Regional Tournament Recap

Today the Scots traveled up the Beltine to Rockford High School for the regional round of the Division 1 MHSAA Baseball playoffs. The Scots were starting Caleb Sleeman, who pitched in game one of the district round. Sleeman today had an incredible outing. In just over 105 pitches, Sleeman went 8 innings and allowed only 3 hits and one run. It was by far the greatest outing pitching wise the Scots had all season long yet the offense was stagnant and couldn't produce the support to win the game. The Scots scored one run on an RBI single by Chris Clark to give them the 1-0 lead. The Knights resiliently got a run off of a hit, a walk and some very devious base running. In a little league style play, the Knights baited the Scots into making a throw to the trailing runner, and the runner scored from gird to tie it up. Sleeman along with Kenowa starter Zach Zobro were in a duel all game long. The Scots had quite a few opportunities including one inning with runners on second and third with nobody out, yet runners were never plated. Zobro went the distance for Kenowa pitching all 10 innings and allowing 9 hits. In the bottom of the tenth, the Knights got a single up the middle past the diving middle infielders into centerfield and the trow was just a hair late and Kenowa prevailed victorious 2-1 after 10 innings to advance to the regional finals against the Jenison Wildcats. The Scots end the year 16-11 and overachieved in the eyes of many. Predicted to finish last in the OK White, the Scots finished second. The Scots earned the school's first district title since 2007 and next year is filled with optimism. The Scots return 15 of 17 players and will be looking to earn the schools first regional title ever and a lot of other lofty expectations that are definitely within reach. This is the last post of the season and I wanna give a shoutout to all of the people who read this along with the support from all of the fans throughout the entire season. Until next year, GO SCOTS!

District Tournament Recap

Today the Scots headed across town to East Kentwood for the district rounds of the MHSAA Tournament. The Scots in the first game took on the host East Kentwood Falcons. The Scots sent Caleb Sleeman to the hill in game one. In the first inning, the Scots got on the board to take an early 1-0 lead. Mitch Horgan's RBI single scored Keegan Mulvey to give the Scots the advantage. Sleeman worked out of multiple jams in his 5 innings and only allowed one run that came on a base hit to left field in the 3rd inning. Nobody would score again until the bottom of the 8th inning. Joe Stegehuis reached on a single with one out in the inning. He promptly stole second base and then a groundout brought him over to third with two down and Chris Clark at the plate. It should be noted that when Stegehuis was on second there was an apparent balk on the pitcher that was not called. So with one strike on Clark, Stegehuis broke off toward the plate trying to steal the victory. Stegehuis slid in under the tag and the Scots were victorious and headed to the finals with a 2-1 win.
In the second game the Scots would play OK White foe Forest Hills Central for the district title. Dan Zeman was on the bump facing Mitch Ashcraft. Each team scored 3 in the first inning setting an apparent pace for a shoutout. The Rangers bats however went silent. While the Scots paced out 11 runs over 15 hits, the Rangers would not score again until the seventh. The Scots scored in every inning except one, and finally showed the full offensive potential everybody longed for the entire season. The Rangers got 2 runs in the 7th to make the game appear closer, however it was not a contest past the 3rd. The Scots handily took an 11-5 victory to win the schools first district title since 2006. The Scots advance to next Saturdays regional at Rockford High School where in the first round they will meet the Kenowa Hills Knights. If the Scots can get that win, they would play either Jenison or Lowell (both OK White opponents) in the regional final for a shot to play in the quarter finals at Central Michigan University. The game Saturday appears to be set for 10:00 AM but stay tuned and keep in contact with players for further changes. Hopefully the Scots will be able to draw a huge crowd in their pursuit for history.

May 29 West Ottawa Recap

Today the Caledonia Scots headed out to Holland for the final regular season game of the year against the West Ottawa Panthers. The Scots sent Nick Adams to the hill today and he had his best outing of the year. Adams went 6 innings and gave up one earned run and scattered only a few hits. The Scots scored early today, much in contrary to other games. In the second inning Logan Hudson crossed the plate to put the Scots up 1-0. Three more Scots would score in the third, as Joe Stegehuis, Mitch Horgan and Trent Foreman all drove in one run a piece. Up 4-0, the Scots got a little complacent and a couple errors and walks led to the Panthers getting three runs. In the fifth, the Panthers strung together a few hits and they tied the game at 4. The offenses would trade zeroes until the top of the seventh when the Scots got rolling again. The Scots got a few hits, some quality base running and a few more hits to break this game wide open. Austin Coon started the inning off with a single and it snowballed out of control. 5 hits and 4 runs later, the Scots were up 8-4 and sitting real pretty with Senior Jake JaBaay coming in to relieve. JaBaay allowed one hit but nothing more and the Scots got out of Holland with an 8-4 win. Nick Adams picked up the win, and the Scots improved to 14-10 on the season. The Scots will play again in the start of the district tournament against the East Kentwood Falcons at East Kentwood High School at noon. The Scots will be needing two wins Saturday to win the schools first district title since 2007. Come out and support the squad just down the road in Kentwood.

