The Grand Rapids Community College softball team traveled to Mt. Pleasant to face Mid Michigan College on Sunday, April 19. Resulting in an extraordinary record-breaking sweep.
The Raiders won the first game with an outstanding final score of 39-13 in just the span of five innings. The Raiders also ended the second game in just five innings, dominating MMC with a final score of 13-5.
GRCC’s 2026 softball team now holds a school record for runs (39) and hits (33), this improves their season record to 29-5 (15-2) in conference.
Going into the game, Head Coach Chuck White didn’t expect to walk away with a record-breaking game.
“I think they were like second place in the conference at this time. They’re a solid team. It’s crazy we had a like a 20-run fourth inning, and 18 of them were two outs,” White said.
In just one inning, the Raiders scored a total of 20 runs. It wasn’t even due to errors from the other team, the Raiders were just loading up those bases. Freshman Third Baseman Kennady O’Leary contributed to the runs as she completed a full cycle, hitting a home run to top it off.
“It was my last hit…Because I hit two singles, two doubles, and a triple, and to get that homerun to complete the cycle was really exciting. And it was my first collegiate homerun, it felt unreal,” O’Leary said.
A full cycle is completed when a player bats and earns a single, then a double, triple, and finally a homerun. It is an incredibly difficult feat, and demonstrates where the team was at hitting.
O’Leary shared her reaction to finding out about the record-breaking game, “I mean to be a part of a team breaking records, it’s something to be really proud of.”
Freshman Shortstop Abbie Critchett spent her birthday on the field, also contributing to the record-breaking game, as she had almost completed a full cycle alongside O’Leary.
“It was good! I mean, it was my golden birthday too, I was 19 on the 19th. It was really fun,” Critchett said. “Everyone just came together, and it was a good way to spend my birthday.”
White was overall proud of all of the players’ performances throughout both of the games.
“…She (O’leary) was so excited. She was so emotional coming around. Abbie missed it by the triple. You know a lot of girls just hit really well. And that’s just the 39-run game. We hit really well (in) the 13-run game right afterwards, which was to score 13 the second game for it, and that was a whole other group of girls,” White said.
As the runs came home, the team channeled a newfound energy.
“It felt really good, I think we kind of, finally broke out of our shell, and completely played as a team,” Critchett said. “It didn’t feel like we won by that much…everybody was just hitting, and like the excitement just kept going around, and around… It just felt good,”
White hopes this accomplishment will encourage the team further on. “The girls were excited. I’m hoping it boosts for the rest of the season, too,” White said. “We’ll find out tomorrow against Aquinas. We play their varsity… We hope to take two tomorrow.”
The Raiders are in first place in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Northern Conference. Their next game will take place on Wednesday, April 22, against Aquinas Varsity at the Meijer Sports Complex. The double header will begin at 3 p.m.
