Vicksburg Not Done After Historic Run

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

May 23, 2017

VICKSBURG — The first time Grace Stock played softball, she absolutely hated it.

The Vicksburg senior was just 8 or 9 at the time, and that dislike lasted all of one game.

In her second game, “I played second and there was a ball that was hit above me, and I went on tip toes and reached out my mitt,” she said.

“My eyes were closed and I caught it. After that, I just loved it and wanted to play all the time. I have a picture of it, too, which makes it even better.”

She may not be playing all the time, but she and her Bulldogs teammates hope to be playing well into the postseason.

Last year, her team became the first in Vicksburg school history to make an MHSAA championship game, losing 2-0 to Richmond in the Division 2 Final.

Losing just two seniors from that team, “people ask, reflecting back on last year, are your expectations the same?” fifth-year head coach Paul Gephart said. “I say, last year is in the past, and this year we’ve got to focus one game at a time.”

After flying under the radar last season, this year’s Bulldogs are ranked fourth in state with Districts set to start next week.

“It’s absolutely extra pressure,” Gephart said. “I think it motivates other teams. They’re going to bring their best effort against you.

“I think it’s bulletin board material for other teams and kind of fuels them. Now we’re on the other side of that, and there is that pressure as far as expectation.”

The Bulldogs take a 25-9-1 (16-2 Wolverine Conference) record into the final week of the regular season. They have clinched the conference title for the second consecutive year.

Three key seniors – Stock, Carlie Kudary and Shaidan Knapp – earned all-state honors last year and have been starters since their freshman season.

Sadie Martin – the team’s second pitcher and an “awesome” outfielder, Gephart said – and “really solid” first baseman Raquel Rice round out the senior class. Gephart said in his mind he refers to the seniors at the Fab Five.

“All five of them, the four years they’ve been here, the team has been academic all-state,” he said. “I think that’s huge that they’re that intelligent and that driven.

“The way it works in softball, individual academic all-state you get that award your senior year, and all five will get that award this year.”

Stock is second on the team with a .487 batting average and 44 RBI.

“She is a solid catcher, all-around catching,” Gephart said. “Offensively, defensively, she’s the best catcher I’ve been around or associated with in female softball.”

Stock was behind the plate and Avery Slancik on the mound for every postseason game last season.

“I used to be a pitcher, but I wasn’t too good at that. But I liked that I was in every play, so catching suited me well,” Stock said.

Slancik, a junior, started playing travel ball with the Portage Hurricanes when she was 8 and was coached by her dad, Michael Slancik.

“Dad actually coached nine of the 11 girls we have on the team,” she said. “Back in the day I was a pitcher and a catcher, but my brother was a catcher so I chose to pitch.”

When she was a freshman, her father put up a barn with three batting cages inside.

“Me and my brother (Trace), who is a freshman at Hope and plays baseball there, and a neighbor are out there all the time practicing and getting better every day.”

Slancik has been the Bulldogs number one pitcher since she was a freshman and earned all-state honorable mention last year.

“He’s coached baseball his whole life until I started playing softball,” she said. “Whenever we went to his house, we’d always play catch.

She and Stock are best friends, which will make for an interesting season in another year. While Stock will play softball at Calvin College after graduation, Slancik plans to play at Hope the following year. “It’s going to be fun,” Slancik said. “They’re big rivals, but we’re going to stay best friends.”

Kudary, meanwhile, is a slap-hitter and one of the fastest players on the team.

“She gets on base a lot for us and since she bats leadoff, that gets us going right away,” Gephart said. “As a freshman, initially she was on the JV and we brought her up when we had an injury, and she’s been a starter ever since.

“She has so much speed, there are teams who would have really good hits in gaps, but she gets to them. That makes us really solid up the middle with Avery pitching, Grace catching, Shaidan at shortstop and Carlie at center.”

Knapp leads the team with a .510 batting average and 50 RBI. Her grandfather, Ed Knapp, got her started playing softball.

“He’s coached baseball his whole life until I started playing softball,” she said. “Whenever we went to his house, we’d always play catch.

“I’d ask to go to the park to hit instead of playing at the playground. I’d want to hit softballs. He’s been with me through the whole experience.”

Ed Knapp, who has coached various sports since 1964 and baseball until 1998, is Gephart’s assistant. He is also a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association and Vicksburg halls of fame.

Knapp’s sister, Tailynn, is a freshman infielder – but they don’t get special treatment from their grandfather.

“He doesn’t really treat me like a grandchild, but at the same time, he’s such a sweet old man he acts like everyone’s his grandchild,” Shailyn said. “It’s nice to be able to see him on the field because I know him off the field. He’s a really fun guy.”

Ed Knapp said there is a down side to coaching his granddaughters

“People are always going to say, yeah, they’re playing because he’s the coach. They always say that until they look at how they play. No coach can survive if they play favorites.”

On the up side, “It’s a lot of fun watching them progress and get better. They really listen. It’s easy to work with them because you can do it in more of a grandfatherly approach.”

He hopes to instill words of wisdom to the players from his decades of coaching.

“You have to have fun. That’s the main reason kids play sports, is to have fun,” he said.

“I just cringe when I hear some of these coaches screaming and yelling at their players. You can just see those girls with their heads going down.”

Team bonding plays a big role in Vicksburg’s success.

