3 on the day with 2 singles. Jake Arendsen added an RBI single in the first inning going 1 for 3 on the day. Kirk Cousins helped his own cause going 1 for 3 with an RBI. Austin Zoerhof and Jake VanAlten added a single a piece to round out the Maroons 6 hits. We get an early lead and just get complacent said Ott. We have preached and worked on our approaches at the plate and making adjustments and to not get a hit after the second inning is not doing what we need to do. We are lacking the killer instinct and confidence and intensity that we had early in the season. We are an aggressive team, thats who we are, and when you cant make adjustments and get guys on it limits what we are able to do said Ott.
Kirk Cousins made the start for HC going 6 innings before pitch count forced him to leave the game. Cousins battled the entire game giving up only 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 8. Kirk did not have his best stuff but battled all afternoon long said Ott. Kirk almost wrinkled out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth inning. The bases were loaded with 0 outs until Cousins struck out back to back men. With two outs a walk forced in the first run and then a 2 base error led to 3 additional runs scoring. That was a key point for us said Ott. They made the plays when they needed to and we unfortunately did not and that is the difference in the game, little things! Jeff Nykerk came on in relief in the seventh and after giving up a base hit, the runner was allowed to advance on the fourth Maroons error. An intentional walk and a walk later, Nykerk faced the Big Reds fifth hitter and had him down to two strikes until he slammed a fastball off the left field wall plating the go ahead 3 runs. We had two situations we should have and could have been out of but when the batter knows a fastball is coming it makes it much easier to hit said Ott. The Maroons were unable to answer in the bottom of the seventh.
Muskegon never gave up and you have to compliment them fighting until the last out said Ott. We have got to get back to focusing on the little things because they are killing us. They scored 8 runs, all with 2 outs. We scored 0 with 2 outs and left 8 men on base. There is not much else to say. They made the plays when they had to and got the hit when they needed to, we did not.
Holland Christian hosts Reeths-Puffer in an OK-Green doubleheader at Maroons Field at 4:15 p.m. Jake Arendsen will take the ball for the Maroons.
 | | Alex Beelen added 2 hits and made 4 assists in the field. |
 | | Dan Kortering struck out 5 to gain the win. | |
Monday, May 15
JVs pound out win over Muskegon
|  | | Coach Baillargeon returns to watch the JV squad. | |
The JV Maroons pounded out 14 runs to upend the Big Reds by a score of 14-6. The Maroons rallied behind a strong performance from Dan Kortering and won with Coach Baillargeon in attendance. This was Coach Baillargeon's first game since his accident. "It was great to see the guys and they played extremely well" said Joe Baillargeon, head JV coach.
Dan Kortering got the start for the Maroons and went 4 innings, striking out 5 men. He allowed 4 hits and 1 run to gather the win. Monty VanderWall and Jon Kloosterman pitched in relief. Kloosterman finished the game with 2 innings pitched without allowing a run to score.
At the plate the Maroons offense exploded. Freshmen Josh Velthouse and Ryan Dykstra each had 3 hits on the day. Velthouse went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a single and 3 runs scored. Dykstra went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored. Dan Kortering, Tom Baillargeon and Ben O'Neal each contributed 2 hits a piece. Kyle Helder, Steve Lynch and Steve VanWyk also added a hit on the day to help pace the Maroons.
The Maroons will travel once again to Muskegon to face Reeths-Puffer on Wednesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. at Reeths-Puffer High School.
 | | Ryan Dykstra strokes 1 of his 3 hits on the day. |
 | | Jeff Nykerk delivers a pitch in his 6 inning start. | |
Wednesday, May 10
Sailors trip up Maroons
|  | | Andrew Bosma watches his double fly to the rightfield fence. | |
Holland Christian entered the game against Mona Shores needing a victory to pull into first place in the OK-Green. The Maroons, however, were unable to accomplish that feat losing to Mona Shores 5-1. The Sailors, coming off their lone conference loss, came out motivated and jumped on the Maroons early. Behind their starter David Mowers, the Sailors three hit HC and extended their lead in the OK-Green to 2 games. We came out flat and did not execute said varsity head coach Mike Ott. The difference in our two games against Mona is they have executed and we have not and we have to find a way to do this against good teams. There is no need for any panic, we lost the game but that doesn't mean we cannot learn from it. It's one game and we will move forward.
There was little to talk about when it came to the Maroons offense but Andrew Bosma and Jake Arendsen were the bright spots. Andrew Bosma foiled Mowers no hit bid with a long double down the right field line. Jake Arendsen broke the scoreless drought by crushing his seventh homerun of the season onto the adjoining softball field. Jeff Nykerk added an infield single to bring up the Maroons hit total to 3. We faced as tough of a pitcher as I have seen since coming to HC and we were just overmatched. There are times you tip your hat to the other pitcher and today was one of them. We still have to make adjustments and should not strikeout 9 times, but we will keep working to get better said Ott.
Jeff Nykerk suffered his first loss on the season but pitched effectively. Jeff threw his game and I am very happy with his effort. We just have to back him said Ott. Nykerk pitched 6 innings, coming out due to pitch count. He ended up striking out 3 and walking only 1. Four of the five Mona Shores runs were charged as unearned as the Maroons made 5 errors on the day. You cannot win by making that many costly mistakes in the field. We are a much better team than we showed today and the guys have to come ready to go as we are getting later and later in the season. When you are playing good teams, as Mona is, you have to execute the little things and we did not and that is frustrating said Ott. Nick Scholten threw a solid inning in relief.
The Maroons drop their overall record to 17-4 and 5-3 in conference. HC will travel locally to Zeeland East and face the Chix on Friday with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m.
 | | The Maroons celebrate Jake Arendsen's 7th HR. |
Wednesday, May 10
Mona Shores JV silences HC
The Mona Shores JV team completed their regular season sweep of Holland Christian by defeating the Maroons by a 10-0 score. Just as the varsity was, the JV Maroons were 3 hit by the Sailors. This defeat pushes the JV to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in the OK-Green.
Steve Lynch started the game for HC and lasted 5 innings suffering the loss. The game was stopped in the fifth inning due to the 10 run mercy rule.
At the plate, Holland Christian gathered three singles from freshmen Ryan Dykstra, Kris Lokker and Kevin Kloosterman. The rest of the offense was halted by Sailor pitching.
Holland Christian is off until Friday when they host nearby Zeeland East. The game is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. at Maroons Field.
 | | Jake Arendsen gets ready to fire a pitch in his 6 shutout innings. | |
Monday, May 8
Maroons cruise by Crusaders
| |  | | Kirk Cousins strokes his 2 RBI triple. |
The last time Holland Christian played at Unity Christians home field was a devastating district championship game loss to the Crusaders of Unity. HC relinquished the demons of the field with a 9-3 victory over the host Crusaders. This pushes the Maroons overall record to 17-3 and 5-2 and second place in the OK-Green.
The Maroons started out with a strong first inning plating five runs before the inning ended. Sophomore Alex Beelen, who went 2 for 4 on the day, started the inning with a single. Kyle Schonewill followed with a walk and both were brought into score on junior Kirk Cousins 2 RBI triple. Cousins then would score on senior Jake Arendsens sixth homerun of the year. The scoring ended when junior Andrew Bosma scored on sophomore Jake VanAltens RBI single. The Maroons would later score in the fifth and seventh innings to close out their scoring. Beelen and Cousins ended the day each with 2 hits. Jake VanAlten and Nick Scholten also each contributed 2 hits. The Maroons overall ended with 13 hits and passed the 100 stolen base mark for the season.
On the mound, one run would have been enough for starter Jake Arendsen. Arendsen, who has been the victim of some tough close game losses, rebounded to dominate Unity Christian. Arendsen held the Crusaders at bay for six innings before the game was determined to be out of reach at 9-0. He ended the day with 9 strikeouts and only 1 walk in six innings. He also only gave up 2 hits, one being an infield squibber. Jake was very effective today only using 79 pitches and getting ahead in the count said varsity head coach Mike Ott. Today was a great day for Jake and I was very happy with how he threw. I was not happy with how we just coasted after we took the 5-0 loss and we need to stay focused and play our game and not to our competition. Strong teams stayed focused and we lost that for a few innings and will need to continue to improve said Ott.
The Maroons return to Maroons Field and will host Mona Shores High School on Wednesday in an OK-Green game. The first pitch will be thrown at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Jake VanAlten added 2 hits, including an RBI single. |
Monday, May 8
Maroons drop offensive battle
Holland Christian could not stop the Unity offense and fell to the Crusaders 15-14. The loss drops the Maroons to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in the OK-Green. At one point the Maroons were down by 9 but clawed back to close within one with two outs in the last inning.
