Grand Valley State softball vying for first national championship

It was 2002, and Dana Callihan, in her first year as an assistant softball coach at Grand Valley State, was contemplating going into teaching. She had spent several years in quality engineering in the automotive field, and was planning on getting degrees in both biology and math.

Then, the Lakers made the finals of the College World Series.

And there went those plans.

"I thought," said Callihan, "this is kind of fun."

Twenty-one years later, Callihan, now in her ninth year as the head coach, has Grand Valley State two wins from its first national championship in softball.

The No. 5 Lakers (47-6) play No. 3 North Georgia (62-7) in the best-of-three final of the Division II College World Series, with Game 1 set for noon Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Game 2 is at noon Wednesday, and if necessary, Game 3 is at 2:30 Wednesday.

The Lakers are in the College World Series final for the second time, first since 2002, when they fell to St. Mary's Texas.

North Georgia is seeking its second national championship (2015).

"It's exactly why I chose to go here," said ace pitcher Hannah Beatus, a redshirt senior from Illinois. "I wanted to be able to compete for a national championship and have that be the goal every single year.

"I knew the coaches were going to be able to put the puzzle pieces in place."

Beatus — whose last name might as well be Beatthem — is a huge piece of the puzzle. She is a first-team All-American who has a record of 30-1 this season, with 28 complete games. She has 97 career wins.

Leading the way offensively is senior shortstop Lydia Goble (Schoolcraft, Michigan), who is a second-team All-American, leading the team with 57 RBIs and 28 stolen bases in 28 chances. She's hitting .465 with 24 doubles, a Grand Valley and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record. For her career, she's hit with .414 with 319 hits, a school record.

But it's more than just a two-player show for the Lakers.

"It's been a new hero every day, every game," said Callihan, a Clare, Michigan, native and GVSU alum (1992) who as head coach is in her fourth College World Series. "These two next to me (Beatus and Goble, at a Monday presser), they've been the leaders of that, but it's been everybody.

"That's been the part that's been so cool about this team.

"We get to celebrate a new hero every game."

The Lakers were upset in the GLIAC tournament, but they're more than making up for that, riding an eight-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, including a win over No. 1 University of Texas-Tyler, 2-1, on Friday, and a win over No. 2 Central Oklahoma, 3-2, on Sunday.

They've now beaten the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds in the College World Series, with No. 3 North Georgia on deck.

With two more wins this week, Grand Valley State would become the first Michigan school to win a Division II national championship in softball. The Division II softball tournament dates back more than 40 years.

"This program has always been and probably always will be very special," Goble said. "(A national championship), that's the goal we've dreamt of since we were little kids.

"It's probably the only way we'll be able to walk away and feel right about it all."

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984