The 2025 Gladstone softball team poses for a photo with its regional championship trophy on June 7, 2025 at Boyne City. (Courtesy photo/Sara Trombley)

BOYNE CITY — For the third-consecutive season Gladstone softball has earned a regional championship.

The No. 2 Braves toppled Grayling 6-2 in semifinal action and conquered Kingsley 9-0 in the title game.

Gladstone will face No. 1 Clare at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cheboygan High School in the state quarterfinal round.

Here’s what went down.

No. 2 Gladstone 6, Grayling 2

Entering Saturday’s action senior Lauren Sundquist had 11 home runs in her 2025 campaign. It took her one pitch to make it 12, belting a lead-off home run to left field. Freshman Malia Quigley added an RBI double in the fourth for an insurance run and a 2-0 lead. Gladstone tacked on two more in the fifth off a double from freshman Lauren Pare and a sacrifice fly from freshman Tiahna Reynolds for a 4-0 advantage after five. 

Grayling cut the deficit in half off a pair of RBI pokes in the top of the sixth. But freshman Ava Goodman re-claimed the Braves’ four-run advantage with a two-run home run in the bottom of the frame.

Senior Tia Schone earned the win, surrendering two unearned runs off five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts in seven innings of action while also finishing 2-for-3 from the plate. Sundquist, Pare and Quigley all had multi-hit games.

No. 2 Gladstone 9, Kingsley 0

The Stags used a nine-run seventh inning for a 15-8 over Negaunee in their semifinal game. Coincidentally, the Braves scored nine runs on Kingsley in the championship game.

Schone was her usual self in the circle, allowing six hits and striking out nine in a complete game shutout while going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI single in the third for a 2-0 lead.

And just like the Braves first game on Saturday, Sundquist ripped a lead-off home run. This time it came on the fifth pitch of the at bat. She finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored.

The Braves added three runs in the fifth off a home run from Pare, an RBI double from senior Alli Larson and an RBI knock from Quigley for a 5-0 lead. Gladstone tacked on four more runs in the sixth off a sacrifice bunt from Quigley, a two-run double from Quigley and freshman Molly Matthews successfully scored from third off a passed ball.

Larson was 2-for-3 and scored twice.