Contest & Promos


2019 Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year Contest!

Thanks to Total Sports for their continued sponsorship of the 2019 Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year Contest!

The Fan Voting portion of the 2019 High School Softball Player of the Year contest sponsored by Total Softball and State Champs! has ended.

Congratulations to our FINAL FOUR below and to the 2019 Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year – Gabi Salo of Escanaba!

Thanks to our friends at Total Softball for sponsoring this year’s contest and to all of the 2019 players in the Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year contest!!

Gabi Salo - WINNER !

Escanaba | Pitcher - Junior

After the Eskymos fell short in two straight semifinals appearances, Salo got them over the hump as a sophomore, continuing her torrid postseason pace, posting shutouts in the semifinals and finals to give her five in the playoffs (ERA: 0.30) and 83 strikeouts to go with just two walks. After a freshman season in which she went 18-3 with 185 strikeouts in 115.2 innings pitched, Salo went 21-3 as a sophomore with seven no-hitters and two perfect games, allowing just nine earned runs (ERA of 0.40) all season, striking out 287 and walking 13. A first-team all-stater each of her first two seasons, Salo is committed to pitching at Wisconsin.

Brooke Nadolny

L’Anse Creuse | Infielder/Pitcher - Senior

A four-year letter-winner for the Lancers, Nadolny has been a huge part of the power revolution in Michigan softball, hitting .521 and slugging 1.286 with an MHSAA-record 26 home runs last season, after hitting .583 and slugging 1.343 as a sophomore, with a then-record 22 homers. Nadolny entered the season just one homer shy of tying the state record for career home runs (55) set by Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy last season. Nadolny is also 20-10 with 212 strikeouts in the circle over her career, going 10-3 with 113 strikeouts last season, and has been all-district and all-region each of her first three seasons, earning first-team all-state honors last season. She’s signed to play at Wayne State. (Photo credit: The Macomb Daily)

Grace Lehto

Eaton Rapids | Pitcher - Junior

A first-team all-state pitcher, through regionals a year ago, Lehto was 23-4 with a 1.62 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 163 innings pitched. Lehto went toe-to-toe with Escanaba’s Gabi Salo in the D2 semifinals, holding the Eskymos hitless through four innings, and allowing just one earned run in six innings of a 2-0 loss. Through regionals last year, Lehto was hitting .520 with 60 RBI, 18 doubles and 11 home runs.

Lehto threw a no-hitter against DeWitt, a four-inning perfect game against Lansing Sexton, and shut out a potent Hartland lineup this season. Through 25 games for Eaton Rapids, she’s 17-0 with four saves, and with four earned runs allowed in 89 2/3 innings pitched, giving her an ERA of 0.31 and a WHIP of 0.54.

Lauren Esman

Richland Gull Lake | Pitcher/1B - Senior

After hitting .675 with 91 RBI and a school-record 21 home runs as a sophomore, Esman committed to Michigan, which was recruiting her for her power, with the idea that she might pitch for the Wolverines down the road, too. Last year, her offensive numbers — .587 average, eight home runs, 44 RBI — were more mortal, while her pitching numbers got better, as she went 22-6 with a 1.13 ERA in 149.2 innings pitched, striking out 235 hitters in helping lead Gull Lake back to the regional finals. Esman was first-team all-state as a sophomore (utility) and junior (pitcher), earning third-team All-American honors from NFCA last season. (Photo credit: Bill Broderick/Battle Creek Enquirer)