May 28 EGR Recap

Today the Scots took the trip to Remington Park just off Reeds Lake in the cozy community of East Grand Rapids to take on the Pioneers. The Scots started lefty Sammy Vanderwal and he faced the Pioneers righty Joel Dayton who had beaten the Scots previously this season. The game was a pitching duel with little offensive action until the bottom of the third when the Pioneers took an error and a walk to put a couple runners on and Nathan Kamradt drove them both in to put the Pioneers in front 2-0. In the 5th, the Scots responded with a a pair or runs themselves. Chris Clark scored on a throwdown to second base to draw the lead to one. On the next hit by Keegan Mulvey, Austin coon hauled all the way from second to score on an infield single to tie the game at 2. Trent Foreman bridged the Scots with scoreless ball from the 4th until the 6th when Nick Tuori entered. Tuori got three outs in the bottom of the sixth and the Scots looked to take the lead in the top of the 7th. With two outs, Keegan Mulvey singled to shallow right field. On the second pitch to Joe Stegehuis, Mulvey advanced to second on the passed ball. The next pitch Stegehuis placed beautifully down the right field line scoring Mulvey and giving the Scots the 3-2 lead with only three outs separating them from the W. There was one single but the rest of the batters were retired easily and the Scots took care of business 3-2. Nick Tuori earns his first career varsity win and the Scots picked up their 13th of the year. At 13-10 the Scots have clinched a winning season, however they are not done yet. Tomorrow the Scots travel to West Ottawa to take on the Panthers in the final tuneup before district play Saturday. Note for everyone planning on attending Saturday, the Scots will take on the East Kentwood Falcons who were victorious in last night's first round game over the Wyoming Wolves. In the other semifinal, the Forest Hills Central Rangers will take on the Ottawa Hills Bengals. All games Saturday take place at EK and the Scots start at noon.

May 27 Byron Recap

Today the Scots had their home finale against the Byron Center Bulldogs, who took second in the OK Green behind the Hamilton Hawkeyes who came to Cal and took a pair of games last week. Caleb Sleeman was starting for the Scots, and the Bulldogs sent Tyler Pols to the bump. The Scots got on the board in the very first inning with a pair of runs. Mitch McCallum scored the first run on a passed ball and then Logan Hudson had a sacrifice fly to put the Scots up 2-0 after one. an RBI single in the second put the Scots out in front 3-0 and all seemed to be headed in the right direction. The wheels quickly fell off however as the Bulldogs took few hits and mishaps in the outfield in the next two innings, including one RBI by Duncan Patterson, and took a 4-3 lead after the 4th inning. The Scots bats in the bottom of the fifth and sixth exploded, scoring 11 unanswered runs. Mitch Horgan, Joe Stegehuis and Drake Ellens all hit triples in these innings for the big hit plays. Some undervalued plays at the plate today were three huge sacrifice bunts. Keegan Mulvey had two of them that led to 4 runs and then Trey Roelofs had one that led to a run as well. The Scots ability to move runners across all game long led to the 14 runs scored today. The Scots had solid pitching from Caleb Sleeman, Keegan Mulvey and Dan Zeman as well today and they improve to 12-10 on the year. Tomorrow in preparation for the district game, two of the projected four throwers will throw in the game against the Pioneers along with a few other guys. The game tomorrow is at East Grand Rapids, and the game is nonleague even though they are both OK White members. This season the Scots took the final two games of the series after losing the first and hope to make it 3 out of 4 tomorrow. Game is 4:30 as the Scots are down to two regular season games before district play.

May 21 Hamilton Recap

The Scots played a doubleheader today against the Hamilton Hawkeyes, 2014 OK Green Champions, and it was just not a good day at the field whatsoever. The Hawkeyes were live at bats and had countless hits and scored quite a handful of runs, definately proving that they are quite the ball club. In both games the Scots had the early 1-0 lead, but Hamilton responded well. In the first game Hamilton scored two in the third on a double off today's first game starter Nick Adams who took a tough loss due to lack of run support. Mitch Horgan and Drake Ellens recorded RBIs in the first game for the Scots but that was it. Hamiltons runs in the fourth and the fifth off of the reliever Dan Zeman (one of which was unearned) proved to be the deciding factor as the Hakweyes took game number one by a final of 4-2.
In the second game, Jake JaBaay was set to start for the Scots. After a scoreless first frame, they got 3 in the second to make it 3-1 Hawkeyes. (the Scots first RBI went to Mitch Horgan). The scoring enslaught continued all night as the Hawkeyes put up 10 runs on the Scots, who had 15 different players take part in that final game with substitutions made for various reasons. The Scots showed glimmers of the energy and passion they had lacked in the final two innings but at that point the game had been heavily decided for the most part with the final score in game two being 10-3. After the game, the Scots meeting was uplifting in the sense that they feel they are far better than the effort shown today and will try and rekindle that spark in the three non-league games next week and it will erupt into a flame with district play starting 9 days from today. The Scots next game is tuesday may 27 against the byron center bulldogs at home, the last home game of the year. First pitch is set for 4:15 so come out and support the boys at home one last time.

