Wayland High School softball coach Cheri Ritz was inducted into the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Friday at an award ceremony in Lansing.

Ritz is in her 34th season of coaching varsity softball. She coached at Thornapple Kellogg High School for 10 years and now is in her 25th season at Wayland. She has compiled a record of 893-232. Her teams at Wayland were Division 2 state champions in 2006 and 2015. The Lady Wildcats have won nine regional championships, 20 district dhampionships (currently on a streak of 15 in a row), and 19 O-K Gold championships, including 14 in a row.

If her team’s achievements haven’t said enough, she has been District Coach of the Year 17 times and Regional Coach of the Year eight times. She was named West Michigan Umpires Association Coach of the Year in 2011. In 2015 she received her first national award being named the National High School Federation Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year. She is also the softball chairman for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

Thirty-two of her players have moved on to play at the collegiate level.  They have played at Division I schools, such as the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Central Michigan University; Division II schools, such as Ferris State University and Davenport University, and smaller schools such as Hope College and Aquinas College, to name a few.

Her colleagues say if her players do not have collegiate goals, Ritz does everything she can to get them to be the best they can be.

A Wayland Union Schools spokesperson said, “At Wayland High School, she is one of the most highly respected coaches by her peers. Coaches of other sports love talking with her to get new ideas to bring to their programs.

“On top of all of the time she puts into the softball program, Ritz has many other roles at Wayland.  She is a middle school physical education teacher, varsity boys tennis coach, middle school volleyball coach, detention supervisor at the middle school, and announcer at basketball games and volleyball matches.

(Cover photo courtesy of Terry Ellis)