Escanaba Jr. Girls Drop World Series Opener, 5-0

KIRKLAND, Wash.----They've overcome every challenge thrown their way all summer long, but even the best teams occassionally face a challenge that is a bit too tough. The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) found that out the hard way on Monday as the Junior Little League Softball World Series began in Kirkland, Wash.

Escanaba faced two tough pitchers from Honaker, Va., and managed only one base hit, and the girls lost to the Southeast Regional Champions, 5-0, at Everest Park.

Michelle LaFave at the plate Monday.

"We need to play better," Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski said. "We need to bring our bats to the next game. They had some fantastic pitching. We knew that they were going to be a tough team. They're the best team I've seen here."

The girls had not lost a game throughout the tournament trail, from the districts, states, and regionals. There were some nailbiters along the way, to be sure.

But in the end, it was fifteen up, fifteen down, in a magical run that took the team all the way to the West Coast.

So, it was a bit of a shock for the girls to do the post-game handshake and walk off the field on the losing end of the scoreboard.

"We were in the game, and we weren't playing bad, but we never found our groove out there," Segorski said. "I think the lights were a little bright for the kids in the first game of the World Series. I think we'll come back real strong on Wednesday."

The 1-2 punch of Kaytln Shelton and Meghan Gray was difficult to deal with. Both throw hard, but also move the ball around the strike zone effectively.

"She (Gray) is one of our younger pitchers this year," Honaker Manager Jody Shelton said. "She's got good speed, she's got a good rise ball, and curveball. And Kaitlyn Shelton throws with the same velocity and has a good off-speed pitch. She spots the ball well."

Honaker Catcher Madison Musick.

The only girl who was able to make solid contact was Sam Connor, who ripped a double to center field in the first inning. Becca Piron hit the next ball hard, but right to left fielder Andrea Burton.

In the top of the fourth inning, Connor clubbed another one....this time to right field. But the Honaker right fielder, Brianna Adkins tracked it down near the fence.

"When Sam hit that, I thought it was gone," Segorski said. "But she caught it. She was about a step in front of the warning track. She caught it reaching over her head. And anything above that yellow line (on the fence) is a home run."

Katie Ross was throwing well for Escanaba, and she got some good defense behind her, in particular from center fielder Mackenzie Leisner, who made two nice catches. And J.J. Laviolette made two excellent plays at second base, including one from the grass.

But in the bottom of the fourth inning, the girls from Honaker broke through with a two-out rally. Madison Musick and Gray led off with base hits to left field, and then Montanna Compton put down a bunt to move the runners.

Shelton hit a grounder to short, and they caught Musick too far off the bag at third and she was tagged out by LaFave. Adkins got an infield hit to load the bases. It looked like Ross might wiggle off the hook when she got ahead of Kianna Roman 1-2.

Mackenzie Leisner with the blurry catch.

But Roman worked Ross for a walk, and that forced in the first run. Then Tivanna Hubbard bounced one through the infield for an RBI single to make it 2-0.

"There's a lot of stress in those situations, 3-2 pitch, bases loaded, 13-year-old pitching," Segorski said. "She pitched a great game. We helped her in the field in some situations, but there were a couple others where we could have helped her more."

Ross was able to get the third out, and she kept Honaker off the board in the fifth inning.

But in the sixth, Shelton led off with a double and scored on a hit by Burton that was just out of Laviolette's reach. Then with two out, Escanaba made its only error as Amanda VanDyke hit one to LaFave at third base and she threw it away. That made it 5-0.

Honaker is a small town in northern Virginia, much like Escanaba.

"We have about 5,000 people in our entire community," Coach Shelton said. "This is the first time anyone from (Virginia) District Eleven has ever achieved this. Our Little League is real small: only 60 girls, and I've got every 13 and 14 year old I could pick up, plus a couple of 12-year-olds. It's njust amazing to be here."

Honaker plays the host Kirkland, Wash., team at 5:00 ET on Tuesday in pool play.

Escanaba does not have a game on Tuesday. The girls will try to regroup and come back on Wednesday against the Canadian National Champions from Victoria, B.C.

JJ Laviolette at the plate.

"We're going to practice real hard (on Tuesday)," Segorski said. "We'll do some more hitting, go through some more drills. We have some tee-work to do."

Game time is 7:45 Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Note: Due to rules established by Little League International, we were not permitted to interview any of the girls following the conclusion of the game for a minimum of 60 minutes.

We will be talking with more of the girls as the week progresses!

Program Note: Tune in Tuesday morning to WCHT-AM (600) for a special edition of Delta Rendezvous from Kirkland.

You will hear a long chat with World Series Tournament Director John Chadwick, and comments from Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski.

That's at 11:15 ET Tuesday morning on NewsTalk 600.