Escanaba Senior Girls Lose World Series Opener
ROXANA, Del.---It just wasn't their night. The Escanaba Senior Girls (age 15-16) opened the Little League Softball World Series Sunday night with an 11-1 loss to the Western Regional Champions from Garden City Little League out of Missoula, Montana. The game was largely decided in the first inning when the Montana girls scored six times against Escanaba pitcher Katie Ross, with two errors hurting the Esky cause. "They have much more experience than us. But we ended the game on a positive note." Montana star Macy Newbary was as good as advertised. She hit two towering home runs, the first a solo shot in the first inning and the second a tw0-run dinger in the third inning. She was also strong in the pitching circle, retiring the first eleven batters she faced, six of them on strikeouts. Ross's home run in the fifth inning broke Newbary's streak. JJ Laviolette and Jerrika McAlpine both had base hits in the sixth inning for Escanaba, but the Montana girls put the game away with a run in the bottom of the inning. Besides Newbary's two home runs, catcher Taylor Holmes had a two-run homer in the third inning, and Callie McKillop had two base hits. Montana had nine base hits in all. Were the Escanaba girls nervous, playing on such a big stage Sunday night? Ross pitched the first three innings and was charged with ten runs (seven earned) on seven hits. Cassi Wisler threw the final 2 1/3 innings and was charged with one run. Escanaba does not play on Monday. The girls continue World Series play on Tuesday against Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Game time is set for 10 a.m. So, what will the girls do with their World Series "off-day" on Monday? "We're gonna practice a little bit," Fields said. "But we're gonna let the kids enjoy themselves. We're here to have some fun, too. We don't want to get too serious." Tuesday's game will be broadcast on WGKL-FM (105.5), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting with the pre-game show at 9:30 Tuesday morning. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to hear radio interviews from Fields, and players Emily Bruntgens and Cassi Wsler. |