By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — A softball team made up of nine high school student-athletes from the local area is set to travel to Europe later this month to play in a major international indoor softball competition.
The players will be competing in The Cup Netherlands, a 16-team tournament with seven teams from the United States and nine professional and semiprofessional teams from countries across Europe participating. It will take place from Jan. 17-19 in Schiedam, Netherlands, just west of Rotterdam.
Kendra Kutz, who coaches Three Rivers’ varsity softball team, is the head coach of The Wolverines, one of the six teams from the United States, which features players from Three Rivers, Sturgis, Marcellus, Vicksburg, Mattawan, Decatur and Zeeland. It’s the second time she’s headed up a team for The Cup, following the Chaos United team in the 2023 edition.
“It’s a really neat experience for our kids, and what’s really cool this year is we have all local kids. It’s going be a really fun experience for these girls to see different levels of softball,” Kutz said.
The complete roster for the Wolverines includes Three Rivers junior Eleanor Ruesink, Three Rivers sophomores Mia Thomas and Berkeley Hoercher, Sturgis junior Haylee Pappas, Marcellus junior Carlyn Deere, Decatur freshman Jenna Bradford, Vicksburg senior Ella Luegge, Mattawan freshman Haley Lhamon, and Zeeland East senior Emme Meyering.
Kutz will be assisted by former Wildcat softball standout Emma Conroy, who will be joining the Wildcats as a varsity assistant this spring.
Having local talent on a roster for an international competition, Kutz said, is an “awesome thing.”
“As a coach, reaching out to these athletes and knowing the excitement that you hear from them when you say, ‘Hey, you know I’m putting together a team,’ and they think, ‘Wow, I’m good enough to go over there and play?’ That’s why I reach out to the girls with that local talent that are capable of going over there and competing,” Kutz said.
She also said it will give the players, especially the upperclassmen, some experience against better and more experienced competition before going to college.
“This is going to be top-tier pitching. These girls in Europe are, some of them are throwing 70 miles per hour, and crow-hopping is legal, in which they can jump from the rubber while pitching and cut that distance,” Kutz said. “Bases are shorter, it’s five feet shorter [55 feet versus the standard 60 feet], and it’s quick games. It’s timed, they’re all timed, and it’s drop-dead. So, basically the first team to score is the team that’s going to win, so it’s very competitive.”
American teams in the tournament will have players from all over the country, from California to Vermont and Michigan to Florida. There’s also a second all-Michigan team coached by the head coach at Hope College. Meanwhile, the international teams include the Czech Republic’s U-18 team, which recently qualified for the Women’s Softball U-18 World Cup; the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ U-22 team, which won the 2024 European Championship; Neptunus, a two-time champion; and defending champion Olympia Haarlem.
The players themselves say they look forward to playing against the stronger competition in store at the tournament.
“Very excited for that, especially being at the high school level and going off to college next year, I’m really excited to see the way that other girls play,” Luegge, who is also a Central Michigan University softball commit, said. “I’m competing against a lot of good girls, and everyone takes a lot of effort to get where they’re going, so it’ll be good competition.”
“It’s probably going to prepare me for college a bit better, just seeing tougher competition, and it’ll overall be an amazing experience,” Meyering, who is also committed to Grace College in Indiana for softball in 2026, said.
“Yes, it’s higher competition, and I might not be the best there, but it’s going to help me hone my skills, learn how to play in environments where I’m not the best, and I think it’ll just carry me through for the rest of my softball career,” Ruesink said. “It’ll prepare me for a lot of different things in my life in that regard.”
Each player raised enough money to pay for the trip, which is estimated to be around $4,500 per person and covers their flight, lodging and transportation, through various fundraisers and collections.
“I know as far as our Three Rivers girls, they did some fundraisers. They were up at HarmonyFest selling bracelets and baked goods, doing pop can drives going and collecting cans and doing those sorts of things to help offset those costs,” Kutz said.
There is even another fundraising event also coming up in the local area. On Saturday, Jan. 11, Frankie’s Restaurant in Three Rivers will be donating a portion of every large pizza sold to the three Three Rivers players who will be going on the trip to help defray some of the costs.
The team will fly out to Amsterdam on Jan. 15 and take transportation to Rotterdam, with tournament games taking place the 17th and 18th. After the tournament’s done, they will travel to Paris for sightseeing before leaving for home on Jan. 22. Many of the players have not traveled overseas before, but outside of softball, are looking forward to the sightseeing aspect of the journey as well.
“I am an artist, I’m really into art, so that’s one thing, outside of softball, that I’m very excited about, all the art museums,” Ruesink said. “To go so young and have this incredible opportunity, I’m very privileged to have this and very lucky. So, being exposed to different cultures and the world outside of where I live will be very good for me.”
“I’m very excited to try a lot of new food. I love to eat, and I’m really excited to try everything they have to offer, especially in Paris; some very good pastries down there,” Luegge said. “Plus everything in the Netherlands that a lot of locals do that we don’t have here, I’m excited for that.”
Kutz said she hopes the players learn a lot from their journey to play in The Cup Netherlands, and that they have fun doing it.
“I hope they have fun and they learn a different culture and the different style and way another country plays the game, and it gives you a little more respect for it,” Kutz said. “I think that’s a really big thing; when you go to another country and see how they play the same sport we play, they play it a bit different, it gives you a different aspect of how you do things and gives you a bit more respect for the game.”
While she couldn’t say how well she thinks the team will do, Kutz said she’s looking forward to participating in the tournament.
“The first year I went was exciting, and then I had four girls from TR that went and played, but we weren’t all local. My excitement this year comes from having so many local girls. We’re all from the area,” Kutz said. “Seeing them build that friendship, and it’s going to be something they’ll take with them for a lifetime. I’m glad I’m able to help with that experience.”
The Wolverines’ pool play games will take place at 9:20 p.m. Central European Time (3:20 p.m. Eastern Time) Friday, Jan. 17; 9 a.m. CET (3 a.m. ET) and 1 p.m. CET (7 a.m. ET) on Saturday, Jan. 18. Bracket games then go on in a double-elimination format the rest of Jan. 18 and all of Sunday, Jan. 19. All games will be livestreamed at youtube.com/@SDTVstream.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
