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Eskymos celebrate state championship

Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press The Escanaba softball team celebrated its Division 2 state championship on its home field Tuesday night. Pictured above, the Eskymos unveiled their 2019 state title sign and 2019 MHSSCA Academic All-State sign. Pictured in front, from left: Jalin Olson, Carsyn Segorski, Abby Hill, Georgia Lehto, Lexi Chaillier, Heather Bergstrom, Maddy Block and Lizzy Sliva. Back row: coach Ross Rahoi, coach Mark Cloutier, Mo, Maddy Monkevich, Dakota Cloutier, Erica Moore, head coach Gary Salo, Gabi Salo, Nicole Kamin, Rylee Kuehl, McKenna Bullen, Emily Moore, Ashley Sylvester, coach Tim Lehto, coach Andy Fields and coach Dan Block.

ESCANABA — 11 days have passed since the Escanaba softball team captured its second straight Division 2 state championship. The Eskymos celebrated their title with fans, the community and kids of all ages on their home field Tuesday night, honoring everything they’ve accomplished together one last time.

The night began with the Eskymos unveiling their 2019 state title sign and 2019 Academic All-State sign for having the highest team GPA in center field, next to their 2018 state title sign that just went up May 10.

“I don’t really know if it’s sunk in,” Esky coach Gary Salo said. “When you look at those three signs, you think ‘Wow, two years ago that group with Jamie Segorski wins the first one and this one wins the second.’ You want to inspire that next group that can come and hang another sign. You certainly don’t think you’re ever going to get back there right away, but hopefully these ladies have a chance to work hard and see about defending that next year.”

Escanaba athletic director Nick Nolde then honored each Eskymo one-by-one and each member of the coaching staff.

After Salo and Esky’s three seniors gave their speeches to the crowd, all children were invited to home plate to run the bases with Nicole Kamin while the radio call of her game-winning two-run home run against North Branch in the state semifinals played in the background. The kids then hung around to play catch with the team.

“It’s great to get the community involvement that we have, to see the next set of Eskymos’ players coming out, to see the little girls get a chance to run the bases and play catch, to just enjoy what these young ladies have accomplished,” Salo said. “It’s an awesome way to end the year.”

Escanaba’s three seniors — right fielder Lexi Chaillier, third baseman Heather Bergstrom and left fielder Georgia Lehto — each had the chance to be an Eskymo one last time.

“Obviously, I’ve come down a little bit from cloud nine now (since winning the state title),” Chaillier said with a laugh. “But it’s still just great to think that we made history, and to go out my senior year winning.”

Chaillier said the kids being a part of the celebration made it extra special.

“It’s really nice that even though it might not seem like it, we’re all girls that the younger kids look up to when it comes to playing sports,” she said. “It just shows by them being here to run the bases and play catch with us that they really do look up to us.”

Bergstrom was part of a brand new infield this season, which stepped up behind ace pitcher Gabi Salo.

“We do a lot of defensive drills during practices and a lot of hard balls get hit at us every single day. We have lots of bruises on our legs to show for it,” she said. “During a game when a ball gets by — even if it’s just a little blooper or a solid hit that we couldn’t get to — we just try to keep each other up and tell each other to just get the next one.”

She also thanked the community for all its support.

“It’s really cool to have everybody out here tonight, not only celebrating our state championship, but also, academically, because that’s a big thing to have the best GPA two years in a row,” she said. “It really shows how great our school is, and to have all these young kids out here is really great because they get to be a part of our celebration and have things to look forward to in their future years.”

Lehto echoed the comments about the community support, referring to it as a family.

“It’s awesome to see all the support we get from our community,” she said. “It’s like a big family with all the kids — we know that they love it and we’re celebrities to them. They love being with us and being around us, and it’s awesome.”

Lehto talked about the differences in coaching she had throughout her career.

“Well, my freshman year on jayvee we were coached by coach Salo,” she said. “Then, my sophomore and junior year we were coached by coach Segorski. They had two completely different coaching styles, but they were both fantastic coaches, obviously. They both led us to a state championship and we can’t do it without their support.”

Coach Salo gave a couple closing thoughts on each senior.

“Georgia Lehto is the hardest-working kid I’ve ever come across. She’s earned every single thing she’s ever come across and she’s just a pleasant kid to be around,” he said.

“I had a great talk with Heather Bergstrom two weeks before the season was up and I said, ‘You’re going to end it just like Savannah Baron (former Eskymo) did. You just got to get hot at the right time.’ And she absolutely did that.

“Lexi Chaillier is just Lexi. You can’t replace a kid that does as much as she does. We’re going to have to find three-to-four kids to fill in all the things that she’s able to do.”

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