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Midwest Recruiting: Sammie Gehrls of Caledonia named Total Softball Player of the Year for Michigan
East Lansing – Sammie Gehrls of Caledonia was named the Total Softball Player of the Year by State Champs on Thursday.
Gehrls, a senior pitcher who signed with Grand Valley State for basketball, was awarded the trophy after leading her team to a 1-0 victory over Warren Regina in a Division 1 softball semifinal at Secchia Softball Stadium on Michigan State’s campus.
A State Champs panel made the selection after reviewing criteria such as big game performance, this season’s overall performance, and team success. Also part of the process was the online vote, which was won by Gabi Salo of Escanaba. The finalists were Jenny Bressler of Plymouth and Carley Barjaktarovich of Richmond.
Through regional play, Gehrls was batting .500 (47-94) with 13 home runs, 11 doubles, two triples and 47 RBI. She was 16-2 with a 1.30 ERA. In 131 2/3 innings Gehrls has 189 strikeouts and walked 29.
Gehrls recorded a shutout in the quarterfinal (5-0 over Alpena) and on Thursday she blanked Warren Regina, 1-0.
Caledonia (28-6) will play Hartland (33-5) for the championship on Saturday at 10 a.m.
“Always, in the back of your mind, you think about the award,” Gehrls said. “It’s not your main focus. What I’m most excited about is to have a chance to win a championship for the community.”
In 2015 Caledonia reached the final with Gehrls pitching but lost to Regina, 5-0.
