By Kaia Zimmerman
The Grand Rapids Community College softball team ended their season with six straight-away games, winning a couple of them to end the season strong, with a record of 6-26.
The Raiders had a tough season with a two-week shutdown early on, which they couldn’t bounce back from, losing nine straight games. Although the Raiders got out to a slow start, they were able to improve as the season went on.
“The last couple weeks were our best of the season,” said starting pitcher Alexa Abrahamson. “We strung our hits together, played hard defense, and left our hearts on the mound. The middle of the season was entirely rocky, but I still left with a great feeling and great memories.”
The Raiders were able to muster wins against Mid-Michigan Community College and Glen Oaks Community College, winning 10-2 and 14-6.
Abrahamson got the start for the Raiders in the win versus Mid-Michigan on Wednesday, April 28, giving up two runs on five hits with two strikeouts.
In the win, the Raiders had their bats on fire with three home runs and 12 hits. Redshirt-freshman Alexis Nguyen went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBI’s. The Raiders also received contributions from redshirt-freshman Taylor Cross who had a two-run home run along with Abrahamson who also had a home run, going 2 for 3 with two RBI’s and redshirt-freshman Brooklyn Siewertsen who went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s.
Abrahamson also got the start and the win for the Raiders in their matchup versus Glen Oaks Community College on Friday, April 30, where she gave up six runs on 13 hits with two strikeouts.
The Raiders’ bats came alive in this matchup as well having four home runs, two coming from redshirt-freshman Mariah Redding. Redding led the Raiders in hitting, going 2 for 4 with two home runs and five RBI’s. GRCC also had help securing the win from Cross (2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI), Nguyen (home run and RBI), and freshman Halie Davidoski (2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s).
Even though they were able to pull out some wins in the final week, they were unsuccessful in ending their season with a win as they lost in a tight battle against Lake Michigan College to wrap up the season, losing 9-8 and 6-2.
Siewertsen led the team in batting average, batting .373 with an on-base percentage of .418.
One of the biggest standouts on the offensive end for the Raiders this season was Nguyen, who led her team in triples (two), doubles (eight), home runs (six), RBI (20), and runs (30).
Freshman first baseman, Krin Beach, led the team in putouts with 179 along with having a fielding percentage of .943. The Raiders were also led defensively by Cross who had the highest fielding percentage (more than 10 attempts) with a .989.
The season was not what the Raiders wanted in the stat sheet, but Abrahamson said this season was everything she hoped for, and a great way to end her softball career.
“This was probably my last year playing collegiate softball,” Abrahamson said. “I wanted every experience: the friendships, the mandated workouts, the gear, the passion, and I got it all. The team chemistry was on point and it was amazing to make 14 new best friends.”
