Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba senior Gabi Salo (center) looks up after signing her letter-of-intent to pitch at the University of Wisconsin Tuesday in the high school library. Pictured behind are her parents, Gary and Lori.

ESCANABA — Two years ago, Gabi Salo verbally committed to playing softball at the University of Wisconsin. Tuesday in the Escanaba High School library, she made that dream a reality.

Salo, with her father and coach, Gary, and her mother Lori behind her, signed the dotted line to officially become a Wisconsin Badger on National Signing Day.

“It feels great,” Salo said with a smile on her face. “It’s what I’ve been waiting on for two years now since I verbaled, and it’s what everyone dreams about when they start playing a sport — to get to go to the collegiate level. I’m lucky enough to be one of those people.”

Salo’s recruitment process began a couple years ago when she started attending some major softball camps. After attending numerous camps, she set her eyes on wanting to go to a Big Ten school. As soon as she stepped on campus at Wisconsin, she knew it was the place for her.

“It just had the perfect mix of everything,” said Salo, who’s going into nursing. “They have a world class education, they have world class facilities, the coaches are absolutely amazing, and I fell in love right when I walked on campus. Everything was like a puzzle, and every piece to my puzzle was at Wisconsin.”

Salo noted she had a couple of other schools on her radar, but her love for Wisconsin made it an easy choice.

“She started off doing some softball camps at Central (Michigan University), and she really liked that,” Gary Salo said. “When she started doing travel ball downstate and all the over place, she knew she wanted to go to a Big Ten school. She went to Wisconsin, and she fell in love with the campus right when she walked on.”

Like most athletes who end up going to a Division 1 school, Salo’s potential was apparent at a very young age. She started playing travel ball with the Escanaba Heartbreakers at just 10 years old, then started pitching for downstate teams. Softball has taken her all over the country, from Georgia, to Colorado, to California.

“(Her softball career) started a long, long time ago,” Gary Salo said. “Gabi always threw a little harder than a lot of kids. Her work ethic put her on a different level than a lot of people around here thought she was capable of doing, and she just kept working and working.”

Salo is very appreciative of all the family support she’s received.

“My parents really instilled hard work in me since day one,” she said.

“If you want something, you have to work hard for it. My parents travel me with all over the country and they help me out chasing my dream. My brother supports me, and just all of my family and friends supporting me really helps.”

Salo is entering her senior season for an Eskymo team that’s won back-to-back state titles.

“At Escanaba, we’ve had a really good program for softball for so many years, and I think it’s now finally starting to catch up with the rest of the state in terms of publicity and getting noticed,” Gary Salo said.

“We have a lot more kids that are playing college softball, so hats off to all those kids who came before Gabi to lay the ground work to not only have a great high school career, but also to try to take that to the next level.”

Salo was an all-state pitcher for the Eskymos as a sophomore, then followed that up with a dominant junior season that earned her the 2019 Michigan High School Player of the Year Award. She finished the season with 351 strikeouts and a 0.26 ERA, using an overpowering fastball and an occasional changeup to keep hitters off balance.

“She’s one of those few kids where not many are going to outwork her,” Gary Salo said.

“She doesn’t have off days in terms of working and training and pitching and stuff like that. She doesn’t let the things around her bother her. She’s pretty calm and cool and collected.”

Salo acknowledged she’s already excited for her senior season.

“I think it’s kind of emotional going into my senior year,” she said.

“The target definitely really did grow on our back. We won our first state title, we got a target on our back for the second one, we won that, and now we’re trying to go for a third. I think this team coming up this year is definitely going to have to work hard, but I think we’re all excited about it.”

Salo signed on the same day her catcher, Dakota Cloutier, signed at Ferris State University.

“It is very fitting — she never gets enough credit back there,” Salo said. “Signing with one of your best friends is kind of cool.”

Once she graduates, Salo will be headed to a Wisconsin program that’s on the rise. The Badgers’ recruiting class is currently ranked 18th in the country.

“They’re putting the right people in Badger uniforms,” Gary Salo said. “It’s going to be exciting to see.”

Salo admitted she doesn’t know exactly what to expect, other than being really excited.

“I’m not really sure what to expect yet — a lot of hard work, obviously, but I think I’m just really excited,” she said.

Salo also wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone that’s been involved in her career and recruiting process.

“I just want to thank everyone that’s helped me along this journey — all my coaches, my family, my friends,” she said. “The recruiting process is long and it can be stressful, but they definitely kept me in it, and I want to thank them for that.”