Reeths-Puffer’s softball team earned just rewards for its greatest season in program history this spring with a whopping five all-O-K Green Conference first team awards. The success R-P had, which included several program records, most notably for single-season wins (34), turned heads on a state level as well. Rocket junior Mady Snyder was awarded first team all-state honors, only the second time that has ever happened at R-P.
Snyder enjoyed an outstanding all-around season and picked up the all-state honors at the utility position. A first baseman, outfielder and pitcher, Snyder contributed to the Rockets’ setting an all-time program record for season earned run average (1.57) and was one of the lineup’s most feared bats to boot. Rock-solid defensively, Snyder was a contributor in every facet of the game and joined Brittney Cannavino (1991) as the only Rockets to ever be named all-state.
Four other Rockets were first team all-league, including Lainey McDaniel, who set some records of her own. McDaniel eclipsed program legend Makayla Thompson’s single-season ERA record, set in 2016, by the narrowest of margins, setting a season mark of 0.831 to Thompson’s 0.832. McDaniel racked up 204 strikeouts on the season. She was also excellent at the plate, hitting for a .518 average and a .588 on-base percentage.
A trio of seniors - Kaylee Jones, Megan Barmes and Natalie Kunnen - were also all-conference first team. Jones and Kunnen were both outfielders and usually hit back-to-back in the lineup, with Kunnen hitting ninth and Jones first. Jones broke the Rockets’ single-season stolen base record and was a force out of the leadoff spot, and Kunnen was a defensive ace. Barmes played shortstop and, like Kunnen, was strong defensively. She also hit in the middle of the order.
Power-hitting second baseman Abbie Critchett and first baseman Kyleigh Bilek each received honorable mention in the league.
Whitehall first-teamers in the WMC were Megan LeaTrea, Bella Fogus and Annabel Kevwitch. As three of the Vikings’ most veteran players, they were the centerpieces of the team, with LeaTrea usually doing the pitching while Kevwitch played catcher and Fogus was at first base. They ended the season in the top three spots in the batting order as well, and Kevwitch and Fogus in particular were among the Vikings’ top power bats.
Montague also had three first-team picks on the roster: Kennedy Johnson, Reagan Cederquist and Kayden Johnson. Kennedy Johnson, a Muskegon Community College signee, was the Wildcats’ most consistent player, delivering great results at shortstop and from the #3 spot in the batting order. Kayden, her double play partner at second base, emerged over the course of the year as a strong performer in her own right. Cederquist, playing first base, was the Wildcats’ cleanup hitter and helped bolster a high-scoring offense.