May 20 GRC Recap

Today the Scots played their final conference game of the year at home against the Grand Rapids Christian Eagles. Trent Foreman started for the Scots and he threw a tremendous 4 innings. Foreman allowed one run that scored on a fielders choice so it was an overly spectacular outing. The Scots bats exploded today in the first inning to give Foreman the run support too. Mitch Horgan drove in the games first run to give the Scots a 1-0 lead. Immediately following Logan Hudson singled in a run. A few batters later Foreman helped himself and gave the Scots a 3-0 lead. Austin Coon doubled in two runs and the Scots led 5-0 after one. After the Eagles weakly pushed across one run in the third, the Scots responded in the fourth. Keegan Mulvey singled in one runner to make it 6-1. In the sixth the Scots scored one more off a Mitch McCallum RBI and up 7-1 had only three outs until they would get the win. Mulvey, suffering from a lingering undisclosed injury, got into a bit of a rut on the hill with a 7-2 game and two outs but the bases were loaded with Tyler Sigler stepping to the plate. The Scots called upon Nick Tuori out of the pen who got Sigler to ground right back to him and the easy throw to first ended the game. The Scots took a 7-2 victory over GRC and with the W took 2nd place in the very difficult OK White with a conference record of 8-7. They now improve to 11-8 on the year and have five non conference games left until district play begins May 31. They play at home tomorrow against former OK-Gold foe, the Hamilton Hawkeyes, for a doubleheader starting at 4:15. It is suspected that the starter for the  games will be Senior Jake JaBaay and Junior Sam Vanderwal and they will face a 16-8 Hawkeyes squad that won the OK Green conference.

May 19 Lowell Recap

Today in a makeup from two weeks ago the Scots took on the Lowell Red Arrows in a conference battle. The Scots started Caleb Sleeman and Jared Malle started for the Arrows. The Scots scored first on an RBI double down the left field line by Austin Coon in the second inning to give them an early 1-0 advantage. In the fourth inning, Sleeman got in a bit of a jam with the bases loaded and nobody out. Sleeman calmly struck out the next two batters and then got the third to bounce in a groundout to Keegan Mulvey at third. In the fifth however, the Red Arrows scored two runs on a RBI double by Parker Groom. Kyler Shurlow then brought in another run to make it 3-1 Lowell. On the next batter, Groom came across to score on a passed ball and after 5 it was 4-1 Lowell in front. In the sixth, Jake Stevens connected on a hanging curve off the reliever Mulvey for a bomb to left field giving the Arrows a 6-1 lead. The Scots put two more runs across to make it 6-3 but that would be all. The Scots left a plethora of runners on base again tonight, with multiple opportunities early to close the door. They now fall to 10-8 on the year and are 7-7 in the OK White which currently places them one half game up for second place with the conference finale at home tomorrow against the Eagles of Grand Rapids Christian. Trent Foreman is on the bump for the Scots and Austin Badka will throw for the Eagles. The game is at 4:30 and is at home so come out and support the squad.

May 17 Doubleheader Recap

Today the Scots had a doubleheader at home against Gull Lake and Portage Central. In the first game the Scots started Nick Adams against the Blue Devils of Gull Lake. The Scots got off to a rough start as the Blue Devils took a commanding 4-0 lead after 3. Despite the Scots scoring on a passed ball, they gave up 2 more in the fourth to trail 6-1. In the fifth, two hits led to even more Gull Lake offense and they took an 8-1 lead. In the bottom half of the inning the Scots responded with a pair of runs to cut the lead to 8-3. Even though the Scots scored 3 in the bottom of the 7th, having the tying run up with a runner on second, they couldn't complete the comeback and fell to the Blue Devils 8-6. Drake Ellens came out of his shell at the plate with two extra base hits in this game. Adams takes the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season.
In the second game, Sam Vanderwal was set to take the hill against the Portage Central Mustangs, also members of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference. The Mustangs stuck first with a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. They struck again in the second to make it 2-0. The offense went completely silent again until the fourth inning when the Scots finally responded. Trent Foreman tripled to straight away centerfield to pull the Scots within one. In the fifth, the game became tied when Keegan Mulvey grounded into a double play but a runner came across to score tying the score at 2. In the bottom of the seventh, Drake Ellens got the Scots rolling with a double. Austin Coon bunted him over so with one out they had a runner in third base. On the second pitch of the at bat to Mitch McCallum it skipped away from the catcher and Ellens raced home without a throw to score the game winning run giving the Scots a 3-2 victory. After throwing 3 scoreless relief innings, Trent Foreman picked up the W for the Scots.  The Scots now improve to 10-7 on the season and have a conference game against the Lowell Red Arrows on Monday at home. Come out and support the squad, first pitch at 4:30. The starter for that game has yet to be decided.

May 16 GRC Recap

On Friday the Scots headed out to Gainey for the second game of the series against Grand Rapids Christian. (The third game will be tuesday in caledonia) The Scots sent Dan Zeman to the hill against Tyler Zylstra. Sigler scored the games first run in the second to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. In the 5th inning the Scots scored three runs to respond. Austin Coon drove in the first run and later scored on a passed ball to go up 2-1. Coon had a little extra motivation as the second basemen for Christian has been hitting on his girl. A few batters later Logan Hudson drove in Keegan Mulvey to give the Scots a 3-1 lead after 5. In the bottom of the 5th, the Eagles offense came to life. Tyler Sigler singled in a pair of runs to tie the game at three, and then Sigler and the pitcher Zylstra both scored later in the inning to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead. Trent Foreman drove in a run in the 6th to cut the margin to one. The Scots entered the seventh only down one and had momentum however they went down 1-2-3 in the 7th. The Scots fell 5-4 and play Saturday in a doubleheader with Portage Central and Gull Lake.

