Escanaba Major Girls Fall In State Quarterfinal, 9-3

PARCHMENT, Mich,---The Escanaba Major Girls (age 11-12) were eliminated from state tournament play on Monday with a 9-3 loss to Grandville in the quarterfinal round. The game was tied 3-3 until Grandville scored six times on a bunch of bunts in the sixth inning.

Not only did Grandville do well with putting down bunts, the District Nine champs also put pressure on the Escanaba defense with their team speed. That, in part, led to seven errors which contributed to four of the six runs being unearned runs.

"We knew that we were going to struggle in that," Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski said. "It is what it is. We knew we had an issue with it. There's nothing we can do about that now. They're a good team. That's a real good team. They're just solid all the way through."

Escanaba fell behind 2-0 in the first inning before scoring three times in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. And they did it with some "small ball" of their own. Carney Salo and Erica Moore put down nice bunts after Carsyn Segorski led off with a double.

Emily Moore ripped a base hit to left, and Abby Hill also smacked a single to help put the Escanaba girls in front. Unfortunately, a second runner was thrown out at the plate, so the lead was just 3-2, and it stayed that way for several innings.

Escanaba also did some nice work on defense, as catcher Erica Moore threw out two base runners trying to steal in the second inning: one at second base, the other at third base.

It all came down to the sixth inning, with the game tied at 3-3. Lauren Goodyear put down a bunt and the throw by catcher Erica Moore went wild (Segorski says it hit the helmet of the batter). Kylee Dillard put down a sacrifice bunt for the first out, then Kassity Hamilton put down a bunt...reaching base when Salo tried to tag the runner off of third, but missed.

Leadoff batter Brooke Bernt fell behind in the count, but worked for a walk on the 3-2 pitch, loading the bases. Brooklyn Verbeck followed with a fly ball down the right field line that landed just fair, scoring two runs, and putting Grandville ahead, 5-3.

Amanda Hallenback followed with a two-run base hit to left field, making it 7-3.

Escanaba, down by six, tried to rally in their final at-batas McKayla Mott walked and Erica and Emily Moore each got base hits.

But Mott was thrown out at second base on Erica Moore's single, and with two on, Lizzy Sliva ripped one that was caught in center field.

The throw back to second base was in time, and Escanaba lost on the double play.

"We practiced long and hard and we were in the right spot," Coach Segorski said. "We held them together for five innings. We stayed right in the game. They're a great group of kids. Nobody works harder. They had a lot of fun and they learned a lot."

The Upper Peninsula's other team at this 16-team tournament, Penokee Range from Gogebic County, lost in the quarterfinals to Lac Ste. Claire out of Macomb County, 11-1.

The championship game on Tuesday pits Grandville against Beaverton...both of the teams that Escanaba lost to in this tournament.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Martha Sliva.