RUNNING THE TABLE: St. Clair Juniors Win Title
GLADSTONE---The Junior Little League softball tournament wrapped up on Monday in Gladstone, with the St. Clair All-Stars repeating as state champions. Kingsford, the lone U.P. team, was eliminated in the semifinals earlier on Monday. The day started with a pair of morning games as six of the seven tournament teams played single-elimination games. Charlevoix opened with a 15-8 win over Tri-City, then Georgetown shut out Onaway, 11-0, in the other play-in game. The semifinals saw St. Clair eliminate Georgetown, 13-3, in five inningsl, while Charlevoix won its second game of the day, eliminating Kingsford, 10-3. In the championship game, it was a 2-2 tie in the third inning when St. Clair scored three times to take the lead. Julia Schweihofer smacked one to left field for a two-run double to make it 5-2. Later in the game, St. Clair started to play "small ball". Skye Gottler bunted home a run as the lead opened up to 8-2 in the fifth inning. St. Clair will play in the Central Regional in the Chicago suburb of South Holland. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the championship game. |