Leading the charge on offense for the Maroons was Kevin Kloosterman. The freshmen went 3 for 5 with 3 singles and also scored 2 runs. Steve VanWyk, Ben ONeal and Jon Kloosterman all added doubles on the day. The big blow of the game when sophomore Brant Gray stepped to the plate in the sixth inning and delivered a base loaded triple which drove in 3 runs. Freshmen Ryan Dykstra scored 2 runs and reached base 4 of his 5 at bats with 3 walks.
Sophomore Dan Kortering took the loss for the Maroons. He went two and a third innings and was relieved by Jon Kloosterman. Sophomore Monty VanderWall finished the game for the Maroons on the mound.
The Maroons will travel to Mona Shores on Wednesday to face the Sailors. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Friday, May 5
JV's comeback to defeat Hawkeyes
Holland Christians JV team entertained the Hawkeyes of Hamilton High School and left the week on a good note winning the game 5-3. The Maroons battled back and took the lead for good in the sixth inning. This pushed their record to 11-5 overall.
Freshmen Ryan Dykstra enjoyed a strong day on the mound and at the plate. At the plate, Dykstra gained a two RBI single which scored the game winning runs in the sixth inning. He also added an RBI groundout which scored the first run of the game. Dykstra added three strong innings on the mound giving up 2 unearned runs which both scored on Maroons errors in the second inning.
The Kloosterman brothers, Jon and Kevin, finished the work on the mound. Freshmen Kevin Kloosterman added a strong one and two thirds innings of relief in which he struck out 4 men. Jon promptly relieved his brother and got out of a bases loaded jam and went onto throw two and a third innings gaining the victory for the Maroons.
Steve VanWyk, Tom Baillargeon, Kyle Helder and Steve Lynch all added hits on the day. VanWyk started the scoring by leading the inning off with a double and later scored on Dykstras RBI single. VanWyk also added an RBI walk with the bases loaded. He was the replacement in the Kloosterman pitching change and promptly made the inning ending play and later made three fine plays in the field to aid the pitching staff. The Maroons rallied to score one in the fourth and fifth innings and then pushed three runs in the sixth.
The Maroons are off for the weekend until Monday when they host rival Unity Christian at Maroons Field at 4:15 p.m. Dan Kortering will start on the mound for HC.
 | | Jeff Nykerk pushed his record to 6-0 after his 2nd shutout in Game 1. | |
Thursday, May 4
Maroons pound out sweep of Hamilton
| |  | | Alex Beelen combined to go 6 for 9 in the doubleheader sweep. |
What a difference a day makes for the Holland Christian Maroons. A day after managing only 4 hits and suffering a loss to Zeeland West, the Maroons offense exploded for 35 hits in only 13 innings of play. The Maroons squelched the Hawkeyes of Hamilton High School, who entered the game 17-2, by defeating them 15-0 and 9-0. This pushed the Maroons overall record to 16-3, achieving last years win total.
We had a little discussion before the trip over to Hamilton about playing our game said varsity head coach Mike Ott. To say we were disappointed about yesterday is an understatement but there is nothing you can do about it any longer but to move forward and learn from it. We did not play Maroons baseball the way they have been taught yesterday and todays mission was to play our game. We did that and it was close to flawless of a team victory as you can get.
The story of the day was the Maroons offense with every starter achieving a hit in game one as the Maroons gained 20 hits in only 6 innings in the 15-0 mercy rule win. Nick Scholten, Alex Beelen, Kyle Schonewill, Kirk Cousins and Jeff Nykerk all had three hits on the afternoon. Scholten and Nykerk added a double as one of their three hits. Jake Arendsen, Andrew Bosma, Austin Zoerhof all added hits and Jake VanAlten continued his hot streak going 2 for 4 with a triple. Our bats woke up because we made the adjustments necessary said Ott. In the Maroons sixth inning alone they gathered nine hits and scored 7 runs. Kyle Schonewill and Jeff Nykerk each contributed 3 RBI a piece. The Maroons also added 5 stolen bases in game 1.
Not to be outshined by his offense, Jeff Nykerk sustained his perfect season on the mound gaining his sixth victory of the year and his second shutout. Jeff was phenomenal today said Ott. He is getting better each and every start and is pumping the zone. Nykerk made quick work of the Hawkeyes ending the six inning game with only 67 pitches. Five of the six innings went 1-2-3. He allowed only 2 hits on the afternoon, walked no one and struck out 7.
Our main concern was staying focused in between games and coming out with the same intensity and focus in game two said Ott. The Maroons did not let anyone down coming out of the gate in game two with their bats still red hot. HC pummeled out 15 more hits in game 2 and was aided by 2 Hawkeye errors in the 9-0 effort. Alex Beelen and Kyle Schonewill added three more hits in game 2. Nick Scholten and Jake Arendsen had 2 hits. Austin Zoerhof, Jake VanAlten, Kirk Cousins and Andrew Bosma all added a hit. Beelen and Arendsen added doubles to their hits on the afternoon. Nick Scholten drove in 4 runs to pace the Maroons. After an incorrect controversial call, the Maroons showed their mental focus and toughness and broke open the game with 5 runs in the fourth inning to push the game out of reach.
Scholtens runs helped his own cause as he took the mound for the Maroons in his third start of the season. Scholten pitched a strong 4 innings and was pulled in order to get some of his fellow pitchers mound time. He ended the day walking no one and striking out 2 men. He gave up 3 hits, with two being infield singles. This pushes Scholtens record to 2-0 on the year. Kirk Cousins entered in the fifth and achieved the rare three inning save for his fourth save on the season. He struck out one and walked no one. To have two shutouts says a lot about the mentality of our pitchers today said Ott. They were focused and did exactly what our game plan called for. I am very confident in the game plan we bring each game and they executed it to perfection. I am extremely proud of the fact on the day to have zero walks. Our staff should be very proud of themselves today.
The Maroons are off until Monday when they travel to league rival Unity Christian. HC will have a day off on Friday and resume practice on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Maroons Field.
 | | Kyle Schonewill went 6 for 9 with 5 RBI in the doubleheader. |
Wednesday, May 3
Maroons bats cooled in defeat
| |  | | Senior Jake Arendsen struck out 12 in a strong performance. |
The bats for Holland Christian were cooled off by the complete game performance of Josh Plaska of Zeeland West. Plaska held the Maroons to 4 hits and only gave up 2 walks on the day in the 3-2 victory for the Dux. HC falls to 14-3 and 4-2 in the OK-Green.
Despite gaining the loss for HC, Jake Arendsen delivered a strong performance for the Maroons pitching 6 innings, striking out 12 and giving up 3 walks. The 3 runs were charged to Arendsen, 2 of them were charged as earned runs. He pitched into the seventh inning but did not gather an out before Zeeland West pushed across the game winning run. Jake pitched very well but we have to back him up with the bats said varsity assistant Mike Spiegel. "Our defense was sound for the most part, our pitching was there we just didn't make the adjustments."
The Dux scored their first run in the fourth inning on a squeeze bunt after the run reached on a costly throwing error. The Maroons promptly answered in the top of the fifth with a two run homerun by sophomore Jake VanAlten for his first career homerun. This was all the scoring the Maroons could muster. Zeeland West scored one in the bottom of the fifth and then with the infield and outfield drew in shallow in the seventh inning, the Dux scored on a long single to gain the walk-off victory. Nick Scholten and Andrew Bosma both went 1 for 3 with a single in the game. Senior Jeff Nykerk was 1 for 2 with a double and a walk, which scored on VanAltens homerun. VanAlten was 1 for 2 with the 2 run homerun.
In key times we did not execute with missed signs, missed execution of plays and that doesnt add up to a positive result. There is no excuse, we did not execute and make the adjustments necessary to win a close game said varsity head coach Mike Ott. Part of growing as a team and a program is taking times of adversity and using it to learn from to make yourself better. We have to do this after this game. We cannot just show up at the field and expect to win.
The Maroons travel to nearby Hamilton High School to play the Hawkeyes in a doubleheader with the first pitch slated for 4:15 p.m.
 | | Andrew Bosma singles for one of the four Maroon hits. |
Wednesday, May 3
Lokker paces Maroons to victory
Freshmen Kris Lokker enjoyed a career day gaining 6 RBI with two RBI singles and a grand slam which made an impact upon the adjoining softball dugout. The Maroons gained their tenth victory of the year to move to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the OK-Green. They won by a score of 13-5 over the Dux of Zeeland West.
