College notebook: GLIAC baseball tourney in Lansing a homecoming for several former area stars

A few former Greater Lansing high school baseball standouts will be making their homecoming this weekend when the GLIAC tournament takes place at the home of the Lansing Lugnuts.

Regular season GLIAC runner-up Davenport, No. 3 seed Saginaw Valley State and No. 4 seed Grand Valley State have each received contributions from Lansing area graduates this season.

Junior catcher Logan Hylek (Grand Ledge) and junior outfielder Josh Robinson (DeWitt) have been key players for Davenport. Hylek has made 39 appearances, starting 31 games, and is batting .274 with eight doubles and nine RBIs. Robinson has started 27 of the 36 games he has appeared in and has six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 14 RBIs. He is batting .272.

Saginaw Valley earned its spot in the GLIAC tourney with a pair of area grads contributing. Junior infielder Brandon Scheurer (Portland St. Patrick) is hitting .302 with 18 RBIs, three doubles, two triples and has drawn 20 walks. Pitcher Nolan Knauf (DeWitt) has made 10 relief appearances for SVSU and has 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.

Former Holt star Ayden VanEnkevort has made an impact as a true freshman for Grand Valley. The infielder/pitcher has made 42 appearances and 36 starts and is hitting .238 with two doubles, two triples, 19 RBIs and ranks second on the team with 21 walks.

The GLIAC tournament begins Thursday at Jackson Field with Davenport facing Purdue Northwest at 11 a.m., followed by top seed Wayne State taking on Wisconsin Parkside at 3 p.m. Grand Valley and Saginaw Valley will square off at 7 p.m. to complete the opening day of games for the double-elimination event. The tournament runs through Sunday.

GRAND VALLEY: Sophomore Olivia Stoll (Haslett) was named the GLIAC women's golfer of the year Monday. Stoll won two events this spring — the UMSL Spring Invitational and Augustana Spring Fling. Stoll had a low round of 66 . and shot 12 rounds of par or better this season.

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FERRIS STATE: Jadyn Joseph (Holt) was named the GLIAC freshman of the year after helping the Bulldogs' softball team to its most regular-season wins (23) in seven years and a top-four finish in the league standings. She started 54 games and hit .326 with three doubles, four triples, a home run and 23 RBIs. Joseph, who also was a second team All-GLIAC selection, stole 12 bases, had 10 walks and struck out just 14 times.

MICHIGAN STATE: Senior Wyatt Rush (Grand Ledge) was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year midseason watch list late last month. Rush ranks among the Big Ten leaders with eight saves. In 20 appearances, Rush has a 3.71 ERA and has 33 strikeouts and walked just seven in 34 innings.

Redshirt sophomore infielder Sam Busch (East Lansing) has made 42 appearances and 34 starts for MSU. He is batting .282 with seven doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 37 RBIs.

MARSHALL: Former Central Michigan tight end Cade Conley (Williamston) announced his plans to continue his football career with the Thundering Herd on Monday. The 6-foot-4 Conley appeared in 10 games and made 10 starts as a redshirt freshman for CMU last fall. He had 11 catches for 168 yards. Conley’s best game at CMU came when he had three catches for 61 yards against Buffalo on Nov. 9. Conley has three years of eligibility remaining.

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CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Junior pitcher Grace Lehto (Eaton Rapids) has had a big presence in the circle while helping the CMU softball team advance to the Mid-American Conference tournament. She had made 32 appearances and 27 starts and is 14-14 with a save and has 188 strikeouts in 175 2/3 innings. Lehto owns a 4.00 ERA and has 18 shutouts.

KENT STATE: Freshman Macy Irelan (Owosso) was selected the MAC softball pitcher of the week earlier this month and has been a key contributor for the Golden Flashes. Irelan has made 39 appearances and 20 starts and is 12-12 with three saves and a 4.56 ERA. She has 101 strikeouts.

TAYLOR UNIVERSITY: Caleb Hodgson (Dansville) will conclude his college basketball career at Taylor after four seasons with Central Michigan. Hodgson appeared in 16 games and made four starts for the Chippewas last season, averaging 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds. He was a three-time Academic All-MAC selection.

HOPE: Senior defender Delaney Kirinovic (DeWitt) and freshman midfielder Caleigh Randall (DeWitt) have been key components for the Hope women’s lacrosse team, which won the MIAA regular season and tournament titles and earned a spot in the NCAA tourney. Kirinovic was the MIAA’s defensive player of the year, while Randall joined her as a first team All-MIAA selection. Randall has 27 goals and 11 assists, while Kirinovic anchored a defense that had a 6.14 goals against average in conference play.

Sophomore attacker Kerrigan Brown (DeWitt) has also been a major contributor for Hope with 36 goals and 21 assists. The Flying Dutch open the NCAA tournament against Denison (Ohio) at 1 p.m. Friday at the University of Chicago.

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: GLIAC baseball tournament a homecoming for several Lansing area grads