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.)
Forgettable Start, Unforgettable Finish
June 13, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The goal for Warren Regina after eight games wasn't to win an MHSAA softball championship.
It was much simpler than that: Just win one game.
Although records don't exist for such things, it's safe to assume that Regina is the first team to win an MHSAA championship after starting a season 0-8 (without forfeits).
The journey from frustration to elation concluded Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Caledonia in the Division 1 title game at Michigan State University.
Regina finished with a 27-16 record but more importantly, was 7-0 during the MHSAA tournament. The Saddlelites allowed only eight runs and had three shutouts in those seven games.
Once Regina's record hit 3-11, a team meeting was convened.
"We talked about, 'Hey, we have a lot of team talent. Why waste it this year?'" said senior pitcher Marissa Tiano, who pitched a two-hitter and struck out nine against Caledonia.
It was the kind of start that Regina's players can make light of in retrospect.
"We actually made jokes about it," said Regina junior Nicole Roeske, who was 3 for 3 in the Final. "It's a whole different team, like a family now. At the beginning, we were frustrated with losing."
Legendary Regina coach Diane Laffey said that, in her role as athletic director, she was partially to blame for the slow start.
"I was probably stupid," said Laffey, who has won 1,066 games in 45 years as Regina's coach. "I front-loaded the schedule and probably shouldn't have. Of those eight losses, two were to Mercy, two were to Ladywood, two were to Romeo, two were to Dakota. Those are all good teams. We weren't losing to flukes, but it gets really frustrating."
The only frustration Saturday was experienced by the Caledonia hitters, who couldn't get to third base and reached second only twice. The Fighting Scots' most reliable way to reach base was getting hit by pitches. They were hit three times, walked twice and had only two singles.
"We didn't show the kind of team we are today," Caledonia coach Tom Kaechele said. "She had us guessing up there. We just didn't adjust, but that's the game of softball. That's why you compete at this level. We just played at the highest level we could in Division 1, and there are 199 other schools who would like to be here just like us."
The game was scoreless through three innings before Regina broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth. Roeske led off with a single and scored on a two-out triple to right-center field by Hailey Reese.
"Knowing my team, I knew all we needed was one big hit and we'd win the game," Reese said. "I had faith in them."
The Saddlelites busted it open with a four-run fifth inning.
On a 3-2 pitch, Riley Hison lined a double deep to left field to score two runs. Hison moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a pitch in the dirt. Sydney Spatafore scored the final run of the fifth just before a tag on a runner going from second to third ended the inning.
Caledonia (34-5) had batters hit by pitches in each of the last three innings, but neither got past first base.
Regina has a 6-0 record in MHSAA Finals, winning its first title since going on a four-year run from 2004-07.
"Our picture goes up in the gym along with the other ones," Tiano said. "It feels great."
Caledonia was playing beyond the regional round for the first time.
"We're disappointed, obviously," Kaechele said. "This team has overcome a lot of adversity this year. To be 34-5 is an awfully good season. I told them to make sure you celebrate this moment and look at the accomplishments you've had this year. We've never been here before. We've never won a Regional before. You need to celebrate that for the program, the community and yourselves."
PHOTOS: (Top) Longtime Regina coach Diane Laffey hoists her team’s championship trophy Saturday. (Middle) Regina’s Lauren Buckowski tries to beat a throw to first base with Hannah Horvath covering.