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Trio of Eskymos named All-State

Gabi Salo

ESCANABA — Fresh off a second straight Division 2 softball state championship, three Escanaba Eskymos were rewarded with All-State honors Tuesday, as voted on by the coaches.

Junior Gabi Salo, senior Lexi Chaillier and sophomore Nicole Kamin all represented Esky on the All-State team.

Salo, the Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year, finished the season with a 26-2 record. She had 351 strikeouts and a 0.26 ERA while allowing just seven earned runs and 21 walks. Her batting average against was a microscopic .083.

“I can probably cut down half those walks because I make her throw a changeup on a 3-1 or 3-2 count. Her strikeouts are boosted because she’ll throw any pitch on any count,” Esky coach Gary Salo said.

“She really limits what other people can do against her offensively. Gabi can just carry that load for us and can keep us in games that we don’t produce with the bats or have a few bobbles in the field.”

She helped her own cause at the plate, batting .343 with 37 hits and was second on the team with 38 RBIs.

“Going into the year she was our cleanup hitter,” coach Salo said. “The unexpected surprise of the year was her driving in runs when we needed it.”

Chaillier was dominant as the leadoff hitter offensively, leading the team in every major statistical category. She ended the year batting .492 with 40 RBIs, 62 hits and 62 runs — double of anyone else on the team.

“She’s the kid who starts everything for us, no doubt about that,” coach Salo said. “Lexi’s the complete package. She’s a spark plug on offense, makes the plays in right field that most people can’t, and as people saw in the state finals, she can make the big throw when she needs to.”

Kamin hit .400 and finished the year with 40 hits while being stout defensively at first base. She also provided the biggest hit of the season with a game winning two-run home run against North Branch in the state semifinals.

“She had the big monster home run that extended our postseason,” coach Salo said. “I think the other thing that people don’t realize about Nicole is her defense. She’s an athletic first baseman who covers the bunt really well. She plays really sound defense for us, which was great.”

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