May 14 GRC Recap

Today the Scots took their first trip of the year to Gainey Park to take on the Grand Rapids Christian eagles to start the final conference series of the year. Today's pitching matchup was Trent Foreman for the Scots against Illinois-Chicago commit Austin Badka. With the rain lighty spitting all game long, and two pitchers who have been very consistent throughout the year runs were gonna be hard to come by. Neither team recorded a hit until the third inning, when the Scots got a single from Austin Coon on a beautiful bunt. Scoring finally broke open in the fifth inning when the Scots clipped on all cylinders. Keegan Mulvey led the inning off with a single, and Dan Zeman followed with a walk. Trey Roelofs bunted them over and reached himself to load the bases with zero outs for Austin Coon. Coon blooped a single over the drawn-in infield to bring in Mulvey for the games first run. Two batters later, Trent Foreman doubled to right field and cleared the bases giving the Scots a 4-0 lead. After advancing on the throw to sit on third base with only one out, Logan Hudson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Foreman in and give the Scots a 5 run lead. In the bottom half, the Eagles scrapped together two runs to draw the margin to 3. That would be it for scoring on both sides as Trent Foreman completed the game and picked up the W. Austin Badka fanned 10 Scots, yet he is saddled with the L. Foreman was spot on all evening and that combined with a near flawless defense behind him kept the Eagles in check. The Scots now improve to 9-5 on the season and 7-5 in the OK White. The ninth victory surpasses last years win total and the Scots still have 10 regular season games left. Tomorrow the Scots will host the Eagles with lefty Sam Vanderwal on the hill, with first pitch set at 4:30. Come out and support the squad as they are still alive in the OK White hunt.

May 9 Covenant Christian (DH) Recap

Today the Scots had a doubleheader at home against the Covenant Christian Chargers, their first non conference matchup of the season. The Scots sent Jake JaBaay to the hill to start the first game and they sent plenty of run support his way. In the first Logan Hudson and Chris Clark both drove in runs with singles to make it 2-0. In the second Keegan Mulvey scored on a passed ball and then on the following at bat Caleb Sleeman drove in a run and the Scots led 4-0 after the 2nd. In the third, Joe Stegehuis scored on an error and then Dan Zeman singled in a run to make it 6-0. Covenant Christian tagged JaBaay for 3 runs in the fourth but he left the game with a 6-3 lead and would leave the door for Nick Tuori to slam shut in his debut. In the 5th, after 2 errors the Chargers trimmed the lead to 2 yet in the bottom of the 6th the Scots scored 5 more runs. Joe Stegehuis drove in a pair on a double and then scored on a passed ball. Keegan Mulvey drove in another run on a double and then Dan Zeman hit a sac fly to drive him in. Nick Tuori threw 3 innings and allowed 3 hits and zero earned runs to earn his first career save, and the Scots won 11-4.
In the second game, the Scots sent Nick Adams to the hill looking for his first win of the year, and the Scots bats once again support per their pitching staff. Mitch McCallum and Trent Foreman scored the games first two runs off of an error in the first to make it 2-0. In the second Trey Roelofs doubled in a pair of runs to make it 4-0. The Chargers then scored one more in the 3rd to make it 4-1. In the bottom of the fifth the Scots offense exploded scoring a plethora of runs. Keegan Mulvey opened the frame with a sac fly, his third RBI of the day (He was 6-6 on the day also). Trent Foreman walked drawing in a run, then Mitch McCallum singled in another run to make it 7-1. Joe Stegehuis singled in a pair of runners, Mitch Horgan singled in another and then Chris Clark walked making it 11-1 and the mercy went into effect. The Scots took both games rather handely and improve to 8-5 on the season. The Scots play again Monday against Grand Rapids Christian at Christian to begin the last conference series of the year. Shoutout to all of the beautiful women in the crowd, and everyone else too for showing up means a lot for the support.