“The key is how close we are and just trusting that the person behind us has each other’s back,” Slancik said. “For instance, if one of us gets out, the next person will get another hit.

“If one person makes an error, the next person can step up and say, ‘It’s all right, I’ve got you.’ We’ve been implementing that into our game.”

Stock recalled how the team also got a boost from the community when it returned from the MHSAA Finals last year.

“Fans were lining the street and, we got escorted by police officers and fire trucks, so that was pretty cool,” she said. Later that summer, “There was a party at the football field for family and friends. We got all of our awards, and parents told us how proud they were of us.”

Of course, Vicksburg was disappointed to end the Cinderella season with a loss. But being one of two Division 2 teams standing at the end was special.

“You never want to lose,” Kudary said. “We have to look at it from a better perspective and realize we were the second team in the state to get there.

And yet, “We have to keep our focus and keep working hard at practice. We can’t let last year’s season interfere with this year’s season.”

The other junior on the team is third baseman/outfield Lauren Goertler.

The lone sophomore is pitcher/infielder Kali Yant, and other freshmen are catcher/outfielder Camille Wadley and third baseman/pitcher Rylie Richter.

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Vicksburg pitcher Avery Slancik warms up before an inning during last season’s Division 2 Final at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium. (Middle top) From left: Carlie Kudary, Avery Slancik, Shaidan Knapp. (Middle below) Vicksburg’s Grace Stock, last season catching the championship game and also as a child catching with her eyes closed. (Below) From left: Bulldogs head coach Paul Gephart and assistant Ed Knapp. (Middle photo provided by Grace Stock.)

Performance: Richmond's Erin Shuboy

July 1, 2016

Erin Shuboy
Richmond freshman – Softball

During a championship weekend of headline-grabbing pitching performances, the most talked about likely came from Shuboy, who threw a no-hitter to lead Richmond to its first MHSAA softball championship with a 2-0 victory over Vicksburg at Michigan State University. Shuboy shut down a lineup batting .433 to earn the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” for June 13-19. 

Shuboy struck out seven and walked only one batter, following a Semifinal where she struck out eight and walked two in a 6-2 win over Escanaba. Batting cleanup, she also drove in runs in both games. She finished this spring with a 17-3 record and 199 strikeouts, and carried a .348 batting average into the final week.

Shuboy’s mom, Bridgette (nee Moore), also was a standout pitcher for Richmond coach Howard Stuart, who has won 954 games over 38 seasons leading the program. Erin Shuboy also plays volleyball and basketball. 

Coach Howard Stuart said: “We had to slow her down several times, because even the official said, ‘She’s working too fast. Slow her down.’ So we had to physically slow her down. She was in such a hurry to get the ball and throw it. And there was no mention of no-hitter. Not one word was said to her at all. At the end of the game, she didn’t know. She was so focused. ... What makes her special is her confidence, I think. She believes in herself. She’s not just a pitcher; she pounds the ball. (In the Semifinal), she hit a ball down the left field line that was a line shot, went 150 feet five feet off the ground before it ever slowed down, just a screamer. She can hit. She can do everything. She fields her position well. She used to play shortstop. She plays first base. She’s a pitcher. She’s a solid kid.” 

Performance Point: “I didn’t really know it was (a no-hitter) until someone told me. This is just crazy. I just gotta stay focused about every batter, keep taking a batter at a time and play at a time. My change-up was working really good; it normally doesn’t work that good. My fastball, the outside corner, that really helped us out.”

Like mother, like daughter: “She’s always helped me out with everything. She taught me how to throw. She gave me so much advice over the last couple of years. It’s just been a great experience having her.”

Pitching first, batting second: “I like pitching better. It’s just fun being the leader on the mound.”

Learning from a legend: (Coach Stuart) knows what he’s doing. It’s awesome to have him here to tell me what I’m doing wrong and help me with my errors. (He taught me) always keep your composure on the mound and never let anything get to you.”

Sending out the seniors: “I just wanted to help them out, have them have a good end to their senior year. And a state championship would be a good way. … We predicted we were going to have a good season, but I didn’t know we were going to be state champs.”

– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor

Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard recognized a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.

The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster. 

Previous 2015-16 honorees
June 15: Andrew Walker, Battle Creek Lakeview boys golf - Read
June 8: Sekayi Bracey, East Kentwood girls track & field - Read
June 1: Anna Jefferson, Oak Park girls track & field - Read
May 25: Connor Bandel, Oxford boys track & field - Read 
May 18: Kalyn Breckenridge, Birch Run girls soccer - Read 
May 11: Morgan Beadlescomb, Algonac boys track & field - Read
May 4: Abby Krzywiecki, Farmington Hills Mercy softball - Read
April 27: Mike Mokma, Holland Christian baseball - Read
April 20: Abby Divozzo, Cadillac girls soccer - Read
March 30: Cassius Winston, Detroit U-D Jesuit boys basketball - Read
March 23: Kierra Fletcher, Warren Cousino girls basketball - Read
March 16: Jacob Montague, Grosse Pointe South swimming & diving - Read
March 9: Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles boys bowling - Read
March 2: Brittney Schnicke, Caledonia girls bowling - Read
Feb. 24: Kamari Newman, Detroit East English boys basketball - Read
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read 
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read

PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond’s Erin Shuboy steps toward the plate during the Division 2 Final on June 18. (Middle) Shuboy unloads a pitch during her no-hit performance.