Grandville Calvin Christian very likely clinched yet another O-K Silver Conference softball championship Monday by sweeping a doubleheader with Hopkins.
The Squires won 13-3 and 14-4 in a showdown between two teams that started the twin bill undefeated in league play. The two defeats left the Vikings with a 14-5 overall record.
Hopkins took a 3-1 lead in the top of third inning of the opener and was up 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth when the wheels came off in an 11-run Calvin rally to end the game under the mercy rule.
Freshman Hannah Brinks was cruising on the mound with the lead until that fateful fifth. Seven of the Squires’ 13 runs were unearned as a result of four errors.
Offensively, senior Sierra Smith had the hot bat with three hits in three tries, one of them a double. Emily Dimock added two singles and Ava Vanderkolk and Brinks both had a single.
One key statistic is that Calvin Christian was able to cool down the torrid hitting of late by Lyla Reynolds.
Reynolds, Megan Andres, VanderKolk and Madison Schwartz each came up with two hits in game two, but the Vikings were guilty of seven fielding errors. Reynolds had a double and VanderKolk a triple.
Smith hurled in the nightcap and yielded all 14 runs, five of them unearned. She walked two and struck out three. Both she and Brinks uncharacteristically gave up a home run during the doubleheader.
Things won’t get any easier for the Vikings this week, as they will travel to Otsego Thursday to face a pretty good non-league opponent.
