Gladstone Majors Stay Alive; Esky Rolls Into Finals
GLADSTONE----It was Delta County 2, Dickinson County 0, as the Major Girls (age 11-12) district finals were held Friday night at Don Howes Field. Gladstone eliminated Iron Mountain North, 15-2, in the loser's bracket game before Escanaba jumped to an early lead and took out Kingsford, 8-1. The results mean that Escanaba advances to Sunday's district championship game, needing only one more win to advance to the state finals, which will be held in Gladstone next week. Gladstone, in order to play on its own field in the states, will need to beat Kingsford on Saturday and then take two straight games from Escanaba.
MacKenzie Monkevich had three hits.
Three more runs in the third inning made sure that the game would end on the mercy rule in 3 1/2 innings. In the first inning, RBI hits by MacKenzie Monkevich, Heather Bergstrom, and Jaden Schwartz gave the Purple and White the upper hand. Iron Mountain closed to within 3-1 in the second inning on a walk and three passed balls. But in the bottom of the inning, Gladstone sent 14 batters to the plate to put the game away. Taylor Gauthier had an RBI triple in the inning, and Amber Lenards added an RBI hit. Serena Sinneave, Monkevich, Bergstrom, and Hannah Sharon all had infield RBI hits. In the third inning, Gauthier added a two-run double. She had three hits in the game, and Monkevich had three base hits. Bergstrom had three hits as well, and Lenards had two singles.
IM's Haley Anderson threw the whole game.
Jenna Steinhoff pitched the first two innings for Gladstone, allowing no hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. Lenards threw the final two innings, allowing one run on three hits. Haley Anderson took the loss for Iron Mountain, allowing 15 runs on 16 base hits. The game ended on a nicely-turned double play by the Gladstone defense. ESCANABA IN CAT-BIRD SEAT---The Escanaba girls had just three base hits, but they made the most of those hits and took advantage of Kingsford's mistakes to post an 8-1 win. Escanaba now waits for an opponent for Sunday's district championship game. Escanaba scored three runs in the first inning on a bunt single by Claire McInerney, an RBI groundout by Darby Becon, and a couple of wild pitches. Then four runs scored in the second inning, on bases-loaded walks to McInerney and Hannah Edington, and on a throwing error on a Becon ground ball to short. Down 7-0, Kingsford scored a run in the third inning on an RBI single by Abby Tomososki. Olivia Lorenzoni also had a hit that inning, but Escanaba turned a 5-3 double play as third baseman Emily Bruntgens made a nice catch and throw. Edington earned the pitching win, her second straight win in the tournament. She threw five innings, allowing one run on two hits and no walks. She struck out five batters. Molly Wahoviak took the loss, allowing seven runs (two earned) in two innings. Cierra Dober did a nice job in relief, retiring all six Escanaba batters she faced. Tomososki pitched the final inning for Kingsford, allowing a run on one hit and a walk. Escanaba plays in the district championship game Sunday night at 6:00, while Gladstone faces Kingsford Saturday afternoon at 5:00. Both games will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see more photos and videos from Friday's two tournament games. |