Eskymos Blank Swan Valley; Return To Final Four

MT. PLEASANT---The rematch may have been sweeter than the original.

The Escanaba Eskymos knocked off Saginaw Swan Valley, 5-2, in last year's MHSAA Division Two state quarterfinal game. But when the two softball heavyweights met in a tournament back in May of this year in Saginaw, the Vikings prevailed, 7-6.

Well, on Tuesday at Central Michigan University, the Eskymos did just about everything right and beat Swan Valley, 5-0, to earn a return trip to the state's final four at Michigan State University.

And they will have another rematch on Thursday, against the team that knocked them out last year at MSU, the Richmond Blue Devils.

But for now, the Escanaba girls are savoring this victory after a battle between the state's top-ranked Vikings and the third-ranked Eskymos.

"They have a great team and they can hit the ball," Escanaba Coach Jamie Segorski said of the Vikings. "But I felt good about coming into this game. I felt like we were the better team, and they didn't see our best pitching last time, we didn't have Katie available. We weren't able to change the speeds. I knew that having the opportunity to have Katie pitch the first three innings, and then bringing in Gabi, it makes it fun to watch."

The game was scoreless in the fourth inning, thanks in part to a nice 4-6-3 double play turned by second baseman Claire McInerney, shortstop Taylor Gauthier, and first baseman Katie Ross in the top of the inning.

Then the Eskymos went to work in the bottom half. With one out, Jerrika McAlpine beat out an infield hit, and then Taylor Segorski singled.

Aubree Saunders drew a walk to load the bases, and then Maddy Griffin was asked to squeeze home the go-ahead run. She got the bunt down and McAlpine scored.

"In my last at-bat, I kind of got mad, a little bit," Griffin said of her previous strikeout. "I was like, 'all right, I'm gonna get it down'. So when I saw the sign, I was like 'all right, it's time'. And then, it just happened!"

"(Jerrika) got a great jump off of third base," Coach Segorski said. "It wasn't just a runner on third. The bases were loaded. We don't typically call a squeeze in that situation, with a force out at the plate, but one of things that we work on a lot in practice is just pumping that squeeze up the middle. We know at that point that the pitcher is going to be the farthest from the plate. It's contrary to how most bunts are coached."

Then, with two strikes and two outs, Emily Bruntjens came through with a clutch two-run single to make it a 3-0 Eskymo lead.

"I was actually thinking that she (pitcher Callie Burgess) was going to throw a rise ball again, because those got me the first few times," Bruntjens said. "But she didn't. It was (a fastball) right on the outside corner."

In the fifth inning, Gauthier dumped one to left field that fell for a double, and McAlpine followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

Saunders followed with a shot past the Viking third baseman into left field, allowing the fifth Eskymo run to cross the plate. From that point, the suspense was removed from the game.

In the top of the sixth inning, Swan Valley got a bad hop single from Carlee Larsen, but she was erased as right fielder Lexi Chaillier raced in and caught a sinking line drive off the bat of Becca Curtis. She then threw to first base for the double play.

"Those are momentum-changers," Coach Segorski said. "That 4-6-3 double play was fantastic. And Lexi, obviously, everyone knows that she's kind of a freakish athlete, and that's why she's out there. She makes amazing plays, constantly."

Ross threw the first three innings, allowing one hit and two walks. She fanned four. Salo tossed the final four innings, striking out two, allowing one hit and a hit-batsman.

"It was very hot out there," Ross said. "I was sweating, and it made it hard to hold on to the ball. But you've just got to get through it.

"I'm really proud of everybody. They hit the ball really well, and they did what they needed to do to get on base."

Ross was her usual steady self in the circle, and Salo mixed a blazing fastball with a nasty change-up during her innings. Taylor Segorski says Salo was throwing hard, and it literally hurt as she caught the freshman's pitches behind the plate.

"It's already purple and it's swollen," she laughed. "I think she might have chipped a bone or something, I don't know. When you call that change-up, you know you have to sit back and wait for it to come to you, and if it's in the dirt, you have to block it."

Escanaba (37-4) faces Richmond in the state semifinals on Thursday at MSU. The Blue Devils needed eight innings to beat Dearborn Divine Child, 4-2, on Tuesday.

Game time is 10:00 in the morning on Thursday. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Mary Gauthier, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and listen to radio replays and pre-game, post-game interviews.