Kris Lokker enjoyed a career day going 3 for 3 with the aforementioned grand slam and two RBI singles. Ben ONeal chipped in with 2 hits and 2 RBI. Freshmen Ryan Dykstra contributed 3 hits, two singles and an RBI triple. Dan Kortering continued his hot streak at the plate with an RBI double. Tom Baillargeon, Monty VanderWall, Josh Arendsen, Steve Lynch and Josh Velthouse all contributed a hit in the victory.
Sophomore Monty VanderWall gained the victory on the mound throwing 4 1/3 innings. He struck out 6 men and only gave up 4 hits to gain his first victory on the season.
The Maroons continue their home stand with a single game against Hamilton High School tomorrow at 4:15 p.m.
Monday, May 1
Maroons fall to Rockets
Holland Christian's JV team fell to the Rockets of Reeths-Puffer by a score of 14-5. This moved their overall record to 9-5 and their league record to 4-2. Reeths-Puffer is in first place in the JV OK-Green as they are undefeated in league play.
The Maroons started strong scoring the first 2 runs of the game on Dan Kortering's run scoring double and a Ben O'Neal RBI groundout. The lead would not stand however with Reeths-Puffer scoring 4 runs in the third to take the lead for good. Dan Kortering ended the day with 2 doubles. Tom Baillargeon, Steve Lynch and Ryan Dykstra each added a hit for the Maroons.
On the mound Dan Kortering lasted three and two thirds of an inning suffering the loss. He gave up 6 hits and struck out two men. Jon Kloosterman relieved Kortering pitching the final three and a third innings. He struck out five men.
The Maroons will be off until Wednesday when they face Zeeland West at Maroons Field. First pitch will be thrown at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Kyle Schonewill led the Maroons going 3 for 5. | |
Thursday, April 27
Maroons storm Rangers country
| |  | | Austin Zoerhof had an RBI single and great situational hitting on the day. |
Pulling into Forest Hills Central High School the Maroons were greeted with signs declaring "this is Rangers country." HC stormed the "country" and felt right at home knocking off Forest Hills Central by a score of 10-8. The Maroons were able to hold a big lead down the stretch to walk away victorious pushing their record to 14-2 on the season.
HC started the game off strong with a 3 run first inning. The Maroons used two walks and a single by Kyle Schonewill to load the bases with two outs. Jeff Nykerk calmly stepped to the plate and delivered a mammoth 3 run double to centerfield to open the score 3-0. The Rangers responded with 4 runs in the second. HC chipped the lead away to tie the game 4-4 in the third inning and then extended to a 6-4 lead after the fourth inning chasing FHCs number one pitcher. Holland Christian added a run in the fifth and then three in the sixth inning. Nick Scholten continued his hitting streak as he went 1 for 3 with a double and a run scored. Kyle Schonewill led the Maroons at the plate going 3 for 5 with two singles, a double, an RBI and 3 runs scored. Senior Jake Arendsen came to the plate against the Rangers with a disciplined approach and went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Jeff Nykerk went 1 for 2 with the big double in the first inning; he also added two walks, one being intentional. Austin Zoerhof, Kirk Cousins and Jake VanAlten also added singles and an RBI to sum up the Maroons on offense. HC also capitalized on the base paths using their speed to force the issue gaining 5 stolen bases.
The pitching staff did enough to gain the victory. Sophomore Alex Beelen gained the start after a strong showing last Saturday against Paw Paw High School. He battled control issues in the second inning when FHC gained their 4 runs, but calmly settled down and held the Rangers in check for his 4+ innings pitched. He gained the victory leaving the game with a 7-5 lead. Junior Nick Scholten gained a hold for the bullpen doing his job throwing 1+ inning. Kirk Cousins, only on one days rest, supplied the end the pitching staff needed throwing 23 pitches, 2 innings, to retire the Rangers and gain his third save of the year. The defense was shaky at times allowing the Rangers a few unearned runs but a spark for HC was a key double play turned by the combination of Nate DeLoof to Nick Scholten to Jake Arendsen. Alex Beelen also worked out of a first and third jam by maneuvering a third to first move picking the man off at first base. He would later also pick a man off at third base trying to steal home. The double play and the pickoff was a huge momentum shift said assistant coach Mike Spiegel.
I was pleased with the resiliency we showed today with a few guys playing out of position and getting a chance in our non-league game said head coach Mike Ott. Kirk did an excellent job shutting the door on a limited pitch count and I was happy again with our offensive approach. These kids are doing a great job of listening to us (as coaches) and making adjustments. We still need to make the plays behind our pitchers with greater efficiency and consistency.
HC will continue its road trip on Monday traveling to Muskegon to play Reeths-Puffer High School. The first pitch is at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Sophomore Jake VanAlten delivered a big RBI single in the Maroons 6th inning. |
Thursday, April 27
Rangers clip Maroons
The Forest Hills Central JV team defeated the Maroons 15-8. This drops HC to 9-4. Freshmen Josh Velthouse highlighted the Maroons offense with a 2 RBI single. Kyle Helder and Josh Garvelink added to the offensive output. Helder had 2 singles and Garvelink added a double.
Kevin Kloosterman, Tom Baillargeon and Kris Lokker all shared time on the mound as many of the JV players were able to obtain playing time. The JV will be off until Monday when they play Reeths-Puffer at Maroons Field at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Jeff Nykerk dominated the Chix striking out 12, walking 0. | |
Wednesday, April 26
Maroons fry Chix
| |  | | Kyle Schonewill completed a 3 for 4 day with 2 RBI. |
The storyline of the Holland Christian-Zeeland east baseball game was summed up in two words, Jeff Nykerk. In one of the most dominating performances of the year, Nykerk fanned 12 Chix batters and held them to 3 hits, one being an infield squibber, while his velocity went as high as 88 miles an hour on the gun. The final score was 10-1 in favor of HC. The Maroons backed up Nykerk with good defense only committing one error. "We played better behind our pitching, but we have yet to play the fundamental defense we have stressed and worked on all off-season and that's the goal" said varsity head coach Mike Ott. The Maroons overall record is now 13-2 and 4-1 in the OK-Green.
I felt good and all my stuff was working said Nykerk about his stellar performance. Jeff made quick work of Zeeland East fanning the side in two separate innings, one being a nine pitch inning. He ended the day throwing 84 pitches and completed the game with the aforementioned 12 strikeouts and 0 walks. A startling statistic is that Nykerk only threw 21 balls. He was completely dominant said assistant varsity coach Mike Spiegel. He pounded the zone, he had a great tempo and he threw all his pitches for strikes. When he needed to make an adjustment he made it. It was extremely impressive. Nykerk raised his record on the year to 5-0.
The offense of the Maroons was hard to overshadow though as they collected double digit hits for the second straight day. They pounded out 10 hits on the afternoon with juniors Nick Scholten, Andrew Bosma and Kyle Schonewill once again leading the way. Scholten, a Zeeland native, went 3 for 4 with two singles, a double and also scored 3 runs. Schonewill continued his disciplined approach at the plate going 3 for 4 with 3 singles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Bosma, also a Zeeland native, went 2 for 3 including a dramatic two strike hit to drive in a run in the 4 run first inning. Senior Jake Arendsen added his fifth homerun of the year going 1 for 3 on the day. Sophomore Alex Beelen also added a double and scored 2 runs. I am happy our bats are starting to back up our pitchers but we have to play a solid 7 inning game still said Ott. We had some mental errors that fortunately did not hurt us but we have to focus on the things we control because somewhere down the road these little things can harm us. Ott added we have some guys getting wide eyed about homeruns and we have to get rid of that attitude. We have to stick to our game of line drives up the middle and driving the ball, not looking to hit homeruns, and our strong mental discipline. If we continue this trend of leaving runners on and looking for homeruns we can end up hurting ourselves. The Maroons ended up 3 for 4 in stolen bases on the day.
The Maroons end their 4 game week with a trip to Grand Rapids to face Forest Hills Central with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m. Sophomore Alex Beelen will get his second start of the season.
 | | Nick Scholten gained 3 hits in 4 plate appearances. |
Wednesday, April 26
Maroons explode over Chix
The JV Maroons exploded for 19 runs in a three inning mercy rule win over Zeeland East. The final score was 19-2 pushing the Maroons record to 4-1 in league and 8-3 overall. HC ended with 14 hits in the three innings.
Dan Kortering starred on the mound and at the plate. On the mound he gained the complete game victory giving up the 2 runs, 0 were earned. He also walked 1 and gave up 0 hits.
