By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

The West Michigan Riptide 16U travel baseball team used a combination of solid pitching and good hitting to capture the 16U USSSA Lakeside Challenge.

Riptide won all four of its games in the tournament, which was played at Grand Valley State University and Aquinas College.

Coach Mike Balkema received a 16-strikeout performance from Colin Adams in the tournament opener, a 10-0 victory over the Starz Blue. Parker Richardson, Scotty Sittser and Matt Hoover knocked in two runs each in the shutout victory.

In the second game, Trevor Mosher and Kolin Lakatos combined to strike out 10 in a 3-1 victory over Elite Gold 15U. Two key runs came in on a rip by Alex Brown that shot past the second baseman.

Riptide remained undefeated with a 12-4 victory over Michigan Elite Thunder. Jake Balkema turned in a solid pitching performance. Mitch Reyes and Jake Krueger each had two RBI.

In the final game, Riptide defeated Grand Ledge Baseball 12-7. Tyler Hawkins and Lakatos combined to post the victory on the mound. Krueger knocked in three more runs and Balkema and Reyes each plated two.