Fast-Pitch Softball

Bonita "Bonnie" Vasicek put the footprints down for girls and women's softball in Mason County starting at the age of nine. Vasicek's 40-year career included playing for Custer High School and attempting to get a contract at 15 with the Grand Rapids Chicks, a semipro team. She won a state title with the 1959 Carr's Rockets, the 1969 Baldwin Merchant Team and the 1971 Baldwin Girls' Team. She also ...Read More...

Dick Dennis is one of the pioneers of softball in Mason County as he and good friend Ralph Wienert brought the windmill pitch to fast pitch softball here and perfected it for the ages. Dennis began to play softball at age eight, and he was on his first men's team at age 11 in 1935. He went on play on various teams during his service with the U.S. Army Air Corps and once he came back home, he joine ...Read More...

Elena Luce of Mason County Eastern earned 17 total letters for participating in cross country, volleyball, basketball, softball and soccer. She earned all-Western Michigan D League recognition in each of those sports, with basketball being her strongest sport. She was a three-time Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Academic All-State selection and a two-time BCAM All-State choice. She won ...Read More...

Ken Papes was a stand out all-around prep athlete at Free Soil, being a state-class sprinter, long-jumper and shot-putter in track and field. In hoops, he averaged more than 25 points per game as a senior and had 1,459 points for his career for Free Soil, tops for the school's history. In baseball he was a part of the Free Soil baseball team that won 54 consecutive games, primarily working as the ...Read More...

Alyssa Bryan is a multiple-letter winner across four sports in her four years at Mason County Eastern. She won four letters with the softball and volleyball teams and three others for basketball. She also has a letter in cross country. She's a four-year first-team all-Western Michigan D League softball honoree and has first-team all-WMD honors in basketball once and volleyball three times. In s ...Read More...

Ed Papes was a three-sport star for Free Soil High School, graduating in 1967. In track and field, he held the school record in the 100-yard dash (10.4 seconds) and also helped set school records in the 880- and mile relays. As a basketball player, Papes was a key member on Pirate teams that advanced to the Class D state semifinals in 1966 and 1967. He led the latter squad in scoring at 18.2 point ...Read More...

In 2001, Mason County Eastern rode the pitching and hitting of Jeanne (Cole) Miller to the Division 4 state championship. She was 31-1 and in 195 innings she struck out 288 batters, walked 38 while allowing just 52 base hits and 16 earned runs for what was then the lowest earned run average (0.11) ever by a prep softball player in Michigan. She also hit .648 with 27 doubles, seven triples, six hom ...Read More...

Kada Knizacky, of Mason County Eastern, was chosen the Mason County Sports Hall of Fame’s Femaie Scholar Athlete of the Year. Knizacky earned a total of 15 varsity letters in her four-year athletic career at Eastern. She lettered four times each in cross country and track and field, three times in volleyball, twice in basketball and once each in softball and soccer. In track and field, Kni ...Read More...

A 1963 graduate of Mason County Eastern, Rich Leonard was one of that school's finest all-around athletes. He was the leading scorer and rebounder during one of Eastern's most successful runs in basketball. He was also an outstanding athlete in track and field, baseball, and football. Growing up on a farm in Fountain, Leonard grew into a 6-foot, 3-inch, 220-pound slugger who is arguably the finest ...Read More...

An outstanding guard, Glenda (Gruno) Krebs scored 1,044 points with a single-game high of 37 in her high school basketball career, the first girl at Mason County Central to go over a thousand. Said her former teammate and current Mason County Hall of Fame board member Christy Christmas, "Called 'Girl-Guard Gruno' because most thought she played like a guy - she could dribble the ball 'like a guy' ...Read More...