GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Moving across the country is never easy, especially from the state of Washington to Michigan.
"I was really upset, I was crying a lot," smiled Jaye Guichelaar.
Guichelaar, a senior at West Catholic high school, recalls the day last year when her mother told her they'd be moving to West Michigan.
"It just came as a shock to me really, I knew she was looking for a job but I had so many friends there."
As her senior year of high school approached, Guichelaar found a new home at West Catholic, over two-thousand miles away from her old home in Olympia, Washington.
"It was hard to think about at first but once I got here, everyone was really nice."
The Falcon softball coaches knew Guichelaar was talented when she arrived to the program but had no idea how lucky they were.
"We found a pot of gold under the rainbow," said West Catholic assistant coach, Jeff North, "we had no idea the kind of player that just fell in our lap."
Guichelaar is having a remarkable season with a .712 batting average, three home runs, 23 runs batted in and zero strikeouts in 66 at bats.
Perhaps remarkable is underselling it.
"She's the fastest kid on every field," North said, "great glove, a cannon for an arm and obviously with the batting average, she's the best contact hitter I've been around in 12 years or so."
Many would think with all of the success she's had this season, college coaches would be knocking down her door to get her to play college softball at their school.
However, that's not the case, in fact she's barely being recruited since her move from Washington last year.
"I mean I'm just going to keep moving on with life but if someone calls me then I'll take the opportunity," Guichelaar said.
The past year has crazy for everyone but especially Guichelaar who says looking back, it has all worked out and she loves her softball team.
"Everyone has good energy," she added, "everyone is hype for everyone and whenever someone is feeling down, someone is there to pick them up."
If the season ended today, the .712 batting average would put her fifth all-time in the state of Michigan record books.