At the plate, Kortering continued his tear going 3 for 4 with two singles, a double and scoring 3 runs. Ben O'Neal once again led the Maroons at the dish going 2 for 3 with a single and double. Steve Lynch also pitched in with a perfect 2 for 2 with a single and a triple. He also added 3 runs scored. Steve VanWyk and Ryan Dykstra both went 2 for 4 on the day with 2 singles. Tom Baillargeon, Jon Kloosterman and Kevin Kloosterman all added hits and combined for 6 runs scored. "We responded well today with 14 runs in the second inning and I thought it was a good game" said head coach Joe Baillargeon.
The Maroons face the Rangers of Forest Hills Central at Maroons Field with the first pitch being thrown at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Jeff Nykerk, aided both behind the plate (above) and with a 2 run double. | |
Tuesday, April 25
Maroons chew up Big Reds
|  | | Kyle Schonewill went 3 for 4 with his second homerun of the year. | |
The Maroons chewed up the Big Reds of Muskegon pounding out 15 hits to gather a 14-4 victory to push their OK-Green record to 3-1 and overall record to 12-2. HC bounced back from their one run defeat the previous day in Muskegon to Mona Shores with an offensive outburst to back up starting pitcher Kirk Cousins.
The offense came out ready from the first pitch as Nick Scholten lined the second pitch of the game to right for a single. The offense did not look back as the Maroons pushed a run across the board in each of the seven innings. The fifth inning was the inning which broke Muskegons back with Holland Christian scoring five runs opening the game up to 11-4. The last two runs were scored on Jake Arendsens fourth homerun of the year in the top of the seventh. Junior Nick Scholten went 2 for 3 on the day. Kirk Cousins helped his own cause going 2 for 2 on the day with a single and a triple and walked three times. He also scored 4 times. Senior Jeff Nykerk came two feet from hitting his first homerun of the year settling for a 2 RBI double. Junior Kyle Schonewill shined at the plate going 3 for 4 and hitting his second homerun of the year. His homerun was a solo shot but he also added 3 RBI on the day. Andrew Bosma also gained 2 hits going 2 for 4 on the day. Jake VanAlten and Austin Zoerhof also added singles on the day. It was nice to have a game where our bats heated up a bit said varsity head coach Mike Ott.
Kirk Cousins remained perfect on the mound (3-0). I settled down and felt stronger as the game went on said Cousins. Kirk gathered his composure and battled down the stretch to gain the complete game victory. Despite giving up 10 hits and 4 runs, Cousins was harmed by four errors leading to 1 unearned run and aiding in the other 3 runs scored. Cousins ended up with 10 strikeouts and 0 walks. I was impressed with Kirk fighting through some adversity but we have to solidify our defense behind our pitchers said Ott.
The Maroons will play at Maroons Field tomorrow in another OK-Green conference game facing the Chix of Zeeland East. First pitch is slated for 4:15 p.m.
 | | Kirk Cousins looks in for a sign in the sixth inning. |
 | | Dan Kortering went 4 for 4 on the day to pace the Maroons. | |
Tuesday, April 25
HC defeats Muskegon
The JV Maroons defeated the Big Reds of Muskegon 18-8. The Maroons brought their bats out early and often in the mercy rule 5 inning win. Their record now stands at 8-3, 3-1 in the OK-Green.
Starting pitcher Monty VanderWall went 4 innings to gain the victory. He walked 2, struck out 4 and allowed 10 hits but was backed up by the strong offense of the Maroons. Freshmen Kris Lokker pitched a perfect fifth inning to close the game down.
At the plate Dan Kortering starred for HC going 4 for 4 with three singles and a double. Kortering also added three runs scored to his resume on the day. Ben O'Neal continued a strong season at the plate going 3 for 4 with two singles and a double and two runs scored. Freshmen Kevin Kloosterman went 2 for 4 with a single and a double. Tom Baillargeon, Kris Lokker and Josh Garvelink also added hits on the day.
"We hit the ball extremely well and hope we can carry that over tomorrow against Zeeland East" said junior varsity head coach Joe Baillargeon. The Maroons travel to Zeeland East with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m. and Dan Kortering taking the mound for the Maroons.
 | | Monty VanderWall fires a pitch in against Muskegon. |
Monday, April 24
Maroons drop 1 run game
| |  | | Alex Beelen went 2-3 at the plate and added two plays in the field. |
Holland Christian dropped its first OK-Green conference game as they fell to Mona Shores 5-4. This dropped the Maroons into second place with a conference record of 2-1, and an overall record of 11-2. The game was a game of what ifs as the Maroons stranded 12 men on base, 9 of which were in scoring position. There were small things that came back to kill us said varsity coach Mike Ott.
The Maroons gave up 2 runs in the first and second innings and then bore down and held Mona Shores to only 1 run for the remaining 5 innings. Jake Arendsen gathered his first loss of the season to fall to 3-1 on the year. He went the entire game for the Maroons only giving up 3 hits and striking out 4. His downfall was a battle with the strike zone as he had 8 walks (1 intentional) with 3 of those walks coming around to score. Only 3 of the 5 runs were earned as an error in the first inning loomed large allowing 2 unearned runs to score. Those walks did come back to hurt but we did not execute at key times. Jake held a very good hitting team to only 3 hits and should be proud of that and take a lot from that said Ott.
The Maroons out hit the Sailors 7-3 with sophomore Alex Beelen and junior Kirk Cousins leading the charge. Beelen went 2 for 3 on the day with 2 singles and Cousins went 2 for 4 with two singles. Juniors Nick Scholten and Kyle Schonewill, along with senior John Prins, also contributed a hit on the day. The Maroons gathered six walks on the day and only struck out 3 times.
The problem for the Maroons came in executing in key times. HC had 12 men left on base and a man in scoring position in every inning. We did not execute at important times in the game said Ott. Leaving that many guys on base cant happen and if we would have executed a few little things like we are capable of doing and practice doing we may be in a different spot. These are the things you have to learn from and move on with though. The small things often loom large and the teams that do these little things often are very successful. Today we did not do them. Its early in the season however and I really like the team we have.
HC travels to Muskegon tomorrow to face the Big Reds of Muskegon High School in an OK-Green conference game. The first pitch will be thrown at 4:15 p.m. and Kirk Cousins will take the mound for the Maroons.
Monday, April 24
Sailors drop JV Maroons
| |  | | Freshmen Steve Lynch delivers a pitch against Mona Shores. |
Mona Shores JV squad defeated the Maroons by a score of 13-3 and pushed their record to 7-3 and 2-1 in conference. The Sailors came out with their bats blazing and opened the game after the score was 6-3. Freshmen Steve Lynch took the loss after pitching four innings. Jon Kloosterman and Monty VanderWall pitched the final two innings in relief. VanderWall pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Steve Lynch and Ryan Dykstra led the charge at the plate gaining 2 singles a piece with Lynch gathering an RBI. Tom Baillargeon, Dan Kortering, Steve VanWyk, Jon Kloosterman and Kris Lokker all added a hit in the game.
The Maroons face Muskegon at Maroons Field tomorrow with freshmen Kris Lokker taking the mound. The first pitch is slated for 4:15 p.m. There will be more information when made available.
 | | Alex Beelen went 3 for 4 on the day with a single, double and triple. | |
Saturday, April 22
Maroons streaks halted at 10, 65
| |  | | Sophomore Dan Kortering fires a pitch in his varsity debut. |
The phrase all good things come to an end was a perfect expression to sum up the first game of the Kalamazoo Christian Invitational. Two separate streaks for the Maroons were snapped. The first was the Maroons 10 game win streak to start the season with the Redskins of Paw Paw coming out victorious by a score of 10-2. The second streak could in fact be one of the greatest streaks in Holland Christian baseball history. The Maroons stole 65 consecutive bases in their first 10 games before Alex Beelen was thrown out in a botched hit and run. They ended game one two for three in steals.
The Maroons held even with the Redskins through the first four innings until a huge fifth inning ended the day for starter Alex Beelen and the Maroons. Paw Paw used two hit by pitches, two walks and two Maroon errors to use as a catalyst to push across eight runs, five of which were unearned. This opened the score up to 9-1. The Redskins would later push across one run to finalize their scoring at 10 runs. On the bright side, sophomores Dan Kortering and Jon Kloosterman made their varsity debuts pitching a solid two innings in relief.
