The Hillsdale softball team hosted the Grand Valley Lakers and the Oakland Grizzlies on Sunday, beating the Division I Grizzlies.
The team lost the first game to Grand Valley 4-0 but beat Oakland in the second game 9-6. Grand Valley is a top Division II team in the NCAA Midwest region and Oakland is a Division I team.
“Facing them early on in the fall gives us some things to work on,” Head Coach Kyle Gross said. “Overall, we did well.”
According to Gross, the pitching staff was solid, although the team faced tougher pitching in the first game than in the second game.
Junior pitcher and team captain Erin Kapteyn had a strong outing. She started the game against Grand Valley where she pitched four innings, not giving up any runs, Gross said.
“I thought that I started the season pretty well,” Kapteyn said. “It seemed like I picked up right where I left off last season. Grand Valley had a very strong lineup with a lot of good hitters. I think I matched their performance and our defense really stepped up against all of those hits they had.”
Kapteyn posted a 12-2 record in the spring and a mark of 7-0 in G-MAC play.
In the second game, the team had many big hits, scoring nine runs against Oakland, Gross said. Freshman Maggie Olaveson had a crucial double play in the fifth inning.
“Oakland had runners on first and second, Maggie caught a line drive and doubled off the person on first base,” Gross said. “That was an exciting moment.”
According to Olaveson, her goal was to let go of her nerves and do her best this first weekend.
“I would say I played pretty well,” Olaveson said. “Obviously since it was the first weekend there were a lot of nerves. I was hoping to get them all out and just do my best.”
The freshmen are being integrated very well with the team as well as with the school, Kapteyn said.
“It definitely is an adjustment being in the new environment, but the girls have made the transition so much easier,” Olaveson said. “Joining this group of girls has been different from other teams that I have played with because they essentially are the people I spend all my time with.”
Gross said he is seeing really good things this fall from practice and these two games.
“We still have six more games to play in the fall,” he said. “I’m looking to see them improve from now until we play Michigan State at Michigan State. That’s a big step up for us and we’re going to work to improve from this first weekend all the way to that last fall game. As a Division II school we’re excited to play a power five conference school in a preseason game.”
On Saturday Oct. 1, the team will play a doubleheader at the University of Northwestern Ohio. They will play the Concordia Cardinals and the Lansing Community College Stars on Sunday Oct. 2 at Concordia University.