Escanaba Juniors Win Two: One Long, One Short

AKRON, Ohio---It took longer than expected, but the Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) managed to pick up a victory in their opening game at the Central Regional Tournament.

Mackenzie Leisner singled to start the bottom of the eleventh inning, and scored all the way from first base as Callie Heller put down a perfect bunt and the ball was thrown away. The 2-1 win over Melrose Park, Ill., came after the Escanaba girls stranded 14 base runners and had several others thrown out on the basepaths.

Later, Escanaba beat Grandview Little League out of Des Moines, Iowa, 14-4, in a game that ended in the fifth inning because of the ten-run mercy rule.

Katie Ross threw seven innings and won.

Escanaba had trouble with Melrose Park pitcher Angela Farmer, who used a nasty change-up all afternoon long that had the batters off-balance.

"We left a lot of baserunners, and we had a running mistake at third," Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski said. "She had us off-stride with that change-up all day long, and we might put down a few more bunts in the next game and see what we can do."

Escanaba scored a run in the fourth inning when Becca Piron got a bunt single and Michelle LaFave got a hit down the right field line. Piron was on third base when Emily LaFave was at the plate and could not get the bunt down.

Piron was hung up between third and home, but she managed to slide in between the catcher's legs to give Escanaba its first run.

"That was a huge run," Segorski said. "Without that, we're not in extra innings. We had a squeeze on and she (LaFave) pulled the bat back and kind of hung us out. But Becca did a great job lof staying alive in that pickle."

Melrose Park tied the game in the fifth inning when Ann Elliott got a lead-off double and scored on a pair of wild pitches. But that was all the Illinois State Champions would get off of the Escanaba pitching tandem of Sam Connor and Katie Ross.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the eleventh, when Leisner motored all the way around the bases as the throw on Heller's bunt was wild.

Callie Heller's clutch bunt single.

"I thought we were just gonna play a normal seven innings and be done," a relieved Leisner said. "Mr. Segorski just said, 'get on base, get a hit, and score!'"

With Escanaba having to play another game Saturday night against DesMoines, Iowa, Segorski knew that he'd have to "burn" a pitcher on the first day. That's because under Little League rules, girls are allowed to pitch ten innings in a day, and if they pitch more than four innings, they can't pitch the next day at all.

"It's tough to burn up a pitcher, but we had to get the win," Segorski said. "That's the last thing that we wanted to do. But we should be all right. We have a lot of good pitchers."

Michelle LaFave led the Escanaba girls with three hits in five at-bats.

"Credit to Melrose Park," Segorski said. "They played a tough defensive game. Their shortstop was absolutely fantastic all day long. They did a good job."

Later, the Escanaba girls were back on the field against the Iowa State Champions. The game scheduled for 8:00 started almost an hour late, due to the length of the other games played on the Firestone Stadium fields earlier in the day.

Escanaba's Michelle LaFave against Iowa.

And Escanaba scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning on four base hits, with the Des Moines team having a tough inning defensively with seven errors. Leisner had an RBI triple to highlight that first inning rally (making the score 6-0 at the time).

Heller got the ball in the circle, and she easily retired the Grandview team in the first two innings, but those girls did not give up.

They scored three runs on five hits in the top of the third inning to cut the Escanaba lead to 9-3, and they had a chance to cut the gap even further with two on base before Heller got the final two outs.

Segorski says that his team may have lost its focus a bit in that inning.

"When you score that many early, it's kind of a letdown for the rest of the game," Segorski said. "It really makes it difficult to keep their heads in the game."

Escanaba added four runs in the third inning, with Michelle LaFave getting an RBI single to make it 13-3. Grandview rallied for a run in the top of the fourth to temporarily avert the mercy rule, but in the bottom of the fifth, Emily LaFave walked and scored on a double to left field by Sam Connor. That ended the game with a 14-4 final score.

"I think the game went pretty good," Escanaba center fielder Anna Burch said. "We had good defense, as usual. We worked hard, and our bats were a lot better today."

Heller pitched the first four innings and earned the win. She allowed three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four batters.

Ross pitched the final inning, allowing one run on one hit and a walk. She struck out three batters in that fifth inning.

Escanaba will try for its third straight regional win Sunday night against the London South, Kentucky, All-Stars. The Kentucky team beat the Des Moines Iowa squad, 1-0, in an emotional game earlier in the day on Saturday.

Sunday's game starts at 8:00, with the pre-game show set for 7:30. Ron Plum's broadcast will be heard live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see pictures from the first game, taken by Deb Leisner, and from the second game, taken by Jean Malueg. Also, listen to Ron Plum's calls from the first game, and player interviews from both games.