The Maroons were highlighted at the plate with a one for one day by Alex Beelen, who also scored one of the two runs. Senior Jake Arendsen added a two for three day with his third homerun of the year which was belted out of Hyames Field and onto Stadium Drive. Junior Kirk Cousins was also one for one with an RBI double which scored Beelen. Austin Zoerhof also contributed a single in going one for three on the day. I was happy with the emotional effort in game one. We stayed consistent in our emotions and approach and some guys who had not got as much playing time got to play some and that was the goal. We need to continue to play fundamental defense though. We were also to get a few of the younger guys in and I was very happy in how they responded and the team rallied around them. It would be nice to win every game, or keep all our streaks intact, but success is not measured based upon results, it's an on going process said varsity head coach Mike Ott.
In game two, the Maroons made the twelve mile trek to Parchment High School to play the Panthers of Parchment. The Maroons jumped to an 8-1 lead and ended up holding on to win the game. Junior Nick Scholten scattered seven hits over five innings to earn the victory to move his record to 1-0. Kirk Cousins entered and slammed the door in the Panthers face earning his second save of the season. Freshmen Ryan Dykstra was also able to make his varsity debut being used as a courtesy runner for Jeff Nykerk.
Sophomore Alex Beelen once again was a force at the plate going two for three with a double and a triple and two runs scored. Junior Kyle Schonewill adjusted well to batting in the three spot in the lineup going two for four with a single and a double. Jeff Nykerk and Kirk Cousins also contributed a double and triple respectively on the day. Sophomore Jake VanAlten went two for four with an RBI single and also added two stolen bases on the day. In a rare feat, junior Andrew Bosma was 0-0 with four walks, which contributed to two runs scored. The Maroons were able to swipe five bases in game two.
Although the score of the second game does not reflect it, I was very happy with our attitudes and play. We made a few early mental errors but corrected them and I was proud of the team for battling after their first test of adversity on the year. I think this will be a key lesson to keep us focused on playing our game and staying consistent. It was a good win and moves us into a big week said Ott.
The Maroons (11-1) now enter another busy week of road games as they will play four games on the road in four consecutive days. Three of these contests are conference games. HC travels to Mona Shores High School (8-2) on Monday in a match up of 2-0 OK-Green teams. The first pitch is slated for 4:15 p.m.
Thursday, April 20
Maroons sloppy in win over Unity
|  | | Cousins drills his 2 RBI triple. | |
The Maroons nailed down their tenth victory of the season and pushed their perfect record to 10-0 on the young season with a sloppy 10-2 victory over Unity Christian. This also marked Holland Christians second victory in the OK-Green and pushed that record to 2-0. The victory over the Crusaders of Unity Christian marks the first time each has played one another since last seasons district championship game in which Unity defeated Holland Christian 2-1.
The game started poorly for HC with two errors leading to both of Unitys runs being plated. One of the runs was charged to starter Jeff Nykerk as an unearned run. Despite two singles with two outs in the third, and a catchers interference call and a single in the fifth, Nykerk and the Maroons defense clamped down on any rally attempt. Nykerk completed his third game of the season upping his record to 4-0. He gave up five hits (all singles) and struck out eight batters, walking none. After the shaky first inning for Nykerk, in which he threw thirty of his ninety three pitches, he calmed down and relied on a good fastball and his solidified defense to do the work the rest of the way.
Junior Kirk Cousins was a bright spot in the field (4 assists) and at the plate going 1 for 3 plating two runs in the fourth with a two RBI triple. The Maroons bats were slowed by ineffective pitching from the Crusaders. The three Unity pitchers combined for twelve walks and one hit by pitch. This ineffectiveness helped to contribute to the four hits the Maroons were able to manage. Senior Jake Arendsen was 1 for 4 on the day with an RBI single. Junior Nick Scholten chipped in a leadoff single in the first to go 1 for 2 on the day. This was the fourth consecutive game that HC was able to plate over 9 runs capitalizing on ineffective pitching and defense. They were also able to continue their streak of consecutive stolen bases nabbing 7 more bases. The highlight of the game came with the bases loaded in the third inning. Junior Andrew Bosma was at the plate and given the squeeze bunt sign and with all runners on the move he missed the bunt. Despite the missed bunt, senior Jake Arendsen beat the pitch, sliding under the catchers tag to obtain the rare triple steal. Juniors Nick Scholten, Nate DeLoof and Andrew Bosma both contributed two runs scored.
"There are going to be games like this but we need to focus on playing our game. Today I felt was the first time all year we did not play our game and up to what we expect of ourselves. I am proud of them for fighting despite being down early but we are a much better team than we showed today. We cannot become complacent with just winning, it's how you play and the process rather than the result and today was not where we are capable of playing. We'll work on it tomorrow and get it right for this weekend" said varsity coach Mike Ott.
The Maroons are off on Friday to work on some critical areas before traveling to Kalamazoo on Saturday for a doubleheader. They will play Paw Paw High School in the first game of the Kalamazoo Christian Invitational at Western Michigans Hyames Field. Game time is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
 | | Austin Zoerhof steals 1 of the 7 total bases the team had on the day. |
Thursday, April 20
JV win in extras
The junior varsity Maroons pulled out an exciting 3-2 victory over Unity Christian on a throwing error in the 8th inning. This pushed the Maroons record to 7-2 and 2-0 in conference.
In the eighth inning, Sophomore Dan Kortering grounded to the third baseman with fellow junior Jon Kloosterman on first base. The third baseman overthrew first base and Kloosterman scored all the way from first base. Also contributing on the offensive side were freshmen Steve Lynch and Kris Lokker each with singles. Lokker also added a run scored in the seventh inning.
Kortering started the game going 6 strong innings. He gave up zero earned runs and picked off 4 Crusader base runners. He ended the game yielding three hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Jon Kloosterman relieved Kortering and threw two perfect innings to gain the victory. Kloosterman ended with no strikeouts or walks but went 1-2-3 in each of the two innings he pitched.
The Maroons are off until Monday when they host Mona Shores at Maroons Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
 | | Kyle Schonewill went 2 for 2 with a walkoff homerun. | |
Tuesday, April 18
Maroons offense explodes in victory over Sailors
| |  | | The Maroons celebrate Schonewill's walkoff homerun. |
The Maroons successful run to the early season continued today as they rolled the Sailors of South Christian by a score of 17-2. This was the ninth victory of the season (9-0). The game was called in the bottom of the third, due to the MHSAA fifteen run mercy rule through three innings. The game ended eventfully on junior Kyle Schonewills walkoff home run. This was Schonewills first career homerun.
The game was put out of reach with the Maroons plating eight runs in the first inning. They used three walks and three hit by pitches to accompany two hits to start the scoring barrage. Then in the second inning, six runs scored and were highlighted by four hits. In the third inning all three runs scored on Schonewills blast into the left centerfield gap to end the game. Junior Nick Scholten was 2 for 2 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Kyle Schonewill added a single to go along with his homerun for a 2 for 2 day. Sophomore Alex Beelen added a bases loaded, 3 RBI double in the second inning. Senior Jeff Nykerk was 1 for 1 on the day, reaching base all three plate appearances. Jake Arendsen added a two RBI single in the second inning going 1 for 2 on the day with 2 RBI. The team ended with eight hits in the two and a third innings.
Kirk Cousins pitched the three innings for his second victory of the season (2-0). It was also Kirks second complete game. The Maroons defense mentally slipped in the second inning committing two errors which led to the two unearned runs. Cousins ended the day with 1 strikeout and 1 walk and only allowed two hits. The Maroons were once again perfect in their stolen base attempts going eight for eight on the day.
Holland Christian will have Wednesday off and then on Thursday will host the Crusaders of Unity Christian in an OK-Green showdown at Maroons Field. The first pitch will be at 4:15 p.m. with Jeff Nykerk toeing the rubber for the Maroons.
 | | Cousins fires a pitch against South Christian. |
Tuesday, April 18
Sailors nip JV Maroons
The South Christian Sailors nipped the Maroons taking their record to 6-2 on the season. It was a tight game entering the bottom of the sixth inning with the score tied at 1 before the Sailors opened an insurmountable lead ending the game with the victory 5-3. The Maroons mounted a slight comeback in the top of the seventh pushing two runs across but could not plate the tying 2 runs that were left on base.
Steve Lynch took the loss for the Maroons pitching a strong 5 1/3 innings, ending with 3 strikeouts, 2 walks and only giving up 3 hits. Monty VanderWall relieved Lynch and pitched 2/3 of an inning striking one man out.
