Hudsonville's Talent Laden Roster Shines in Division 1 State Final

By Mike Penn

Hudsonville has been impressive all year long.  They consistently have been at or near the top of the rankings, and for good reason. Tyler Baar, Blake Hibbetts, Rob Greeman, Hunter Prince, Brandon Cable, Hank Van Ooyen are all committed to play college ball.  Couple that with the likes of up-and-comers Logan Magsig and Keegan Baar and you have a recipe for success.

Warren DeLaSalle came into yesterday's game as a cinderella story that would make history if they won. Sitting at 20-22 on the year, if they won they would be the first team to finish a season below .500 and win a state title.  However, DeLaSalle is no-push over as they play a tough schedule every year and were one of the hottest teams coming into the state playoffs.

The game started off with a walk to Hank Van Ooyen who then stole second base and later scored the game's first run.  The bottom half of the inning saw DeLaSalle tie the game at one run a piece.

DeLaSalle then went on to add another run in the second inning pushing the score to 2-1.  Tyler Baar, a Toledo commit, started the game on the mound but impacted the game more from the plate. In the top of the third, Baar stepped to the plate and hammered a ball to deep right center that left the yard and putthe Hudsonville Eagles up 4-2.  But that lead wouldn't last long, as DeLaSalle rallied in the bottom half of the inning to knot it up at four.

This see-saw game had it all: hits, errors and diamond gems.  Finally it was sophomore Keegan Baar who relieved his brother and threw three and a third innings in relief to keep Hudsonville in it.  Hudsonville put up four runs in the top of the sixth to cap off their scoring.  The younger Baar then gave way to another sophomore Logan Magsig who limited damage in the bottom of the sixth as DeLaSalle mounted yet another comeback scoring two runs of their own. The score after 6 stood at 9-6 Hudsonville.

Magsig then had a clean seventh sealing the first state championship for the Hudsonville Eagles.  In the end the talented Eagles overcame mistakes and a hard charging DeLaSalle team and made a memory that will last a life time.