May 8 EGR Recap

Today the Scots, tied with the Pioneers for 2nd place in the OK White took the drive across town to East Grand Rapids to play the Pioneers in the third game of the series, which had been split so far. The Scots were sending Dan Zeman to the hill, who has been very consistent throughout the year so far. The Scots gave Zeman a huge cushion before he even stepped foot on the rubber, scoring 6 runs in the top of the first. Mitch Horgan started the scoring run with a 2 RBI double to left field that one hopped up against the fence. The Scots added two more runs off of an error increasing the lead to 4-0.  Keegan Mulvey singled to right driving in the 5th run, and then Austin Coon hit a sac fly to center to blow the lead out to 6-0. The Pioneers scored unearned run in the second off an error to draw it to 6-1 and nobody would score again until the 4th inning. In the fourth inning, Mitch Horgan drove in one run on a double to make it 7-1, Logan Hudson drove Horgan in to increase it to 8-1 and next up was Chris Clark. Hudson tipped the sign to him, he got all of it and Chris Clark sent the ball 380 feet over the centerfield fence for his first varsity home run to make it 10-1. Austin Coon had another sac fly to make it 11-1 and it appeared that was all the Scots would need for mercying the Pioneers. East had other plans however clawing two more runs in the bottom of the 5th to make it 11-3. That was the end of the day for Zeman who picks up a win allowing two earned runs over 5 innings. The Scots tacked one more on in the 7th on an RBI groundout by Jake JaBaay to make it 12-3, the eventual final score. The Scots had 14 different players step up to the plate today including the first at bats of the season for Trey Roelofs and Nick Tuori. The Scots improved to 6-5 in the OK White and 6-5 Overall, and have a non conference venture with the Covenant Christian Chargers in a doubleheader tomorrow at home at 4:00 for a pair of games. After that the Scots will return to conference play Monday at Grand Rapids Christian, the final conference series of the season.

May 7 EGR Recap

Today on a drury day in Caledonia after a slight rain delay the Scots took the field to take on the EGR Pioneers in pursuit of their first win in 2 weeks. On the hill was Sam Vanderwal who is 0-0 with 3 no decisions on the year. A little pregame speech got the Scots motivated and spot hey scored first on a passed ball to give them a 1-0 lead. The lead was relinquished in the top of the third with a few hits to tie it at 1. The Pioneers scored twice in the next two innings to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth. In a controversial play, Joe Stegehuis scored the second run by knocking over the catcher however the catcher was obstructing his path and did not have the ball so it was legal and the Scots drew the margin to 3-2. Usual PO Dan Zeman came up with a huge RBI single in the 6th to tie the game at 3 after an incredible at bat that lasted 10 pitches, 5 of which were with two strikes. In the 7th the Scots needed one run to pull it out and got it in quite the unique way once again. With the bases loaded and two outs Trent Foreman strolled up to the plate to try and get the W. On the very first pitch, the pitcher hit Foreman bringing around Chris Clark for the go ahead game winning 4-3 win. Keegan Mulvey picks up the W to improve to 3-1 and the Scots get back to .500 at 5-5 in the OK White. The rubber match between these two will take place tomorrow at East Grand Rapids at 4:30. Shoutout to the fans for braving the elements this week so far and remember there is a home game Friday so be there!

May 6 EGR Recap

Today the Scots set out to take on the Pioneers and try to keep above .500 on the season with East Grand Rapids coming into town. On the hill making his first start of 2014 was Trent Foreman who has been very solid in relief all season long. Foreman went 4+ today and got only one run of support and so he will take the loss. The Scots bats went silent as they only had 2 runs all day. 9 runs were relinquished off the Scots, multiple unearned due to more errors. This may be the lowlight of the Scots season as they fall to 4-5 in the OK White and they need to kick it into gear to be able to achieve the lofty expectations they set for themselves preseason. They play tomorrow at home at 4:30 against East again with Sam Vanderwal on the hill. They aren't done yet so come out and support as they get things rolling once again.

May 2 Lowell Recap

Sorry for the delay but the Scots fell again yesterday 8-4 to the Lowell Red Arrows. In a continuation of Tuesdays game that was postponed at 3-3 in the first, the Lowell bats came to play Friday and the Scots gloves once again were absent. The Scots committed 6 errors behind Dan Zeman who took a very tough loss despite giving up only 2 earned runs in 5 innings. RBIs for the Scots were Logan Hudson with 2 and Joe Stegehuis with 1. The Scots sit in second in the OK White at 4-4 and will play Tuesday against East Grand Rapids for a three game set. The third Lowell game will be made up May 19th in caledonia. Tuesday May 6 the Scots will be at home trying to stay above .500 in the conference this year so come and support the squad.

April 30 2014 Lowell Recap

Today the Scots set out to Lowell to take on the Red Arrows in the first official game of the series (yesterday's game is postponed and will be resumed Friday). The two teams were tied for first place in the OK White and the winner would have at least a one game edge on everyone in the league. The Scots started off hot putting Trent Foreman and Mitch McCallum in scoring position in the top of the first and only one out yet they didn't not score. This was a recurring theme for the Scots as they left 12 guys in scoring position throughout the entire night. The pitching on both sides was tremendous tonight, the Scots had Sam Vanderwal throw 5 innings and only give up 3 runs (2 earned) and then in relief had Keegan Mulvey go 4+ innings giving up 1 earned run, which was the deciding one. However the entire loss is not saddled to Mulvey so nobody go and point fingers there. The Scots had  plentiful opportunities to end the game and just never capitalized on any. They had a runner on third with one out in the 9th and that runner was picked off. The Scots played almost flawless defense all day with just one minuscule throwing mistake that led to one of the Arrows runs. The Scots had two players record RBIs, Joe Stegehuis and Logan Hudson. Even though the ball barely landed on the wrong side of the left field fence and the Scots fell 4-3 tonight, they are only one game out of first and in a three way tie for second and, if they win this series by defeating Lowell on back to back days they will reclaim first place solely. The pursuit back to the top begins tomorrow at home against Lowell at 4:30 with Caleb Sleeman on the bump for the Scots. Come out and support the squad!