At the plate Steve Lynch helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly which produced an RBI. Sophomores Ben O'Neal and Monty VanderWall were both 1 for 4 with one single a piece. Freshmen Ryan Dykstra was a perfect 1 for 1 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
The Maroons will be in action again on Thursday when they travel to Unity Christian to take on the Crusaders in an OK-Green match up. Sophomore Dan Kortering will take the mound with the first pitch slated for 4:15 p.m.
 | | Kyle Schonewill strokes a double on a 2-2, 3 RBI day. | |
Monday, April 17
Maroons shoot down the Dux
| |  | | Kirk Cousins went 2-4 with 2 RBI, he also added 2 runs scored. |
The Maroons made their inaugural game in the OK-Green a strong one coming out of the gates early to defeat the Dux of Zeeland West. The Maroons pushed their record to 8-0 on the season, and 1-0 in conference, with a 9-1 victory.
The Maroons opened up the game with 6 runs in the first using 4 walks and 4 hits to put the game out of reach at an early stage. Nick Scholten, Alex Beelen and Jake Arendsen all reached base via the free pass and two came in on Kirk Cousins 2 RBI single. Later in the inning, junior Kyle Schonewill brought in 2 more runs with a single up the middle. The Maroons chipped a run on in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Alex Beelen added an RBI in the fourth with a single up the middle and in the fifth Andrew Bosma scored on Kyle Schonewills sacrifice fly. Junior Kyle Schonewill led the Maroons at the plate going 2 for 2 with a single, double and 3 RBI. Kirk Cousins found a home in the cleanup spot going 2 for 4 with a single, double and 2 RBI. The base paths stayed hot for the Maroons as they stole 5 more bases to push their season total to 45 in 8 games. Overall Holland Christian hit the ball well and solidly gaining 9 total hits and missing several more with line drives right at the Dux fielders. Sophomore Jake VanAlten, along with juniors Andrew Bosma, Nick Scholten and senior John Prins added hits on the day.
On the mound, senior Jake Arendsen (3-0) was dominant striking out 11 Dux and walking none earning the victory. The lone run scored, unearned, when they reached on Arendsens error and scored later with two outs. Jakes final line was 6 innings pitched, 3 hits allowed, 11 strikeouts and 0 walks. Sophomore Alex Beelen worked the 7th inning striking out 2 men to end the game. The Maroons will be back in action tomorrow afternoon with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m. at Maroons Field. Kirk Cousins will be the starting pitcher against South Christian.
 | | Senior Jake Arendsen delivers a pitch in his 11 strikeout performance. |
Monday, April 17
JV take their 6th game
The JV Maroons defeated the Dux of Zeeland West by a score of 5-2. Behind freshmen Ryan Dykstra's complete game, the Maroons propelled themselves to a record of 7-1 and a conference record of 1-0.
Dykstra was strong on the mound going all 7 innings, striking out 11 and walking only 1. The 2 runs that Zeeland scored were unearned. Along with all of his strikeouts, he only gave up 3 hits. This pushed his record to 1-0 on the season.
The big blow for the Maroons came off of freshmen Kevin Kloosterman's bat with an RBI triple. He added an additional RBI with a sacrifice fly in the 5th inning. He finished 1-3 with 2 RBI on the day. Ryan Dykstra helped his own cause going 1 for 3, with 2 stolen bases and a double in the second inning. Sophomore Ben O'Neal kept his hot batting streak alive with a single early in the game. Sophomore Dan Kortering also added an RBI double in a 3 run sixth inning which opened the game up. O'Neal started off the 3-Run 6th Inning with a HBP. After a passed ball, he moved to second where Kortering delivered his double. Kortering later scored on a fielder's choice hit by freshmen Josh Velthouse.
The Maroons are back in action traveling to South Christian with the first pitch slated for 4:15 p.m.
Monday, April 17
Maroons run their way into record book
| |  | | Alex Beelen on the move on the base paths. |
In the 11-0 mercy rule victory over Grand Rapids Union on Friday, the Maroons not only defeated the Redhawks, but ran themselves into a position on Michigan High School Baseball's Team Records.
In the victory, the Maroons stole 13 of 13 bases tying them for third all time in team stolen bases in a game. The record was set in 2002 by New Lothrop with 16 steals. The Maroons are now third all time with team steals in a game tying Marlette High School which accomplished the feat in 2001. The record setting performance has been sent to the MHSAA and will be updated later this year. All of the records can be found at http://www.mhsbca.org/teamrecords.htm.
 | | Jake Arendsen crushes his 2nd homerun of the year. | |
Friday, April 14
Maroons run by Redhawks
|  | | Nate DeLoof fires a pitch in his scoreless 5th inning. | |
Holland Christian, propelled by a base running onslaught, defeated Grand Rapids Union by a score of 11-0. The game was called after 5 innings due to the MHSAA mercy rule. This victory ended a very busy week of 5 games and made the Maroons 7-0 on the young season. Holland Christian traveled to play Union due to the fact that Union was Coach Otts alma mater. Its a nice win for us but we have a lot of work to get ready for what we are planning on being a tough conference year. Our goal is not just to win 7 games so we have to keep plugging away said Ott.
The game opened with a Jake Arendsen homerun and then continued on the legs of the team. HC was a perfect 13 for 13 in stolen bases and their aggression also forced two balks and three errors. At the plate Nick Scholten went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and scored 2 runs. Alex Beelen also was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI which scored on a double in the 5th inning. Jake Arendsen also contributed 2 RBI. Junior Austin Zoerhof accounted for 3 runs in his longest playing time of the year. Zoerhof had been fighting a sprained ankle. He had a perfect on base percentage reaching base all 3 times.
On the mound, the Holland Christian aces made their way through the Union order. Jake Arendsen and Jeff Nykerk made appearances using this game as their bullpen action. Jake Arendsen started and pitched the 1st inning striking out 1. Jeff Nykerk threw 3 innings in only 33 pitches and struck out 7 men, without allowing a hit. Junior Nate DeLoof made his varsity debut on the mound pitching a scoreless fifth inning striking out one.
Holland Christian rests this weekend before opening up its inaugural season in the OK-Green with a league contest against Zeeland West on Monday. Senior Jake Arendsen will take the mound against the Dux with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m. at Maroons Field.
 | | The Maroons celebrate win #7. |
Friday, April 14
Maroons blast RedHawks
The JV Maroons opened up a 13-0 lead after 2 innings and coasted to a 13-5 victory over the Redhawks of Union High School. This pushes their record to 5-1 on the season.
Freshmen Kris Lokker collected his first career high school win pitching 4 innings, striking out 4 and walking 2. Sophomore Tom Baillargeon earned the save (pitched three innings in relief) striking out 4 and only walking 1. The Maroons pitchers combined only gave up 6 hits in 7 innings.
Ben O'Neal once again had a big day with the bat going 3 for 4, coming up a homerun shy of the cycle. He gathered a single, double and a triple on the day. Freshmen Steve Lynch also went 3 for 4 with 3 singles. Ryan Dykstra, the freshmen centerfielder, was 1 for 2 with a triple and also scored 3 runs.
The JV will travel to Zeeland West on Monday with the first pitch set for 4:15 p.m. This is the JV's opening conference game and first game on the road since opening day.
 | | Kirk fires a pitch in his complete game 3 hitter. | |
Thursday, April 13
Cousins leads the Maroons to victory
| |  | | Cousins peers in for the sign in the 7th inning. |
Kirk Cousins came to the field at West Ottawa High School hoping to give the Maroons three or four quality innings. He ended up throwing a three hit, complete game gem and shutting down the host Panthers. Behind Cousins strong performance, the Maroons defeated West Ottawa for the first time in six years by a score of 5-1. This also increased their record to 6-0.
The game opened rather inauspiciously as leadoff batter Ross Bloemers hit a 375 foot lead off homerun on the second pitch of the game. Cousins settled down immediately forcing the next eleven Panthers back to the dugout before giving up an infield single. Kirk was locating extremely well and he pitched ahead the majority of the game which gives him a large advantage said head coach Mike Ott. I was extremely impressed not only by his pitching performance, but we saw the fire and competitiveness that Kirk brings and that really picked the team up. The junior hurler ended the game throwing 97 pitches, striking out five men and walking none. He also assisted himself making four assists in the field, one being a sparkling running flip to get the runner at first.
Behind Cousins, the Maroons once again played flawless defense making no errors. Defense is the key to our game and today we communicated well and you can see all the work these kids put in the off-season come to fruition said Ott. Junior Andrew Bosma made a stellar jumping tag, at first base, in the seventh inning to squelch any chance of a West Ottawa rally.
