After two seasons on the road, Johannesburg-Lewiston baseball, softball debut new fields
JOHANNESBURG ― If you've played or watched sports before, you're familiar with a team taking a road trip.
Sometimes, the schedules align right where teams will spend multiple games away from their home fields. But how long is too long for a road trip to last? A few games? A week or two?
How about two full seasons?
That's how long it has been since the Johannesburg-Lewiston baseball and softball programs had a field to call their own after renovations took a bit longer than expected. However, that two-year-long road trip finally came to a close on Monday, April 8 as both teams debuted their beautiful new sports complex in style, welcoming a large group of fans to watch both teams sweep the Mio-Au Sable Thunderbolts on Opening Day.
"It's very exciting to be here on our own field and have a crowd here," softball coach Kim Marlatt said. "I think they were excited to have a home opener and just to see all the parents fans here to cheer on these girls. It's pretty awesome."
"It's awesome, we've been waiting for what, two seasons on the road?" baseball coach Cody Proctor said. "Aside from having a new complex, it's just nice just to be playing at home."
Initial plans were to have the fields ready by the start of the 2023 season, but some delays in construction ended up pushing that plan back by a year. Still, it didn't bother the two Cardinals programs as much as you might believe; JoBurg softball made it all the way to the Division 4 state semifinals last season after winning a share of its third straight Ski Valley Conference championship, while the Joburg boys nearly won a D4 district title over their arch-rivals from Gaylord St. Mary.
This season, expectations are soaring for both teams as their seasoned veterans mix with some talented underclassmen and, now with a place to call home, both teams look to be in the hunt for conference titles and beyond.
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JL softball is receiving most of the hype, starting the year at No. 4 in the D4 preseason rankings and is one of the favorites to make it back to East Lansing this season. Their home openers proved they haven't missed a beat this season, cruising to 15-0 and 24-1 wins on Monday to start the season 2-0.
Leading the way was Ferris State-signee Jayden Marlatt, one of the top players in the state regardless of division. She logged her first no-hitter of the season, blanking the Thunderbolts in three innings of a mercy-shortened game one while blasting two home runs and two triples, starting the year 5-for-7 with 8 RBI. Freshman Lily Crane also homered in game one, while Chloe Ferguson got the win in the circle in game two.
Meanwhile, the boys had to fight a bit more to come away with two wins, but did come up with a doubleheader sweep of Mio-Au Sable themselves, cruising to a 10-0 game one victory before having to fight from behind to claim 9-7 win in game two,
Rylan Rosso had the best numbers on opening day, tallying four hits, four runs scored and two runs batted in over the two games. Thomas Fox picked up the win one the mound in game one while Sam Sides got he win in game two.
It was a day that was a long time coming for two deserving programs and now, with the official opening of this new athletic complex coming just off the heels of the opening of the school's brand-new fieldhouse, JoBurg now may have the best athletic facilities in the entire Ski Valley Conference.
It may just be the beginning of a new era in JoBurg athletics.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersenheic
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Johannesburg-Lewiston debuts new baseball, softball athletic complex