April 24 2014 FHC Recap

Today the Scots boarded the bus to Ada to take on the FHC Rangers looking for a sweep and their 5th win in a row. Starting on the mound was Caleb Sleeman who was lights out in his first outing of the year in Jenison recording an 8-1 complete game victory. His opponent on the bump was righty Connor Kelly, a sophomore who is also a varsity basketball player at FHC. After trading zeros in the first, the Rangers finally broke through on an RBI infield single to put them up 1-0. Sleeman would be done for the day after that however due to an undisclosed injury, so the Scots had to dig into their bullpen early. The Scots gloves after this point went missing as there were errors, unfortunate hops and misjudged fly balls that led to the Rangers racing out to an 8-1 lead after 6. The lone Scots run was driven in by Chris Clark which is his team leading 7th RBI. There were multiple instances that the Scots could have tacked on more runs but the bats went quiet at the worst occasions. For instance, in the 5th Dan Zeman led off the inning with a double (yes you just read that right, Zeman doubled) yet he was stranded at third. There were other innings that guys were left on constantly and that's what came back to kill the Scots today. Down 8-1 headed to the 7th, the boys put in one last charge to try and rally back and they started off well. Hits were coming in frequent, including the first varsity hit in the career of Danny Paas, and the boys scored 3 runs with RBIs attributed to Joe Stegehuis, Mitch Horgan and Logan Hudson. The last batter of the game struck out for the Scots with runners on the corners and 8-4 was the final. The Scots fall to 4-2 in conference play while FHC improves to 2-4. The Scots will start their next series Tuesday April 29 when they travel to Lowell to face the Red Arrows. The projected starter is Dan Zeman, as he will go for his second consecutive W.

April 23 2014 FHC Recap

The Scots set out today in pursuit of their fourth win in a row, standing in their way today was the Forest Hills Central Rangers. Pitching for the Scots was lefty Sam Vanderwal who in his first outing earned a no decision and throwing for the Rangers was GVSU commit Mitch Ashcraft. Errors were the early story for the Scots as they allowed 5 unearned runs in the first four innings. With two outs in the third there was a ball that was overthrown to first base and that runner came around to score to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. In the 5th after increasing the lead to 2-0 off another error, the Rangers were poised to strike again with two men on when Ohio State commit Jake Vanderwal strolled up to the plate. Vanderwal got a hold of Vanderwal's fastballs and tattooed it over the right field fence for a 3 run bomb to give FHC a 5-0 lead headed to the bottom of the 5th. Sam Vanderwal ended today with a final line of 4 innings, and 5 runs all unearned and needed his team to pick him up to claw back to a no decision. And the team definitely picked him up with a huge 5th inning. The Scots came out with an array of hits and the first run was driven in by Mitch McCallum to make it 5-1. A few batters later, Joe Stegehuis strolled up to the plate for the Scots and cleared the bases with a 3 RBI triple to cut the deficit to 5-4. Stegehuis would come around on a passed ball to tie the game at 5 headed to the 6th inning. In the bottom of the 6th with two on and one out, Mitch McCallum was once again in a situation to drive in runs, this time they would give the Scots a lead. McCallum delivered with a 2 RBI single to left to give the Scots the 7-5 lead, which thanks to Keegan Mulvey, who earned his second win amidst pitching 3 innings of scoreless relief, they would keep all the way through. The Scots now improve to 4-1 in the OK White and with East Grand Rapids losing to Lowell tonight, they are tied in first place with the Pioneers. Tomorrow the Scots will travel to Ada to take on the Rangers in pursuit of a series sweep. The Scots will send Caleb Sleeman to the hill for the 4:30 first pitch. Thankyou to all of the fans who came out and supported this week, we appreciate the love. Also happy birthday to infielder Trey Roelofs who turns 18 today. Lastly, a shoutout to Rosa the waitress who celebrates all of our wins with us at Pizza Hut, you're the best.

April 22 FHC Recap

The Scots began their second conference series of the year today against the Forest Hills Central Rangers. The Scots were sending their ace Dan Zeman to the hill, who was coming off a strong effort in a very tough 1-0 loss to Jenison last week. Zeman, who is in his third varsity season was still searching for career W number one today when he faced off against the lefty Nick Anderson of the Rangers. The Scots got Dan Zeman run support early scoring three runs in the first. Chris Clark started the scoring with an RBI walk driving in Keegan Mulvey. The next batter was Trent Foreman who hit a single to right centerfield scoring both Logan Hudson and Mitch Horgan to put the Scots up 3-0 after the first. Zeman from that point took over and set the Scots on what appeared to be an smooth sail to victory. The final line for Zeman was 6.1 innings thrown, 3 hits, 4 walks and 3 runs all unearned. With the Scots up 3-1 in the 4th, Chris Clark singled in yet another run to make it 4-1 and it was 4-2 all the way until the top of the 7th. In the top of the 7th, the Scots had a couple errors and a walk that led to having runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. The batter hit one up the middle that was scooped up by Logan Hudson who tossed it to Mitch McCallum for one and the relay to first for the last out was not connected and it skipped away to the fence. It appeared as if the Rangers had tied the game, however Dan Zeman (now in right field) threw his hands up indicating that the ball had gone underneath the fence therefore it was out of play. After the umpires conferences, it was ruled that the second runner would have to return to 3rd base and the score would be Cal 4 and FHC 3. The next batter promptly hit a groundball to Trent Foreman who tossed it to Mitch Horgan and seal the W. Dan Zeman (1-1, 0.64) earns his first career varsity win while Trent a Foreman picks up his first save of the year. The Scots are now 3-1 in the OK White while the FHC Rangers dropped to 1-3. These two teams meet again tomorrow with the Scots sending lefty Sam Vanderwal to the hill. The game is at 4:30 in Caledonia so everyone come out and watch the boys go for their fourth straight trip to Pizza Hut, a newfound tradition following every W.

