Following a historic rookie year, sophomore first baseman Alexis Kozlowski has her eyes on the prize as the Bulldogs kick off their new season.
Hailing from Gaylord, where she was a multi-sport varsity athlete, she chose softball as the sport to chase. In her senior season, she was awarded First Team All-Conference, First Team All-Region and First Team All-State.
Kozlowski’s success has not been without challenges, but thanks to good coaching, she overcame these obstacles.
“The biggest obstacle I have had to overcome in my career is being able to take constructive criticism,” Kozlowski said. “From a young age, I was lucky to have had a coach who always believed in me even when I didn’t, but that came with a lot of tough love. In the end, I had to realize that it was all for a good purpose and it would all pay off in the end.”
Kozlowski has played softball all of her life. She started playing in little leagues because her parents told her she could try any sport she could imagine. That ended up being softball. She played in little leagues and travel ball leagues every summer while growing up.
After her high school tenure, she decided to further her softball career and play at a higher level. Recruiting was a tough step for Kozlowski, but it ended up being worth it in the long run.
“Recruitment was a long process,” Kozlowski said. “I had to email coaches every day, going to camps and waiting until coaches could find the time to reach out to me, but when Coach Schumann got the job at Ferris, he contacted me. After that, Ferris was immediately on my radar.”
When she got to Ferris, she was immediately thrust into a starting role. In her first game against Lincoln Memorial, she went up to the plate in the top of the fifth inning and hit a three-run home run. However, she wasn’t finished. In her next at-bat, she smacked a two-run double and ended the day 2-for-4 and five RBIs.
This was just the beginning of her award-winning freshman season, as she became one of the best players in the GLIAC. Sitting top ten in every major offensive statistic, hitting for a .357 average, 16 extra-base hits, six home runs, 38 RBIs, a 1.048 OPS and a .645 slugging percentage.
As a teammate, junior infielder Jadyn Joseph loves her as a teammate and wants nothing but the best for the team.
“Alexis has a very competitive spirit,” Joseph said. “She always wants the team to succeed, no matter what.”
To build off her freshman season, Kozlowski reiterated that she is going to work as hard as she can this year.
“From last season to this season I haven’t really made any changes,” Kozlowski said. “Except for putting in even more work than I did last season, even this year’s team has put in more time and effort than last year’s team, I feel so fortunate to be around girls that all want to make you a better player, but then again we are only looking forward at what’s to come, not the past.”
With a very young team, Kozlowski will need to keep her production up from last season to compete with a talented GLIAC for a division championship. Kozlowski is off to a hot start, already hitting for a .333 average, three extra-base hits and five RBIs in just six games.
Head coach Jake Schumann knows Kozlowski will be one of the best players Ferris softball has ever seen when her career is finished.
“Alexis along with Emma Gillard were the first players I contacted when I got the call that I was hired to take over this team,” Schumann said. “Alexis is a catalyst and an All-American type player that will forever be etched in the history books of this program when she is done here. Not only for her personal achievements, but the fact that she and her class turned a program back around.”
Kozlowski will continue her standout play when the Bulldogs enter conference play next month.