At the plate, the Maroons started slowly putting up zeros the first three innings but made the necessary adjustments and erupted for four runs in the fourth and two in the sixth. Sophomore Alex Beelen highlighted the lineup going 2 for 4 with two singles. The scoring started with Beelen opening with a single, followed by Jake Arendsens double to put runners at second and third. Senior Jeff Nykerk got the tying run across with an RBI sacrifice fly. Kirk Cousins then drove in a run with an RBI fielders choice and then later scored on Kyle Schonewill single. The key hit was in the sixth inning when Andrew Bosma stepped to the plate with two strikes and stroked a two RBI double to center to put the game out of reach. Senior John Prins added another hit to his season as did Nick Scholten.
The Maroons wrap up their busy five game week with another road trip tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. The game will be played at historic Sullivans (Valley) Field against Grand Rapids Union.
 | | Andrew Bosma helped the Maroons with a 2 RBI double in the 6th inning. |
Thursday, April 13
JV defeats Panthers
The Maroons JV team defeated West Ottawa by a score of 7-3. Behind starter Dan Kortering's strong six inning performance, the Maroons were able to hold off the Panthers. Kortering walked only 2 batters, gave up 3 hits and struck out 4 men. Monty VanderWall entered the game to pitch the seventh inning and struck out 1.
Dan Kortering helped his own cause at the plate going 2 for 2 with 2 singles and an RBI. Freshmen Kris Lokker scored two runs. "This was by far our best game of the year. We communicated and threw strikes and good things happened" said head coach Joe Baillargeon. The Maroons play Grand Rapids Union at home tomorrow with first pitch at 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11
Maroons defeat Allegan in 8 innings
The varsity pulled out an incredible come from behind victory over Allegan High School winning 4-3 in extra innings to push their record to 5-0. The Maroons started with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and the winning run in the eighth inning.
Nick Scholten got the start for the Maroons and delivered a quality start. Scholten went 5 2/3 innings giving up three runs, two of them were charged as earned runs. He finished with eight strikeouts, while only giving up one walk. He left the game behind 3-0 in the hands of the bullpen. The bullpen did not let the Maroons down delivering 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Sophomore Alex Beelen entered with a runner on second and two outs in the sixth and promptly delivered a strike out. Beelen threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings and gathered his first career varsity victory. Junior Kirk Cousins pitched a scoreless eighth inning to collect his first career save.
Senior John Prins sparked the offense going 2 for 3. Not only did he score the first run, he also had two RBI, one being the game winning RBI which he gathered with a bases loaded walk with two outs in the eighth inning. Junior Andrew Bosma came up clutch for the Maroons with a triple in the seventh inning to cut the Allegan lead to 3-2. He later scored on Prins fielders choice to tie the game at 3-3. Nick Scholten, Kirk Cousins and Alex Beelen also gathered hits on the day.
This group of kids does not care who gets the credit as they are focused on the team first. They grind until the final out and really embody what we talk about giving 110 percent. Today is the most proud of a team in the five years I have coached both in high school and in college said the Maroons coach Mike Ott. The Maroons will have an off-day on Wednesday and will travel across town to play West Ottawa on Thursday with the first pitch scheduled at 4:15 p.m.
 | | Andrew Bosma hits an RBI triple leading to the Maroons comeback. |
Tuesday, April 11
JV takes the game from Allegan
The Maroons JV program raised their record to 3-1 on the season with a 13-7 victory over Allegan High School. The offense came alive from the first inning giving the pitching staff the necessary run support.
Freshmen Kevin Kloosterman (1-0) gathered his first victory of the season throwing 1 2/3 innings in relief. He relieved the starter Ryan Dykstra (3 1/3 innings pitched, 7 strikeouts/2 BB) who made his debut on the mound for the Maroons. Jon Kloosterman finished the game with 2 innings pitched to shut down Allegans chances of a comeback. He had 4 strikeouts and no walks.
On the offensive side, sophomore Steve VanWyk continued to shine with his bat going 3 for 4 with two singles and a double. He also contributed 2 RBI. Freshmen Ryan Dykstra helped his own cause at the plate going 2 for 3 with a single and a double. He drove in 1 run and used his speed to gain a stolen base. The Maroons will again play at Maroons Field on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. against cross-town foe West Ottawa High School.
 | | Kirk Cousins helped at the plate (2-4) and with 1 1/3 innings pitched in Game 1. | |
Monday, April 10
Maroons Varsity sweep crosstown rival Holland
The Maroons opened up a busy week of baseball with two victories over Holland High School. The varsity team had been on a week and a half layoff due to Spring Break and despite some rust, they battled through adversity to claim two victories and push their record to 4-0.
In Game 1, starter Jake Arendsen (2-0) helped his own cause with a two run 390 foot blast to left-center to give the Maroons a lead they would never relinquish. The Dutch struck back in the bottom on the first with one run as Arendsen battled his control. After the first inning, Arendsen settled down to pitch 5 2/3 innings, giving up 1 run and only 2 hits. He walked four men, three in the first inning and struck out 9 to pace the Maroons in victory. Junior Kirk Cousins made his debut on the mound throwing a strong inning and a third to finish the game.
At the plate, the varsity was paced by Nick Scholten who went 3 for 4 with a triple. Scholten contributed 1 RBI and scored 3 runs. Kirk Cousins and Jake Arendsen both went 2 for 4 in the game. The Maroons again played solid defense behind Arendsen and Cousins extending their errorless streak to 3 games.
In Game 2, the Maroons struck first scoring 3 runs in the top half of the first inning. Of the 14 innings played, Holland Christian was ahead for all 14. Nykerk threw all 7 innings striking out 11 members of the Dutch, while walking 4 gaining his second victory of the year and pushing his record to 2-0. The senior struggled in the second inning giving up his lone earned run and battled through to shut down the Dutch the rest of the game. The Maroons errorless streak ended at three games when they made 3 errors in Game 2. Two of the errors led to the second run being scored in the third inning.
Alex Beelen led the Maroons reaching base all three plate appearances going 1-1 in the game. Jake Arendsen went 2 for 2 and senior John Prins added a key 2 out 2 RBI single in the first inning. Kirk Cousins and Nick Scholten kept their hitting streak alive by both gathering base hits in the game.
Game 2 was also highlighted with 2 spectacular plays in the outfield. Junior Kyle Schonewill made a diving catch to save two runs ending the third inning. Meanwhile, sophomore Jake VanAlten made a shoestring catch with 1 out in the seventh inning. The Maroons again pushed with their aggressive running style going 11 for 11 in stolen bases on the day. The varsity will be at it again tomorrow traveling to Allegan High School where junior Nick Scholten will start on the mound.
 | | Alex Beelen went 1-1 and reached base all 3 times in Game 2. |
Monday, April 10
JV splits with Holland
The JV Maroons (2-1) endured a very rusty performance in their doubleheader but managed to defeat Holland High School 13-12 on a walk off base on balls in Game 1. Jon Kloosterman (1-0) got the victory on the mound in relief of starter Steve Lynch. Sophomore Brant Gray laced a RBI double and sophomore Steve VanWyk had a 2 RBI single in Game 1 to pace the Maroons offense.
In Game 2 of the doubleheader, the Maroons dropped their first contest of the season in a shortened 3 inning game. The Maroons were up 2-0 entering the final inning before 4 errors led to the Dutch's three runs ending the game 3-2. Sophomore Dan Kortering got the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season. The Maroons will be back in action tomorrow at Maroons Field against Allegan High School with the first pitch being thrown at 4:15 p.m.
Sunday, April 9
Maroons duo strong on the mound
(Courtesy of the Holland Sentinel)
The Holland Christian baseball team has a couple of rarities on the team this year. First, they have two pitchers who already signed with colleges -- Jake Arendsen with Oakland University and Jeff Nykerk with Trinity Christian -- before their senior seasons started. Then add the fact that Holland Christian's No. 2 pitcher does the majority of the catching. The Maroons will involve their top two players on every play.
"It's very unique to have the No. 1 pitcher throwing to the No. 2 pitcher on a regular basis," said Holland Christian Mike Ott.
Arendsen is excited about his final season, especially teaming with Nykerk. "We take pride in being the leaders of the team," Arendsen said. "Our goal is to win conference again." The Maroons won the O-K Gold the last two years and move to the O-K Green.
Both seniors worked hard to get prepared for a tough season. "Jake worked his tail off in the offseason," Ott said. "He's got the best stuff I've seen in seven years from a lefty." But the Maroons will rely on the leadership as well as the talent of the seniors. "Jake's done a great job as a leader with the younger guys and means a lot to the team," Ott said. "Jeff is more of a quiet leader. A leader by example." The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Nykerk will lead by example at the plate, as well as behind it. "He will be our main power option in the lineup," Ott said.
