Year in Review: Top 5 local sports stories of 2022

Hope women's basketball claims long-awaited NCAA title

PITTSBURGH — It was the exclamation point to end a three-season run of dominance.

The Hope College women's basketball team, after two full calendar years of waiting and praying through COVID pauses, has finally won a national championship, the third in program history. After losing only once during the past three seasons, the Flying Dutch proved to the entire outside world that they are the best Division III team in the nation with a 71-58 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater on March. 19.

It's the team's 77th win in their last 78 games, losing just once since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. They've been ranked No. 1 in the nation throughout the overwhelming majority of the last 24 months, too. During the 2020 tournament, the group made it to the round of 16 before the onset of the pandemic cut short their shot of cutting down the nets. Last season, the NCAA called off the Tournament months before it was set to begin.

But now, 738 days since they were told they wouldn't be able to compete for the ultimate prize, the long wait finally paid off.

"Closure … it feels really really, really good. It feels better than I thought it was going to feel," said head coach Brian Morehouse. "It makes you wonder what the two years before could have been because we've been pretty good for the last three years … but we don't have any control over that. We controlled what we can control today."

More:HOPE TITLE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Flying Dutch cap dominant 3-season run with national championship

Jim Kaat inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — When Jim Kaat spoke to the thousands of fans at his Hall of Fame induction, it finally sunk in: The pride of Zeeland, Michigan, now has a home in Cooperstown as a Hall of Famer.

After 25 years pitching in the majors …

After 283 wins on the mound …

After 16 Gold Glove awards …

After eight decades in baseball …

After 32 years coming up short for the Hall of Fame (including twice by two votes or fewer) …

After finally getting the call at age 83 …

After the thrill of finding out teammate Tony Oliva also got the call …

After months of practicing his speech …

The wait was finally over on in July, and Kaat was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“It is pretty awesome when you see the crowd stand up and you see the group on stage that you are now a part of,” Kaat said. “It is still pretty surreal. I had my picture taken in the museum with Ruth, Johnson and Cobb. My first thought was, ‘What am I doing here?’ It is still kind of hard to believe that I belong, but I am grateful that they rewarded longevity and dependability.

“It is extra special because, quite frankly, I had the Hall of Fame in my rear-view mirror, and wasn’t bitter about it. This might be the first time they rewarded durability and longevity, and it feels nice to be here.”

Kaat also had his number retired by the Minnesota Twins this summer, and announced his retirement from broadcasting.

More:Jim Kaat, now a legend of Zeeland and Cooperstown after 'surreal' Hall of Fame induction

West Ottawa opens stunning football stadium

PARK TWP. - As the Panthers thundered out of the tunnel of the brand new West Ottawa Stadium, a new era began.

This is an era of new beginnings, new energy and new excitiment.

It started in Week 1 when West Ottawa snapped its three-year skid and earned a win, bringing that momentum to a season opener full of anticipation, energy and excitement.

The players hung on to that energy and excitement, marching down the field on the Panthers' first drive on Sept. 1. West Ottawa scored on a fourth down pass from Cole Tulgestke to Allen Payne Jr. from 8-yards out and the Panthers went on to a 21-10 win, opening the new venue in style.

"It means everything. (Winning) is a tradition now. That energy we are going to tranfer (moving forward)," Payne Jr. said. "It means a lot. With the history we have, coming back to make a big play on fourth meant a lot."

The Panthers improved to 2-0 and leaped into the completely full student section to celebrate the victory.

"That felt like heaven," Payne Jr. said. "We have never had that feeling before. We want to keep that going."

The joy was on the face of every player, and the community reciprocated that, erupting into a standing ovation as the clock ran out.

"You just want to finish. It was going through everyone's head. We wanted the win for the community and our fans here. There is nothing like it," said Ryan Stam, who scored a touchdown on offense and had three sacks, leading a dominating defensive effort. "We have fans 10 feet behind us here. You can hear everyone yelling. It was great."

West Ottawa Stadium is not like any other high school venue in the state. It has a 6,500 capacity with a double deck of stands on the pressbox side. There are also stands in each end zone and a large visiting section across the field.State-of-the-art turf, stands, lockerrooms, concessions and round-the-field walkability make every vantage point a new and interesting look.

Giving the stadium a college football feel, the tunnel brings the players from the lockerroom under the stands to the field. It adds an extra layer of hype for the players going from a close-quartered tunnel with the team to the loud, electric atmosphere of the field and stands.

More:West Ottawa Stadium opened in style with win 'like heaven' (VIDEO)

Holland Christian soccer wins state title

COMSTOCK PARK - Derek Huisman was posing with the championship trophy as the rain was dripping down his face.

“Wow, this thing is really heavy,” the Holland Christian senior said with a huge smile.

The Maroons senior defender scored the biggest goal of his life - the only goal, in fact - as Holland Christian won the Division 3 soccer state championship on Nov. 5 with a 2-0 win over Grosse Ile at Comstock Park High School.

“It’s my first and last career goal,” Huisman said with a laugh. “It’s just awesome to win a game like this. Especially with my teammates; I got so close with all of them. It’s their goal as much as it’s mine. I just can’t believe this is all happening right now.”

It is the first state championship for the Holland Christian boys soccer team since they won the title in 2003. They finish the season with a 20-1-3 record.

“I’m super, super excited for our kids,” coach David DeBoer said. “It’s obviously a great thing for our community. I feel really blessed to be part of this community and the support we get. It’s an exciting day to be a Maroon.”

More:How Holland Christian roared to soccer state title

West Ottawa girls cross country runs to state title

BROOKLYN — The West Ottawa girls cross country team has made a steady progression at the Division 1 state championship meet, finishing seventh in 2019, fourth in 2020, and second last year.

The Panthers finally broke through to reach the top of the podium this year, as sophomore Helen Sachs raced away with an individual state championship to help lead West Ottawa to their first state title in school history. Sachs finished the race in 17:18.74, which was 25 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. The Panthers scored a team total of 97 points, outdistancing second place Romeo by an astounding 75 points.

"I knew I could do it, but it's kind of crazy because I didn't think it was really gonna happen," said Sachs, who finished 5th as a freshman. "I didn't run as fast as I wanted to, but I knew it was just kind of getting a place for my team today. Probably about a mile in (to the race) I felt pretty confident because I didn't hear anybody behind me and I just had to keep grinding. I went out and thought, Nobody's holding on, so I don't know if they can catch me from here.'

"It was super windy, but the temperature was amazing. It really wasn't that bad though because you learn to compensate for it. It was on my mind the whole time during the race (how her teammates were doing). I knew I was running well, but I kept looking for my teammates and trying to encourage them in my head. It's the first state championship win ever for 5K in school history, so it's kind of just a surreal feeling that it's happening. I just finished the race, which is what I've been doing all year. I'm just so proud of my team and how far we've come."

Fourth-year West Ottawa coach Kyle Barnes was nearly at a loss for words when describing how proud he was of his team.

"It's almost just a relief, to be honest," Barnes said. "I knew we had a chance to win and they crushed it today. I just knew it was gonna take five (girls running well) to win it and they stepped up to the plate. …"It's great to do this for our team, our program, our school, our community. It takes a lot of work and people don't realize that. These girls have run literally tens of thousands of miles over these past few years. All the girls ran great and the result is a state championship. It's awesome and I'm beyond words."

More:West Ottawa races to first state cross country title

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Year in Review: Top 5 local sports stories of 2022