WYOMING, Mich.---From the start of the state tournament, the Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) knew that they had a chance to be competitive with any of the other 13 teams from across Michigan who were entered in this event in suburban Grand Rapids.

But who could have known that the Escanaba girls would dominate everyone they played, and win a state championship without very many dramatic moments?
 

The Escanaba girls beat the defending World Series Champions from Croswell-Lexington, 9-0, in the state semifinals on Wednesday.

And then in the championship game, the girls raced to a 6-0 lead in the third inning and cruised to a 7-3 win over Hudsonville.

Both Cros-Lex and the host Hudsonville teams are well-respected programs, who's girls have had great success not only this year, but in previous years.

But everyone you talked to around this Pinery Park Softball Complex said the same thing: Escanaba is a machine. Wanna play small ball? OK, these girls can do that.

Wanna try to slug it out? Yup, these girls can do that to.

All of the hard, sometimes repetitive practices that Coach Jamie Segorski and his staff put the girls through paid off with mile-wide smiles on their faces.

"They put in a lot of time, a lot of effort," Segorski said. "It's a great group of kids, and today, they are champions. Our defense was solid all week. The bats were going."
 

So, what is the secret of the team's success?

"We  hit really good," Escanaba catcher Becca Piron said, "and we have defense that we back everybody up."

Escanaba entered the day having given up no runs and only one base hit TOTAL in three pool play games and a quarterfinal win over a good West Portage team.

First up was Cros-Lex, a program that went to the Major Girls World Series a couple of years ago and won the whole thing at the 13-14 Junior level in 2011.

They would not be an easy opponent. But the Escanaba girls made it look easy as they scored three quick runs in the first inning,and then gradually adding more runs.

Sam Connor and Becca Piron both drove in runs on grounders, and Katie Ross ripped an RBI double to make it 3-0. In the third inning, Michelle LaFave ripped a two-run double after Connor had doubled and Piron got an infield hit. It was 5-0.
 

In the fourth inning, Connor and Piron both had RBI doubles to make it 7-0.

And then LaFave put the icing on the cake with a two-run homer over the fence in the seventh inning. That made it a 9-0 win, and a fifth straight state tournament shutout.

"I wasn't hitting too good today," LaFave said. "I mean, I had one good hit but I had just gotten struck out. So, coach just told me to step in and I did, and I drove the ball for a home run!"

Cros-Lex managed to get three hits: sigles by Sara Wilson and Alyssa Cipaida in the fifth, and a single by Rebecca Oden in the seventh inning.  Ross pitched the first four innings for Escanaba, allowing no runs or hits. Connor tossed the final three innings and gave up three hits and a walk, but no runs. She earned a save for her effort.

The Escanaba girls sat in the shade for a while after the game, then had a practice on a nearby field to keep sharp for the championship game. In the meantime, Hudsonville had to eek out a tough 4-3 semifinal win over Sand Creek to face the Eskymos.
 

Escanaba got the jump, as usual, in the first inning in this championship game.

JJ Laviolette had a base hit and went to second on the left fielder's error. She scored on a double by Connor, and it was a 1-0 game. It stayed that way until the third inning.

The Escanaba girls got a leadoff single from Emily LaFave, but she was out at second base on a ground ball by Mackenzie Leisner.

Callie Heller followed with a single, and then Laviolette walked to load the bases. Connor drew a walk to make it 2-0.

That's when Piron hit a pop fly out of everyone's reach in short right field to score two runs, and Michelle LaFave followed with an RBI single and all of a sudden, it was 6-0.

Hudsonville brought in Ellie Borst to pitch, and she did a resonable job of shutting down the Escanaba offense throughout the middle innings.

And she was helped in that effort by her center fielder , Jordyn Tibbe, who made two outstanding catches to prevent Escanaba from scoring more runs.

Tibbe took the pitching loss in the circle for Hudsonville.
 

But the District Nine Champs did not go away quietly. In the top of the sixth inning, they got four straight hits off a tiring Ross.

Grace Sommers had a one-out double, Katherine McAlary singled in a run, and Toni Brandt had a great 12-pitch battle with Ross before getting a single up the middle. Borst followed with a two-run single, and it was a 6-3 game.

But Ross settled down and got two groundouts to end the threat, then Escanaba got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Leisener singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Ross threw all ten innings that she was allowed to toss in the day's two games.

"She was spent," Coach Segorski said. "With Kayla (VanPortfliet) getting injured, I needed to get the best defense I could get on the field behind her (Ross).  We didn't have a lot of flexibility with subs, and the girls understood that. They did a fantastic job."

Then all was needed was three outs in the seventh inning, and Connor came on to get those three outs (with help from her friends). And Escanaba is now Ohio-Bound! But not before beating two very good programs on Wednesday, from Districts Seven and Nine.
 

"They were both fantastic teams," Coach Segorski said. "We were just 'on'. The girls were 'on' this week. They really wanted it. Hitting is contagious, and they all caught it!"

The Escanaba girls were also playing for a wounded teammate.

Kayla VanPortfleit took a ball to the eye during warm-ups before Tuesday's quarterfinal game. She split her time on Wednesday in the dugout and in ther radio broadcast booth.

So, how's she doing?

"I have a couple of fractures on my eye socket," VanPortfliet said. "And I have scratches in my eye. They're actually in the form of laces on my eye. They went away mostly, so that's good. But I just can't do anything for a week. Or my cornea will explode!"

Escanaba will play in the Central Regional Tournament in Akron, Ohio, from August 4th through the 8th, with a spot in the Junior Softball World Series on the line.

Escanaba's first game is at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 4th. The second game is on the same day, at 8:00 that night. The girls will then play at 8:00 at night on Sunday, August 5th, and will play their final pool play game on Monday, August 6th, at noon.

WCHT-AM (600) and rrnsports.com will broadcast the games from Akron. We will post more information about this tournament as it becomes available.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see a bunch of pictures and videos from the games, as well as to listen to audio highlights. Thanks to Morgan Szukalowski for all of the camera work!