D3 Softball: Clinton Returns to Final
June 15, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Tierney Nelson is feeling a little old this weekend at Bailey Park.
It’s all relative, of course, to the fact she’s finishing her Clinton career with a fourth and final trip to the MHSAA Softball Finals.
That first season, 2009, Nelson felt some memorable butterflies. But as she pitched her team into its second straight championship game Friday, those had fled years ago.
Nelson struck out seven and gave up six hits in pitching the top-ranked Redskins to an 8-1 Semifinal win over No. 5 Unionville-Sebewaing, last season’s runner-up in Division 4. She also had a two-run single for the reigning champion, which will face Gladstone in Saturday’s 10 a.m. title game.
“We know what we’re capable of. No offense to anybody; we know we’re the best,” Nelson said. “And we bring that every game..”
Nelson is one of three four-year seniors, along with catcher Abi Clark and shortstop Haley Mercy. Together they played in Semifinals as freshmen and sophomores before helping the Redskins (42-1) to last season’s title.
Mercy had two hits Friday, and sophomore third baseman Kris Forest had two hits and two RBI. Clinton led 8-0 after four innings.
“The girls that have been here four years in a row, and the juniors for three, they knew what to expect,” Clinton coach Al Roberts said. “It’s a matter of coming out and playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played.
“Tierney on the mound, that means an awful lot, obviously. And beyond that, there’s a whole lot of nucleus there. Abi Clark is a tremendous leader, and Haley Mercy is a tremendous leader, with calm and poise. (She’s) just a coach on the field, (and) without question, one of the best I’ve ever coached as far as having instincts for the game.”
Juniors Tessa Dinsmoore and Elexis Pitcher each had two hits for USA (40-5). Click for a full box score.
Gladstone 5, Springport 4
Gladstone advanced to its third MHSAA Final and first since winning the title in 2009 by scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning.
Senior Katie Becker drove in pinch runner Alexis St. Cyr, after junior Alison Austin opened the inning with the single. Austin then gave up one hit but nothing more in the bottom of the inning to ice the win for the Braves (30-5-1).
Becker and junior catcher Jordan Kowalski each had two hits for Gladstone, and Austin struck out six while giving up five hits.
Springport (39-3-1), which suffered its first loss since late April, took a 3-2 lead after the first inning before Austin came on in relief. Senior third baseman Kelsi Lauer was 3 for 3 for the Spartans, while junior second baseman Hannah Baum had two hits and sophomore catcher Taylor Heisler drove in two runs. Click for a full box score.
PHOTO: (Top) Clinton senior Abi Clark rounds third on her way to the plate during Friday's Division 3 Semifinal vs. Unionville-Sebewaing. (Middle) Gladstone junior Alison Austin fires a pitch during her team's win over Springport.
Record-Setting Gaylord Makes Most Historic Headline Yet with 1st Finals Win
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – It was fitting that Gaylord senior Alexis Kozlowski got her team going on Saturday with a two-run homer to straightaway centerfield, at 220 feet the deepest part of Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium.
It was home run No. 72 on the season for Gaylord, which continued building on a newly-achieved state record.
More importantly, it brought the huge crowd of Blue Devils fans to their feet and ignited the team in an 8-3 victory over Vicksburg in the Division 2 Final that clinched Gaylord’s first softball state title.
“This has been a goal of ours since we were little girls,” said Kozlowski, who was part of the Gaylord team which won a Little League softball state championship in 2016.
“We have so many good hitters. We knew if we kept putting the pressure on them, eventually we would break through.”
Kozlowski’s blast, her 14th of the season – ranking second on the team behind sophomore Aubrey Jones’ 18 home runs – opened the floodgates for the Blue Devils, who pulled away with three more runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth.
It was a textbook offensive effort for Gaylord, as junior leadoff hitter Braleigh Miller went 4-for-4 and tied a Finals record with her four hits.
With Miller getting on base repeatedly, No. 2 hitter Alexis Shepherd did her part with two long doubles (tying a Finals record) and four RBIs and No. 3 hitter Kozlowski added two hits and three RBIs, highlighted by her two-run blast into the oak trees behind the centerfield fence.
“Braleigh is the spark plug,” explained first-year Gaylord coach Tony Vaden. “When she gets on, everybody feeds off of it. These girls have been on a tear for the last month or so.”
Kozlowski also had the game-winning home run in Thursday’s Semifinal against Dearborn Divine Child, which broke the record for single-season home runs by a team, previously set by South Lyon East in 2021. Her shot Saturday increased that team total for the season to 72.
Gaylord, 39-2, had used three pitchers – Avery Parker, Abby Radulski and Aubrey Jones – to hold off Divine Child, 2-1. Jones came on in the sixth inning of that game and shut the door, striking out three of the four batters she faced.
Jones then earned the start Saturday and was in complete control, allowing just three hits and two earned runs, while striking out four.
Vicksburg, which also finished runner-up in 2016 and was trying for its first Finals title, was a home-run hitting machine of its own this spring. The Bulldogs finished with 61 home runs on the season, good for fourth in state history.
Vicksburg cut the Gaylord lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning when Maddison Diekman singled and then scored on a fielder’s choice.
The Bulldogs, 42-4-1, trailed 8-1 entering the top of the seventh, but never quit. Peyton Smith opened the inning with a homer, and the team then managed another unearned run.
“Their pitcher was very, very good,” said 10th-year Vicksburg coach Paul Gephart about Jones. “But our girls never quit. You could see it in that last inning. We were down big, but they just kept battling.”
Vicksburg senior pitcher Kennedy Davis, the hero of Thursday’s Semifinal win with a three-run homer, suffered her first loss of the season in the circle. Davis allowed 10 hits in six innings and finished the season 19-1.
The championship was especially gratifying for Gaylord assistant coaches Greg Jones and Lucas Shepherd, who both have standout daughters on the team.
Alexis Shepherd, a junior second baseman, has committed to Toledo. Jones has two daughters on the squad – junior Jayden Jones, a pitcher and shortstop who is out with a broken wrist but has committed to Virginia Tech; and sophomore Aubrey Jones, the winning pitcher Saturday who already has multiple Division I offers.
Coaches Jones and Shepherd have worked for years with this group of Gaylord players, who first made news with their Little League state title – and that odyssey continued Saturday with the school’s first MHSAA softball championship.
“Nobody knows exactly how much went into getting us to this moment,” Miller said. “We know, but not that many others do. That makes this extra special for us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Gaylord players celebrate their team’s Division 2 championship Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Vicksburg's Maddison Diekman (10) slides into second base as Gaylord's Alexis Shepherd looks to make the tag. (Below) Avery Parker has been among the Blue Devils’ standouts this spring. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)