![Vicksburg celebrates during its Division 2 Semifinal win Thursday at Secchia Stadium.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/230615_D2s_2H.png)
Vicksburg, Gaylord Thrive on Plate Power to Earn Saturday Return
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2023
EAST LANSING – Vicksburg’s Kennedy Davis didn’t get mad, she got even.
Davis ripped what looked like a three-run home run Thursday morning in the second inning, but it curved just foul on its way out of Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium.
No worries, as Davis connected on a nearly identical three-run bomb in the bottom of the sixth inning – this one a little farther right and clearly in the field of play – to erase a one-run deficit and lift the Bulldogs to a 4-2 victory over Richmond in a Division 2 Semifinal.
“It was the same pitch she threw me the first time, when I bombed it foul,” explained Davis, the only starting senior for Vicksburg, who also went the distance for the pitching win.
“I heard them call the same number as the first one, so I was ready. It was a meatball on the inside of the plate.”
Davis sent that “meatball” into the oak trees over the left field scoreboard and, in so doing, sent Vicksburg to its first softball championship game since 2016 – when it lost, ironically, to Richmond in the D2 Final.
Vicksburg (41-3-1) will face another big challenge in Saturday’s 10 a.m. Final against top-ranked Gaylord, which used three pitchers to hold off Dearborn Divine Child, 2-1, in Thursday’s second D2 Semifinal.
Vicksburg coach Paul Gephart, in his 10th season, sure remembers that Finals loss to Richmond seven years ago – and recalls Davis being a little girl watching from the bleachers.
“Her cousin was on that team, and Kennedy was just a little girl in the stands,” Gephart recalled. “I reminded her about that this morning, and I could tell it motivated her.”
Davis’s home run was certainly the difference against a pesky Richmond team which entered the game unranked and playing just 16 hours after its Quarterfinal win Wednesday evening.
In spite of that, the Blue Devils took the lead Thursday by plating both of their runs in the top of the third inning.
Emma Hildreth singled and scored on a triple by returning all-stater Piper Clark, her 55th RBI of the season. Clark then scored on a single by Ashley Stafford.
Richmond, which finished 29-10 in coach Howard Stuart’s 45th year, looked like it might win by that score behind the pitching of sophomore Katie Shuboy.
Shuboy allowed just five hits in six innings of work – two by second baseman Peyton Smith, then singles by Delaney Moore and Kayla Chisholm, before the pivotal three-run homer by Davis in the sixth.
“This team always seems to find a way,” said Gephart, whose other pitcher, junior Audrie Dugan, broke her hand sliding during Regionals. “We’ve certainly come back from bigger deficits, but that hit was huge in that situation, playing here.”
After ripping the game-winning homer, Davis went to the circle and retired the Blue Devils 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh inning. She allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk, with three strikeouts.
Gaylord 2, Dearborn Divine Child 1
Top-ranked Gaylord (38-2) used two solo home runs and three pitchers to stave off an upset bid by unranked Divine Child and advance to its first Final after previously reaching the Semifinals in 2021 with many of the same players.
Her team behind 1-0 after two innings, Abby Radulski led off the third with a home run and Alexis Kozlowski did the same thing one inning later, giving the Blue Devils all the scoring they would need.
It wasn’t easy, however, as Divine Child put multiple runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but was unable to bring another run home.
“They put tons of pressure on us, and we were fortunate to persevere,” said first-year Gaylord coach Tony Vaden. “Our girls have learned to stay calm, and they will take advantage whenever a pitcher makes a mistake.”
The Falcons scored their lone run in the second inning on a single from senior Allison Surella. Isabella DePaulis led Divine Child (28-8) with two hits.
Gaylord was able to hold off the Falcons the rest of the way behind the pitching trio of junior Avery Parker, Radulski and sophomore Aubrey Jones.
Parker went the first three innings and allowed two hits and one run, Radulski allowed four hits in 2 2/3 innings, and Jones shut the door in relief – coming on with two on and two out in the top of the sixth and striking out three of the four batters she faced.
“I just wanted to come in and get the job done for my team,” explained Jones, the younger sister of junior standout Jayden Jones, who is out for the season with a broken wrist.
“It stinks that she can’t play right now, but she’s our biggest cheerleader. It just shows how many good players we have.”
Sophomore Jessica Nelson pitched a gem for Divine Child, allowing just five hits in six innings against the powerful Gaylord lineup. Nelson walked one and struck out four.
PHOTOS (Top) Vicksburg celebrates during its Division 2 Semifinal win Thursday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) The Bulldogs’ Peyton Smith readies to make a play. (Below) Gaylord’s Alexis Kozlowski rounds second base during her home run. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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Comeback Coloma Claims 1st Softball Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2018
EAST LANSING – Wendy Goodline hadn’t given up hope Saturday with her Coloma softball team trailing by four runs after five innings.