But Ott has seen a lot of improvement in Nykerk's pitching as well. "His best pitch is his change-up," Ott said. "It's a pitch that's going to make him great in college. He's a very good high school catcher, but he's going to be an extraordinary pitcher." Nykerk threw out 70 percent of the runners trying to steal bases last year.
One thing both players are excited about is the lack of pressure on them after already signing with colleges. "It definitely takes some pressure off," Arendsen said. "I can get those thoughts out of my head and I don't have to strain to show what I can do." Nykerk feels the same way and is excited about the Maroons' chance with two college-bound pitchers. "It gives us a lot of confidence, knowing we'll be able to shut some teams down," he said. "If we get some runs, we should be able to win a lot of games."
While the Maroons won the conference title, they lost in the district tournament last year and are looking to make amends. "We came up a little short at districts last year," Arendsen said. "We want to win this year. It's a lot to look forward to."
 | | Jeff Nykerk gets his sign. | |
Tuesday, March 28
Varsity sweeps Hopkins to open season
| |  | | Jake Arendsen on one of his 12 K's. |
The day started with overcast skies but the sun broke through the clouds opening the season for the 2006 Maroons. The Maroons opened with a doubleheader against Hopkins High School. In Game 1, senior Jake Arendsen dominated the Vikings pitching a complete game shutout (5 innings due to the doubleheader) striking out 12 and walking 0 guiding Holland Christian to a 9-0 victory. The defensive gem came in the first inning as Matt Kibby of Hopkins lined a double down the right field line. Right fielder John Prins executed a perfect cut off relay to second baseman Nick Scholten who fired it home in time to cut down the runner trying to score from first base. This would end all threats of the Vikings scoring in the doubleheader.
At the plate junior Kirk Cousins and Nick Scholten led the charge for the Maroons who pounded out 9 runs and 10 hits in the opener. Cousins was a perfect 2-2 in game 1 and added a stolen base and an RBI to the mix. Nick Scholten went 2-3 with a double and scored 2 runs. He also made 2 assists in the field. The Maroons as a whole played a very sound and crisp game leading to their victory.
In Game 2, the story was very similar. The Maroons jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and did not look back. Backed behind senior Jeff Nykerk's pitching and again strong defensive effort, HC cruised to a 8-0 win in a darkness shortened affair. Nykerk followed up his fellow captain Jake Arendsen's performance, giving up just one hit and striking out 7, walking 0 in 3 innings. The Maroons pitching staff combined struck out 19 compared to 0 walks in just 8 innings.
Cousins again led the offense going 1-2 with a double, a run scored and a run batted in. Nykerk helped his own cause going 2-2 and driving in 2 runs. The offense combined for 7 hits and 8 runs in just 2 turns at bat. Sophomore Alex Beelen also contributed a team high 4 runs scored on the day. The Maroons were also perfect in the field contributing 0 errors leading to the strong play in the doubleheader sweep. Holland Christian is off until April 10th due to Spring Break and will play a doubleheader against Holland High School.
 | | Kirk Cousins looks to drive the ball against Hopkins. |
Tuesday, March 28
JV opens with win over Hopkins
On the road to begin their season, the JV made the trip a little less unpleasant by bringing home a 13-2 victory in 5 innings over Hopkins High School. In his first start as a Maroon, freshmen Steve Lynch did not disappoint getting his first career high school victory by throwing 3 innings, striking out 7 and walking 2. After Lynch, the bullpen did a stellar job shutting the door with sophomores Monty VanderWall and Jon Kloosterman each pitching an inning and each striking out 2 men.
Beyond the pitching performances, the Maroons bats awoke from the off-season. Sophomores Ben O'Neal, Kyle Helder and Steve VanWyk each contributed 2 hits a piece. O'Neal slugged a single and a triple while Helder and VanWyk each had 2 singles. HC played strong defense only committing 1 error. They will return to action on April 10th against Holland High School at Maroons Field after Spring Break.
Monday, March 27
Nykerk commits to Trinity Christian
| |  | | Jeff Nykerk, along with Trinity's coach Matt Schans, signs his letter of intent. |
(Courtesy of the Holland Sentinel)
Holland Christian senior Jeff Nykerk has become the second baseball player from his school to receive a college scholarship. He recently committed to NAIA Trinity Christian (Ill.) He plans to sign a letter-of-intent next month.
"I'm really excited that Jeff is going to Trinity Christian," Holland Christian coach Mike Ott said. "They gave him a substantial offer that he couldn't refuse. We really think Trinity is a good fit for him."
Nykerk, who pitches and plays catcher, also considered some other colleges, according to Ott. "Jeff had some offers from bigger (NCAA) Division II schools, but he wanted to go to a smaller, Christian-type university where he was comfortable and that was our main concern." Ott said. "The most important thing was finding somewhere where he could excel on and off the field and I think he has found that."
Nykerk is coming off a junior season in high school in which he batted .378, hit one home run, had four doubles, one triple and knocked in 18 runs. On the mound, Jeff was 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA as well.
Ott plans to take full advantage of Nykerk's talents this spring. "Jeff is our starting catcher and our #2 pitcher. He is an excellent catcher, but he's also a very talented pitcher," Ott said. "I really think he can play both positions in college but the Trinity coaches are looking at him as more of a pitcher."
Ott said Nykerk, who will sign a national letter of intent to Trinity in a couple of weeks, has the makeup of a hurler. "He's 6-foot-5, 215," Ott said. "That in itself can throw a scare into a batter. He also has three great pitches which he can throw at anytime."
Nykerk, the cousin of former West Ottawa standout and University of Michigan pitcher Dave Nykerk, is throwing anywhere from 84 to 87 miles an hour. They grew up living next to each other. Fellow captain and teammate, Jake Arendsen, a pitcher, signed a full-ride Division I scholarship with Oakland University this past winter.
Monday, February 13
Arendsen bound for Division 1 Oakland
(Courtesy of the Holland Sentinel)
The sky is the limit for Jake Arendsen and the Oakland University baseball team. He becomes the 2nd played in the last 3 years from Holland Christian to move to the Division 1 level for baseball (Dave Ekdom '04-Western Michigan University). The Holland Christian senior accepted a full-ride athletic scholarship to play for the Grizzlies next year.
"We compared it with some other schools and with their new coach Dylan Putnam, I felt it was the right choice," Arendsen said. Putnam took over at Oakland after being an assistant at Michigan State. "With a new program and meeting with him, he said that he was looking for guys like me and I was going to fit into the program," Arendsen said.
Arendsen was 5-2 last year with a 1.80 earned run average, struck out 74 batters and walked just 26 in 43 innings. The Maroons' hurler was so dominant, he only allowed one extra-base hit all season. He is looking to take the next step at Oakland. "I expect to be brought to my highest potential as a player and I believe that Coach Ott and Coach Spiegel have helped me so much in moving in the right direction and Coach Putnam will continue that and help get me there," Arendsen said. "The work has only begun for me."
It will be fun work as the Grizzlies look to become a baseball power. "They are starting to put money into the baseball team because they don't have a football team," Arendsen said. "The plan is to build a new stadium next year and I saw the drawings and it looks amazing. It will be something that I will really enjoy."
Arendsen is looking forward to playing under Putnam but is looking forward to his senior season with the Maroons. "Knowing he (Putnam) was looking for the best fit with the team, not just the most talented, was big for me because that is how things are done here at Holland Christian with our baseball program" Arendsen said. "Coach said I would be playing right away and not be redshirted. I am excited to move into a program that has a lot of potential."
Holland Christian coach Mike Ott is glad to have Arendsen for the upcoming spring season, before Oakland calls. "He's developed so much as a pitcher both fundamentally, as well as mentally and has turned into one of the premier pitchers in this area," Ott said. "His mechanics are sound, so his control has gotten so much better. He is a very hard worker and will be a team captain for the 2006 season. I look for him to have a great season and help to lead our program in the right direction. They say anything worth having comes with sacrifice and Jake definetly has sacrificed and worked the past year and a half so I am very proud of him."
Arendsen is looking forward to a season without the pressure of where to go next. "It feels good to have the weight off your shoulders," he said. "Most kids can't say where they are going to college. I don't think I have to go out there and put on a perfect game to get some notice."
Arendsen feels his parents have as much to do with his success as coaching. "My parents always push me in the right direction and made sure I knew where my priorities were," he said. "It got me where I am now. It's a complete blessing to receive a gift like this."
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