April 18 Jenison Recap

The Scots boarded the bus yet again this week for the final regular season meeting of the year against the defending OK White conference champion Jenison Wildcats hoping to win the series. The Scots were sending Caleb Sleeman to the hill, fresh off of his 7 pitch save last night and the tremendous outing carried over into tonight's action. Sleeman went the entire game tonight, allowing only one run and a few scattered hits. Otherwise Sleeman was dominating the Jenison offensive attack all night long. The Scots bats on the other hand picked up right where they left off last night. A frenzy of hits occurred tonight and from every single player in the starting lineup too. RBIs for the Scots tonight were quick spread out as well. Chris Clark and Austin Coon led the Scots with 2 a piece, yet Mitch Horgan, Joe Stegehius and Mitch Horgan all drove in one run as well. The 8th run the Scots scored came as a result of back to back balks by the pitcher Jake Ardtsen. The Scots finally played the full potential baseball that everyone expected to see every game this year and as a result took the 8-1 win to bring their record to 2-1. This is a tremendous start for the Scots in their pursuit of the OK White title. Next week the Scots have a three game set with Forest Hills Central starting Tuesday at home at 4:30. Come out and support the squad as they will keep on getting the job one.

April 17 Jenison Recap

Following last nights tough defeat at the hands of the Jenison Wildcats, the Scots came out to their home diamond with vengeance and the idea of tying the series at one game a piece. The Scots sent Sam Vanderwal to the hill for his first varsity action and the nerves were evident early as the first two guys reached on a walk and being hit by a pitch. After that however, Vanderwal settled in nicely and gave the Scots 3.1 quality innings of work. The Scots were trailing 3-0 early when Chris Clark drove in the first run of the season, bringing in Logan Hudson via sac fly. The Wildcats immediately responded with another run however to make it 4-1. From that point on, the Scots offense finally clicked and reached its apparent full potential. Joe Stegehuis had a beautiful extra base knock early in the inning and it took off from there. The Scots sent 10 men to the plate in the 5th and scored 5 runs. RBIs were credited to Logan Hudson with two, Mitch Horgan with one and Austin Coon with one. With a 6-4 lead headed into the top of the 7th the Scots sent Keegan Mulvey out for his 3rd inning of work yet despite the beautiful and nearly perfect first 2.2, the 7th was quite the ride. A couple walks and a single quickly loaded the bases with nobody out and the Scots made the turn to the pen bringing in Caleb Sleeman, tomorrow's projected starter. Sleeman came in and slammed the door shut requiring only 7 pitches to get three outs thanks to one of the weirdest double plays I've ever seen. On a groundball to 3rd, Mulvey fired it home to Clark for out number one. Clark immediately fired to to Mitch Horgan at first for out two. The weird part was the kid who hit the ball immediately quit running and so he was no more than 25 feet out of the box when he got thrown out despite there being a prior throw. Anyway, Sleeman struck out the last guy to record the Save and earn the Scots their first win of 2014 by a score of 6-4. Earning the win for the Scots was Keegan Mulvey who improves to 1-0. A huge shoutout to all of the fans in attendance, we love the big support, hopefully y'all keep showing up and we keep winning for you. The rubber match of the series is set for tomorrow at 4:30 back in Jenison with Caleb Sleeman slated to throw for the Scots.

April 16 Jenison Recap

After 7 games being cancelled due to weather, the Scots finally got the opportunity to lace up the spikes, button up the purple jerseys and face a real opponent. The defending OK White champion Jenison Wildcats were quite the first opponent. Today was a pitching matchup of two of the conference's premier arms of Caledonia's Dan Zeman against Jenison's Pat Leatherman (CMU Commit). Everyone expected a low scoring, pitchers duel and the game definately lived up to the hype. Pitching was the dominating force today as both of these two were on their A-game all day. Zeman lasted 4 innings and scattered only 3 hits and 1 controversially earned run. In the first inning with runners on the corners and one out, the first base runner Jake Ardsten took off stealing second. A beautiful bullet delivered from Chris Clark behind the dish appeared to clearly get to Huddy in time to record the out. The only person who would disagree is the one man who's opinion actually counts, the field umpire. The Wildcats ended up scoring on a sac fly to centerfield which had the first play been called correctly it would have been out number three. This would be the only run scored by the Wildcats all game. The Scots pitching was not the only reason they received such lofty expectations, as the offense is definately capable of producing great things. However, when you have not faced live pitching all year and the first guy you face is hard throwing, Central Michigan commit Pat Leatherman it's not the easy transition like you usually get. The Scots lack of live reps due to the bipolar mess of a state we live in showed, as they only put up 2 hits, both in the same inning and both by guys with the same name. Mitch Horgan singled to the right side and then two batters later Mitch McCallum singled to the left side, yet both of these guys never scored as the Scots could not get that one extra ball in play to plate a runner. Only three other base runners reached, a walk by Logan Hudson, Chris Clark getting hit and Mitch McCallum reaching on an error. Other than that Pat Leatherman had the Scots number all game going complete game to record the shutout striking out 14 batters. The Scots fall to 0-1 on the year, yet they have an immediate chance to rebound at home against Jenison tomorrow. Pat Gillies is sending lefty Sam Vanderwal to the bump to try and pick up the Scots first win of the season. Game is at home 430 come out and support your boys.

