Gaylord softball wins fourth straight Big North Conference title on senior night
GAYLORD — Plenty of people will miss Gaylord's graduating class of 2024.
Perhaps no program will miss their seniors like Gaylord softball, however.
GHS softball's six seniors (Jayden Jones, Taylor Moeggenberg, Hali Lenartowicz, Braleigh Miller, Addison Wangler and Alexis Shepherd) have brought in a ton of accolades while bringing the program to new heights in their careers. Last night, the program they've built had to start the process of saying goodbye, hosting its senior night festivities on Tuesday, May 21.
As Gaylord does, they celebrated in style, sweeping their rivals from Petoskey (16-0, 11-6 final scores) to wrap up a fourth-straight Big North Conference title while finishing undefeated in league play for the third-straight season.
The Blue Devils wasted no time in game one, scoring 10 runs in the first two innings before capping off a 16-0, mercy-shortened win in game one. Fittingly, they were led by their seniors, with Shepherd, Moeggenberg and Lenartowicz all providing two hits apiece. Lenartowicz provided the big blast with her third-inning three-run home run pushing the score over the 15-run limit.
Game two may have been a bit closer than some may have expected, one of the rare times the Blue Devils took all seven innings to finish off a BNC opponent, but Gaylord was never in any real danger as they cruised to an 11-6 victory to finish off an undefeated league schedule.
Junior Aubrey Jones had two doubles, three runs batted in and two runs scored while both Shepherd and Miller had two hits apiece as well.
Those two wins wrap up a 10-0 BNC record and a fourth-consecutive league title for Gaylord, their third-consecutive season going unbeaten in league play.
Gaylord now has just two more regular season doubleheaders remaining with Midland Dow and South Lyon, both highly touted Division 1 foes, before their state title defense truly begins with districts on Saturday, June 1.
Blue Devils baseball survives Petoskey comeback, splits doubleheader
While Gaylord softball was taking care of business, just a few feet away, the Blue Devil and Northmen baseball teams were in the midst of a classic Gaylord/Petoskey rivalry battle.
GHS didn't have much luck against Petoskey in 2023 but was on the verge of a four-run victory entering the last inning of game one on Tuesday, up 5-1 and cruising until the seventh. However, Petoskey nearly made a remarkable comeback, scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and chasing two Gaylord pitchers to bring the game within one run.
Still, Gaylord found its way out of the jam with Isaac Collins, the third GHS pitcher of the seventh, inducing a flyout with the tying run on third to complete a 5-4 victory.
Brennan Radulski and Lucas Green both had two hits apiece, leading the Gaylord offense, while Trevor Swiss led Petoskey with a solo home run in the top of the second.
Gaylord jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game two as well, but a six-run third inning from Petoskey helped the Northmen complete an 11-6 win.
Now 21-11-1, Gaylord is down to just one more doubleheader with Ogemaw Heights before the postseason begins.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord softball wins fourth straight Big North Conference title on senior night
