Gaylord spring sports host unofficial opening day, return to home fields after long delays – Petoskey News-Review

GAYLORD ― The champs are back.
The two-time defending state champion Gaylord softball team finally got the first home games of the season under its belt following the late-March ice storm, hosting Big North Conference foe Cadillac on Tuesday, April 22.
And, much like they’ve done the past four years, they made quick work of a conference opponent, sweeping past the Vikings with a 22-0 win in game one and 15-0 win in game two, both run-rule shortened victories.
Senior Jenna Sircely walked away with an impressive stat line, hitting two home runs and driving in seven runs in game one while not allowing a hit in two innings of work in the circle in game two, striking out three batters. Oklahoma State signee Aubrey Jones also homered in game two while striking out seven batters in her two innings of work.
Gaylord has gone two full seasons without losing a BNC contest, their last conference loss coming back in 2022. Now, they try to make it three-straight unbeaten seasons and a fifth-straight conference title, already starting 2-0. Now 6-1 overall, GHS travels to Chelsea on Saturday, April 26 for a tournament.
The late-March ice storm is going to have lasting effects on the community, both short term and long term.
“Kudos to the community, it came together to deal with a difficult time during the ice storm. Big shoutout to the entire community,” said coach Chris Adams. “A lot of these families went a long time without power, and even when we were finally able to get together, a lo of these kids and these families still didn’t have power.”
While getting back to normal now, those delays have caused the Blue Devils girls soccer team and coach Adams to be a bit behind where they expect to be at this time during the season, evident during GHS’s 4-0 loss to Traverse City West on Tuesday night.
Gaylord had its opportunities in the first half, but a last-second goal pushed the TC West lead to 2-0 before halftime and put the Blue Devils in a position where they had to battle a very tough team from two goals down. Adams says the way the Titans moved without the ball was a key difference and, as the season progresses, he hopes to see his team do more of as they get their legs underneath them.
“Realistically we’ve played about half the amount of games that they’ve played,” said Adams. “Match fitness is a big thing we’ve been talking about and the girls are going to continue to build that as we go into the season.”
Now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in BNC play, the Blue Devils are set to take on Petoskey on Thursday, April 24.
Baseball
Gaylord 1, Cadillac 0
Gaylord 2, Cadillac 1
JoBurg 1, Onaway 17
JoBurg 3, Onaway 9
GSM 0, East Jordan 6
GSM 1, East Jordan 10
Softball
GSM 10, East Jordan 15
GSM 3, East Jordan 12
JoBurg 8, Onaway 7
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

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