Michigan high school softball: Gaylord bashes way to Division 2 state title
EAST LANSING — It’s become clear throughout the spring that the best way to play against Gaylord’s softball team is to station a fielder on the other side of the fence.
The Blue Devils set a state record for most home runs by a team (72) this season, and its last blast sent the team on the way to its first state softball championship, 8-3 over Vicksburg on Saturday morning in the Division 2 final at Michigan State.
Ferris State commit Alexis Kozlowski — whose homer on Thursday was the difference-maker in a semifinal win over Dearborn Divine Child — broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning. She drilled a 1-2 pitch from Kennedy Davis 220 feet to straightway center, also bringing home Alexis Shepherd, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice. It was her 14th blast of the year.
“We came here with a plan and we executed it very well,” Kozlowski said. “I had no doubt that we were going to win it and we did. It feels amazing. The work we put in is so amazing. I’m just so proud of us.”
Vicksburg (41-4-1) got one back in the top half of the fourth. The Bulldogs loaded the bases and Maddison Diekman scored on Peyton Smith’s groundout, but the floodgates opened thereafter for Gaylord (39-2).
The Blue Devils went up, 5-1, by scoring three in the bottom of the fourth. The big blast was a two-run double by Shepherd. One batter earlier, Abby Radulski had scored on a throwing error.
“We just had a lot of energy,” Kozlowski said. “It isn’t all about the home runs. We’re just wanted to get a bunch of hits together and get runs and get energy, and we did it.”
Gaylord hiked the score to 8-1 in the sixth. Wangler bunted her way on and Miller singled up the middle, to tie a championship-game record with her fourth hit of the day. Shepherd drove home both with a double off the left-field wall — her two doubles also tied a title-game record — and she came home on Kozlowski’s single to right.
“I had been struggling at the plate recently, but I pulled through today for my team, doing whatever I had to do, knowing this was our last game no matter what,” Miller said. “It was really crucial and vital and I was really happy that I could put forth what I had for my team.”
Vicksburg got its second run when Smith cleared the rightfield fence on the first pitch of the seventh inning. That was only the third hit of the day allowed by Aubrey Jones in a complete-game outing.
“They had very good hitting — really good hitting — and really good pitching,” Vicksburg coach Paul Gephart said, “but we never have quit the whole year. We would not be here if we had that mentality.”
This was the first state championship for Gaylord since its girls cross-country team won the Division 2 title in 2007.
“We just left a legacy, and it’s going to be talked about for years in Gaylord,” Miller said, “and we’re just ready to celebrate the heck out of it.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA softball: Gaylord bashes way to Division 2 state title