But she had started to reflect on how good her team’s season had been, win or lose.
After her Comets rallied for six runs over the final two innings to defeat Millington 7-6 and claim the school’s first-ever MHSAA Division 3 softball title, however, those thoughts went out the window.
“I’ll be honest, I was in the dugout thinking, ‘Win or lose, I’m proud of these girls, they played well, they hit the ball, they didn’t have any errors, they earned it,’” said Goodline, who is in her 19th season as Coloma coach. “Then we came back, and I forgot everything I said in the dugout.
"I’ve gotten a lot of Facebook things from former players, and it’s all because of them. These kids have seen those other teams compete and work hard and do what they have to do to be good. Softball doesn’t just begin in March in Coloma, and the players before them are what made this happen. I can’t emphasize that enough.”
The game featured the top two ranked teams in Division 3, and it showed, as they combined to both come up with huge hits, while also featuring spectacular pitching performances for stretches.
“I thought Coloma was a very good team,” Millington coach Greg Hudie said. “I felt like we were better, but we didn’t capitalize like we should have, and it bit us.”
Millington junior pitcher Gabbie Sherman put in a solid performance, striking out four batters and allowing just four earned runs. During one stretch from the end of the first inning through the fifth, she retired 14 straight Coloma hitters.
Coloma, meanwhile, used both of its pitchers, as Goodline started Jaidyn Hutsell, brought in Skylar Crisenberry to spell her in the fourth inning, and went back to Hutsell to close the game out in the seventh.
“We both bring different tools to the table, and we both rely on each other,” Crisenberry said. “I have so much confidence in her, and I think that’s how we switch in and out all the time, just having confidence in her. I would never be upset. I just wanted to win, and I knew Jaidyn had the tools to come in again and finish it off.”
Hutsell entered the seventh inning with a one-run lead and a runner on first base, but struck out the first two batters she faced. After a two-out single from Darrien Roberts, the Comets (38-3) intentionally walked Leah Denome, who had already tied a championship game record with four hits. The strategy worked, as Hutsell was able to force a groundout to shortstop Megan Koeningshof to end the game.
“I was very excited going back in,” said Hutsell, who had a pair of doubles at the plate. “Skylar did a great job keeping everything under control and not having any runners score, and I just came in and was confident.”
Crisenberry had pitched out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth inning to keep the Comets in the game and set up the final rally. After loading the bases, she followed up a strikeout with a popout and flyout to keep her team within four runs.
In the sixth, Coloma was able to make some contact against Sherman and capitalized. Hannah Mathis scored on an error, Hutsell smashed a double to centerfield to drive in Kayla Yore, and Morgan Taylor scored on a sacrifice fly from Mya Potter to pull the Comets to within one of the lead.
Sydney Bishop’s RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring Denome, gave Millington (39-3) an insurance run heading into the final frame.
It wasn’t enough, however, as the Comets strung together three straight hits to start the seventh, and pulled to within one again when Megan Neubecker scored after a ball was bobbled in left field. Yore drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly, and Wagner drove in the go-ahead run with a double to center.
“Megan Neubecker was the leadoff hitter, and I told one of my assistants, ‘You talk to her,’” Goodline said. “She’s a sophomore, she was nervous, she hasn’t been hitting real well – she hit well early in the season, then kind of hit a lull here – so I said, ‘You’ve got her, you talk to her.’ That hit was huge. It started it all.”
Hutsell had started the scoring in the game, driving in Koeningshof with a double in the first inning. Millington tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the third inning, when Roberts, who had tripled in the previous at-bat, scored on an infield single by Denome.
In the fourth, the Cardinals used a two-out rally to take control of the game, as an RBI single by Roberts was followed by a two-run triple by Denome. Her triple was the third of the game for Millington, an all-division championship game record.
That forced the first pitching change for the Comets, but the Cardinals managed another run as Denome scored on a wild pitch to make the score 5-1.
Hutsell finished the game with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings, while Crisenberry struck out two in 2 1/3.
Denome had three RBI for the Cardinals, while Roberts had three hits and one RBI, and McKenna Slough and Sabrina Gates each had two hits. Gates had one of the Cardinals’ three triples.
Millington, which entered the postseason ranked No. 1, could bring every player back next year, as there was not a senior on the roster.
“We haven’t really talked yet, but I just told them that this is still a huge honor, and to get some pictures with the trophy – I know they probably don’t want to,” Hudie said. “It’s a huge honor even to be runner-up, so I told them to make sure they don’t pass this moment up.”
VIDEO: Coloma scored three times in the top of the seventh inning, capped by Morgan Wagner's two-out double.
PHOTOS: Coloma players hoist their championship trophy during the Division 3 awards presentation Saturday. (Middle) Coloma’s Jaidyn Hutsell turns on a pitch.