About the Squad ---Varsity 2014

So for those who aren't diehard Cal Baseball fans, or even those who are here's your chance to learn a lot about your favorite squad. The following will be brief information about all of your 2014 Fighting Scots.

Chris Clark- (Junior) Catcher/2B
Nicknames-Captain/Penguin/CC
Notes-3yr Varsity Starter at Catcher. Hopeful to build off a sub-200 season at the plate last year. Minor tweaks should return him to his .330 freshman average.
Fun Fact-Cant spell if his lyfe dependid on it

Keegan Mulvey- (Junior) UTIL/P
Nicknames-Keegs/Hat
Notes-Literally plays every position, projected to start the year at 3B.
Fun Fact-Better at golf than anything on Earth..yet he plays baseball.

Mitch McCallum- (Soph) C/2B
Nicknames-French
Notes-St Clair transfer. Played a few games on varsity last season. Will start this year at 2B.
Fun Fact-Doesn't know when to shut up.

Dan Zeman- (Junior) P
Nicknames-Z/Llama
Notes-Started approximately one game a week last year throwing on varsity. Hit under .200 on JV last season hence the permanent PO tag.
Fun Fact-He has a list of everything he has ever done wrong/messed up

Mitch Horgan- (Junior) 1B
Nicknames-Peanut
Notes-Primary ace his first two seasons on varsity yet a slight setback will remove him from the rotation this season. Very good hitter in his last two years. Will start the season at 1B.
Fun Fact-Spends more time in Keegan's neighborhood than Keegan...

Nick Adams- (Junior) P
Nicknames-Big Bird
Notes-Hard throwin righty, when locked in can be an important member of the pitching staff.
Fun Fact-A certain teammate's sister is number one on his snapchat friends.

Danny Paas- (Junior) C
Nicknames-
Notes-Solid hitter.
Fun Fact-Dated Sleeman's girlfriend.

Sam Vanderwal- (Junior) P
Nicknames-Sammy V
Notes-Tall, lanky lefty who throws hard and will be a key rotation member on this years staff.
Fun Fact- Works at Taco Bell.

Caleb Sleeman- (Junior) IF/P
Nicknames-
Notes-Started a few games last year as a pitcher on varsity. Will be a rotation member this year.
Fun Fact-Dating Paas' ex-girlfriend.

Logan Hudson- (Soph) SS
Nicknames-Huddy
Notes-Hit a yak on JV last year which prompted his call to the big time. Had a successful season on varsity LY. Will start season at SS.
Fun Fact-His girlfriend has him whipped like her horse.

Trey Roelofs- (Senior) UTIL
Nicknames-
Notes-Returning varsity member from LY. Had about the same average as Clark.
Fun Fact-Will be enjoying Spring Break in Gulf Shores.

Jake JaBaay- (Senior) P
Nicknames-JaBayBay
Notes-Pitched last year on varsity. Will throw a few more innings again this year. All Conference Ski
Fun Fact-Will be attending Michigan State University in the fall.

Austin Coon- (Junior) OF
Nicknames-Coon Boy/Coonie/Cooners
Notes-Fast. Really Fast. Shooting to break the school record for SB (34). Will start the season in the OF.
Fun Fact-The worlds greatest ginger ever.

Joe Stegehuis- (Junior) OF
Nicknames-Steggy/Joe Joe
Notes- Also very fast. Absolute stroker. Will start season in OF
Fun Fact-Thinks he's a redneck..makes quite the interesting combo with Trent and Mike and that dune buggy thing.

Trent Foreman- (Junior) IF/OF/P
Nicknames-T4
Notes-Played last year on varsity. Is currently hurt but appears to be ready for first game, starting in OF
Fun Fact-Wears designer jeans. a lot.

Nick Tuori- (junior) P
Nicknames-
Notes-Lefty. Pitcher Only. Grows quite the beard.
Fun Fact-Has the highest GPA/ACT score on the team.

It's Back!

Hey there world..Coach Gillies decided on selecting me as a member of the varsity squad and since I'm yet again a PO (greatest life ever) guess what that means? Yes you've guessed it right! It's another beautiful season full of laughs and winning baseball all brought to you from the perspective of the bullpen. This year's 2014 Caledonia baseball season is projected to be a special one so this will be well worth your read. Now if the snow ever melts we can get this going...