Who were the top performers from Gaylord-area sports this past weekend?
GAYLORD — The spring sports season is just over a week gone, but the top players and athletes around the Gaylord area are already separating themselves from the pack.
Teams are off to fast starts on the diamond, while the first of many weekly track meets are done and gone as athletes around the area settle back into the groove of the season.
Gaylord teams were busy this weekend, highlighted by five combined road wins by the Blue Devils' baseball and softball programs. Here are the top performers from this past weekend's action:
SOFTBALL
Aubrey Jones, Gaylord softball
The defending state champions are putting themselves through one of the toughest schedules of any team in the state, taking on top-ranked Division 1 and Division 2 programs seemingly on a weekly basis. For a team like Gaylord, however, it's just a necessary step in preparing for an attempt at back-to-back titles.
Gaylord brought home three more wins this past weekend, including two over top-ten-ranked teams (No. 7 Hudsonville Unity Christian, No. 9 Stevensville Lakeshore) and junior Aubrey Jones was a big part of their success. She had 10 strikeouts in a complete game shutout of Lakeshore, also hitting a two-run homer at the plate to help her own cause.
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She was even more of a force at the plate in their final two games, hitting a double and a triple in win over Coldwater and hitting two home runs and driving in six runs in yet another win over Unity Christian.
Alexis Shepherd, Gaylord
The University of Toledo commit was her same consistent self over the team's three weekend games as well, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored against Coldwater before going 2-for-4 with a double and another two RBI in the win over Unity Christian.
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Jayden Jones, Gaylord
Aubrey's older sister and a Virginia Tech signee, senior Jayden Jones is starting to find her stride this season, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored against Coldwater before her best game of the year, a 3-for-3 performance with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored against Unity Christian.
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BASEBALL
Dillon Croff, Gaylord St. Mary
GSM has shrugged off the two losses from their opening day games at Adrian, now riding a six-game winning streak and already atop the Ski Valley Conference standings. They brought home two more wins this weekend over McBain, and senior Dillon Croff was one of the biggest reasons why; he got his second win on the mound this season with three shutout innings in the game one win, striking out five of the nine McBain batters he faced. In the second game, Croff had three hits and four RBI, helping GSM claim its sixth-straight victory heading into a new week.
Brennan Radulski, Gaylord
Much like their softball counterparts, Gaylord baseball also had a successful weekend road trip, beating both Grass Lake (12-0) and Jackson Northwest (8-5) for their sixth and seventh wins of the 2024 season. Junior catcher Brennan Radulski has been the team's offensive leader so far this season, and the weekend road trip was a great example of that; Radulski went 4-for-6 over the two games with a double and two RBI, finishing the week with 10 total hits in just six games.
TRACK AND FIELD
Katie Berkshire, Gaylord
Sophomore Katie Berkshire came into the spring as one of the top names to watch this season among all distance runners, regardless of division. So far this season, she's only backed up that claim with more impressive times.
Berkshire swept the girls distance events at the 2024 Warrior Invitationals at Chippewa Hills on Saturday, April 13, winning the 1600-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 14 seconds and the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:03.20, over a minute faster than the runner-up finisher (12:31.70).
SOCCER
Mariah Turner, Gaylord
The senior forward scored her third goal of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday, April 13, heading in a corner kick just before time expired to give Gaylord a 2-1 win over Big Rapids.
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: The top performances from Gaylord-area athletes this past weekend
