EAST LANSING — Saturday was a given.
The Gaylord Blue Devils still had to go out, do the work and win. But they did that all season, so was there really any doubt that this talented and driven group would — both literally and metaphorically — step up to the plate and get the job done?
There wasn’t any doubt for me, even as those pesky stomach butterflies started fluttering around in the bottom of the seventh and when the game went into extras tied at 2-2. I was still confident that Gaylord would leave Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium as back-to-back Division 2 softball state champions.
Of course, that’s easy for me to say now that the Blue Devils have achieved the repeat with that dramatic 3-2 victory in eight innings against Vicksburg on Saturday. But there was nothing easy about what Gaylord did this season.
Even if they made it look easy sometimes (which is what the best performers do at the top of their game), what cannot be overlooked is the pure and unwavering commitment that these Blue Devils put in — leading to incredible successes built on the back of their sacrifices.
I understand this might be a ridiculous thing to say about a team that has been ranked No. 1 all season and was expected by most to win another state championship, but I still feel like these Gaylord Blue Devils were underrated and deserve even more respect and adulation for what they have accomplished.
They had a target on their backs but still played with a chip on their shoulder as people outside of the program and outside of Gaylord rooted for their downfall and hoped they would lose — if only to increase their chances of winning by removing the giant roadblock en route to a title.
But the Blue Devils disappointed all of those teams hoping their path to a state championship trophy wouldn’t go through Gaylord.
That path was always going to Gaylord, but the Blue Devils proved that no team was going through Gaylord. That was the end of the line for any team challenging the Blue Devils for the throne, and Gaylord just simply was not going to give up the crown.
That stretch from the bottom of the seventh through the end of the game is the perfect microcosm for what makes this Blue Devils team so special.
Aubrey Jones, who had been dealing all day, continued to deal in the bottom of the seventh with a 2-1 lead. She notched a pair of clutch strikeouts that got both Vicksburg batters looking and put Gaylord one out from a second consecutive state title.
But then Madison Diekman flared a bloop single into left to put the tying run on base. Jones didn’t flinch. The junior and Gatorade Michigan Softball Player of the Year fired two strikes to the next batter to put Gaylord just one strike away from another championship.
But a single from Emily Zemitans and a throw from right into first that got away allowed Diekman to score the tying run.
Jones didn’t flinch again. She got a comebacker groundout to end the inning and accurately threw to first to give her team the chance to score a run in the eighth, confident if they did that she would slam the door shut on Vicksburg.
The Blue Devils knew what they needed to do. They needed to score a run in the top of the eighth, get three outs and hold Vicksburg to a zero in the bottom of the eighth.
That was their job. That was their mission.
Well, job well done and mission accomplished
Jayden Jones — showing that she and her younger sister share that clutch gene — came up in the top of the eighth and singled to right, advancing Alexis Shepherd to third and then all the way home when Vicksburg’s throw got away.
That lead was all the Blue Devils would need.
Aubrey Jones returned to the circle for the bottom of the eighth with a second chance at a second state title, and neither she nor the rest of her teammates were about to let that opportunity pass them by.
A flyout to right. A strikeout. Another flyout to right.
That was it. Three outs, and Gaylord was the state champion. Again.
They deserved it. They worked for it. They sacrificed for it.
So a hearty congratulations to the Gaylord Blue Devils. You certainly did not disappoint, and your legacy is secured.