SOFTBALL STATES: In-depth previews for Gaylord, Johannesburg-Lewiston softball brackets

GAYLORD ― The school year may be over for Gaylord area schools, but two high school softball teams are still playing into this second week of June as both Gaylord and Johannesburg-Lewiston have made it to the final eight teams in their respective divisions of the MHSAA playoffs.

Gaylord, the top-ranked team in the state in Division 2, is back in the state quarterfinals after a trip to the semifinals in 2021 and eyeing down the school's first state title. Meanwhile, JoBurg is in the midst of a remarkable run after winning their first district title since 2008, now onto the D4 state quarterfinals after winning a regional title in Rudyard and looking to continue onto the run this week in the UP.

Wondering where and when the teams play, or who they face? We've got you covered:

Gaylord

Division 2 Quarterfinals, Tuesday, June 13

Gaylord vs. Hudsonville Unity Christian at Margo Jonker Stadium, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Mich. at 1 p.m.

Trenton vs. Dearborn Divine Child at Adrian College, Adrian, Mich.

Vicksburg vs. Parma Western at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Richmond vs. Frankenmuth at Marysville City Park, Marysville, Mich.

Semifinals, Thursday, June 15 at Secchia Stadium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Winner of Vicksburg/Parma Western vs. winner of Richmond/Frankenmuth, 10:00 a.m.

Winner of Gaylord/Unity Christian vs. winner of Trenton/Divine Child, 12:30 p.m.

MHSAA Divison 2 State Finals, Saturday, June 17 at Secchia Stadium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. at 10 a.m.

Breakdown: Gaylord came into the playoffs as the favorites to win the Division 2 bracket, and after two weeks of softball, they remain the favorites as the final eight teams begin the last stretch of games for the 2023 season.

When head coach Tony Vaden was asked how the team is approaching the final three games on the schedule, he made sure to reiterate that the girls aren't getting ahead of themselves.

"One pitch at a time," said Vaden.

The first of those pitches will be thrown to a familiar opponent, Hudsonville Unity Chrisitan, the same team they faced the last time they made a trip to the quarterfinals in 2021. There, a walk-off home run from then-freshman Taylor Moeggenberg sent the Blue Devils to the state semifinals with an 8-7 victory over the Crusaders.

That 2021 team was a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores, and now, a team of juniors and seniors is bringing a ton of confidence into the final stretch of games after putting up 49 runs, 52 hits, 24 extra-base hits and seven home runs through the district and regional rounds of playoffs.

Unity Christian, the No. 8 team in the final MHSSCA rankings, has coasted to the state quarterfinals after dominating all four games in their district and regional rounds, outscoring Kelloggsville, Grand Rapids Christian, Forest Hills Eastern and Coopersville 57-1 en route its third straight D2 regional title.

They have gone 32-8 this season and, while dominating against the vast majority of the teams on their schedule, their losses have come against mostly top-ranked teams, dropping games to Hudsonville (No. 2, Division 1), Stevensville Lakeshore (No. 5, D2) and Allen Park (No. 3, D1) during a five-game losing streak over the weekend of April 14-15.

Gaylord, meanwhile, has done exceptionally well against top-ranked teams this season, boasting a 13-2 overall record against teams either ranked in the final top ten or in the honorable mentions for their respective division. They have two wins over Grand Blanc (No. 6, D1), Escanaba (No. 2, D2) and Evart (No. 1, D3) as well as single wins over Hartland (No. 5, D1), Walled Lake Northern (No. 8, D1), Anchor Bay (HM, D1), Novi (HM, D1), Big Rapids (No. 10, D2), Freeland (HM, D2) and Gladstone (No. 5, D3).

That experience against top-ranked teams will hopefully be enough to push them not just past Unity Christian, but all the way to the D2 championship. Of the seven other teams remaining, five were on the final MHSSCA rankings list (No. 6 Vicksburg, No. 8 Unity Christian, No. 9 Frankenmuth, HM Richmond, HM Trenton).

While Gaylord's strength comes from their deep, well-rounded lineup, two players have been playing better than maybe any two players in the state; senior Alexis Kozlowski and sophomore Aubrey Jones.

The three and four hitters in the lineup respectively, the duo has been nearly impossible for impossible pitchers to get through without giving up runs. Kozlowski has hit 9-for-17 with three home runs, three doubles, six runs scored and 10 RBI in the Blue Devils' five playoff games, while Jones has gone 6-for-13 with three home runs, a double, six runs scored and six RBI.

Jones has also pitched the biggest games in the Gaylord postseason run, allowing two hits and one run in the district semifinal win over Escanaba while allowing five hits and two runs in the regional final win over Freeland. She has struck out 11 batters in 12 innings of work this postseason.

Johannesburg-Lewiston

Division 4 quarterfinals, Tuesday, June 13

Johannesburg-Lewiston vs. Hancock at Locey Varsity Softball Field, Sault Ste Marie, Mich. at 5 p.m.

Mendon vs. Fowler at Dempsey Field, Albion College, Albion, Mich.

Southfield Christian vs. Unionville-Sebewaing at Maryville City Park, Marysville, Mich.

Lake Leelanau St. Mary vs. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart at Alma College, Alma, Mich.

Semifinals, Friday, June 16 at Secchia Stadium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Winner of LLSM/MPSH vs. winner of Southfield Christian/USA at 10 a.m.

Winner of JoBurg/Hancock vs. winner of Mendon vs. Fowler at 12:30 p.m.

MHSAA Division 4 State Finals, Saturday, June 17 at Secchia Stadium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. at 3 p.m.

Breakdown: For JoBurg, the regional rounds of the MHSAA D4 playoffs were unchartered waters for them; their last district title came all the way back in 2008, well before any of the current players or coaches Kim and Ryan Marlatt took control of the program.

However, the Cardinals have kept playing their game and they keep coming away with victories, claiming a D4 regional title on Saturday, June 10 with wins over Inland Lakes and Rudyard.

Now, they hope to continue that consistent play down the stretch as they travel back up to the UP on Tuesday, June 13 to take on the Hancock Bulldogs in Sault Ste Marie.

Hancock, a school from the Keweenaw Peninsula in the UP, defeated Lake Linden-Hubbell and Gogebic Miners in the district rounds on June 2 while beating Ishpeming and Norway on June 10.

The D4 bracket still has the top-two ranked teams alive (No. 1 Unionville-Sebewaing, No. 2 Mendon) while the rest of the top ten has all been eliminated. Meanwhile, five of the remaining six teams were among the final honorable mentions, including JoBurg, Southfield Christian, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mendon and Fowler. Hancock, the lone UP team left standing, is also the only team not on that list.

JoBurg needs their hot offense to carry over if they want to keep winning; the Cardinals have scored double-digit runs in three of four of their postseason games while outscoring Wolverine, Hillman, Inland Lakes and Rudyard 45-9 on the road to the quarterfinals.

They will also lean on their star, junior Jayden Marlatt, to continue to dominate at the plate and in the circle. Marlatt has gone 8-for-11 with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI and eight runs scored while pitching 20 innings, allowing seven earned runs while striking out 30 total batters over the four playoff games.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: SOFTBALL STATES: In-depth previews for Gaylord, Johannesburg-Lewiston softball brackets