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Gladstone HOF inducts new members

Editor’s note: A photo of the Gladstone Hall of Fame inductees will appear in an edition of the Daily Press later this week.

GLADSTONE — It was a night to share memories here Saturday as five individuals and two championship teams were inducted into the Gladstone Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bob Hewitt, who was master of ceremonies for the ninth annual event at the Terrace Bluff Golf & Country Club, was among the inductees as the Class of 2019 community contributor.

“It was very humbling,” he said. “I feel very fortunate to grow up in a small-town atmosphere. Gladstone has contributed more to me than I did to it. It was an honor to be up there. This was a pleasant surprise.”

He coached in the Gladstone Little League from the mid 1980s through the late 90s.

In 1998, he led a campaign to start high school softball and built the field.

Hewitt also worked with Bob Davison to organize the Braves Fan Club golf outing for several years, which helped raise more than $10,000 for GHS athletes.

The 2009 state championship girls’ softball team, which defeated Reese 1-0 in the Division 3 final, was also among the honorees.

“The banquet was very well attended,” said Hewitt. “I was very impressed with the girls’ softball team. They had 16 on the team and 13 were here.”

That team, coached by the late Gerry Smith, finished 35-5.

“Gerry treated us like his family,” said Brittany Jurek, who played shortstop for the Braves in ’09 and is currently an assistant softball coach at Lakeland College. “That’s the kind of person he was. He always wanted the best for his girls. It seems like it was just yesterday. We can be apart for 10 years and seem like we didn’t skip a beat. It’s fun to come here and share our success. We have a chance to catch up and see what everybody is doing.”

Mackenzie Shepeck, the winning pitcher in the state finals, had similar thoughts.

“When you start talking about the memories, it makes it seem like yesterday,” said Shepeck, who lives in Columbus, Oh.

“I haven’t seen the girls in 10 years. It’s a privilege to pick their brains and see where they are in life.”

Shepeck fondly recalled the Braves scoring the game’s only run in the first inning.

“I was so thankful for everybody,” she said. “It means so much to score the first run as a pitcher. You can take a breath and relax a little. Everytime they hit the ball I was on edge, but I was confident the girls would make the play. On that day, one happened to be enough.”

Also inducted was 2004 graduate Holly (Bruntjens) Holstrom, a four-year varsity letter winner in softball who served as team captain in 2003-04.

Holstrom helped the Braves reach the semifinals in 2003 and take a state title 2-1 over Niles Brandywine. As a high school pitcher she had a 49-17 record with 401 strikeouts through 400 innings. She received all-state honorable mention as a senior and had 67 hits in her prep career.

Joe Mileski, a 2008 graduate, earned 10 varsity letters in football, wrestling and track.

In football, he was an All-Great Northern Conference and All-U.P. Dream Team defensive back, All-U.P. returner and GNC special teams Player of the Year, team captain and Brian Butler Award winner.

He was a four-year varsity letter winner in wrestling, receiving all-state recognition by placing in every meet. He set the school record for wins at 178-12, and a school record for pins at 100.

Mileski was a three-time U.P. champion, four-time GNC champ and Brute Adidas and Folkstyle national champion.

“I was thrilled to be with a prestigious group of individuals,” he said. “This wasn’t even a possibility when I graduated. When it was formed, it was a thought of mine that maybe I would be lucky enough to be nominated. My wife is a communications major at UW-Stevens Point. She’s used to public speaking and I’m not really into it. It’s good to have her here and support me. I thought about it a little before, then our daughter was born eight weeks ago.”

In ’08, Mileski won the Eldon Cappy Keil Award for the best male athlete.

Renee (Carlson) Scoville, a 1995 graduate, received 10 varsity letters in basketball, volleyball and track. As a captain in basketball, she earned All-U.P. Class ABC and All-GNC first-team honors in 1994.

She was a three-year varsity letter winner in volleyball, named team captain and was a GNC first-team selection in ’95. She was also a three-year letter winner in track and part of the 1993 GNC championship team.

For her efforts, Holstrom was selected Gladstone’s best girls’ athlete and best all-around girl in ’95.

The late Matt Houle was inducted as the Class of 2019 coach.

He coached at Gladstone for 31 years, serving as an assistant wrestling coach on the 1987 team which earned the school’s first U.P. title. He was also the first coach to guide the Braves to a U.P. championship and Class A-B regional championship in 1991. He and Gary Whitmer then combined to coach the Braves to an MHSAA six straight U.P. D-1 titles from 2004-10.

As athletic director, Houle won numerous awards and helped raise more than $350,000 to improve the athletic and educational facilities and was involved with adding five new sports, including baseball, bowling, swimming, competitive cheer and a dance team.

The 1960 U.P. Class B-C-D championship golf team was comprised of then seniors Tom Butch, MIke Kelly and Gary Hess and sophomore Jack Radicker.

That marked the fourth straight year the Braves took the title with Kelly a part of all four teams under coach Keil. Hess was in on three championships. Butch played on two teams during that run and Radicker on one.

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