FINALLY! Escanaba Girls Get World Series Victory

KIRKLAND, Wash.---Well, that's more like it!

The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14), snakebitten in their first three games at the Little League World Series finally got a little help from the Softball Gods on Friday as the girls faced West Haven, Conn., in the consolation bracket in Kirkland, Wash.

Taylor Segorski did the catching Friday.

How else can you explain a shortstop having her contact lens slip out of her eye just as she's about to catch a pop up?

Yes, that happened in the first inning, and there were seven more Connecticut errors to follow.

Escanaba took advantage with a combination of hard hitting and "small ball" to post a 10-2 victory...their first of the World Series.

"It feels good. We needed to get that win," Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski said. "The girls were excited. We threw some gas on the fire and it worked out."

"It feels really good since this is the World Series," said Callie Heller, who had three hits in the game. "We actually hit the ball today and we wanted it more."

"We hit the ball a lot more than we did before," Michelle LaFave said. "Our pitchers did good. Callie (Heller) started us off and then we just kept going."

The win sends the Escanaba girls into the fifth place game on Saturday against Honaker, Va. That's the team that beat Escanaba, 5-0, in the Series opener last Monday.

Mackenzie Leisner makes the throw.

Escanaba scored four runs in the first inning and none of them were earned, with the aforementioned contact lens incident being one of three Connecticut errors in the inning.

Heller's leadoff single was the only hit in the inning, with J.J. Laviolette driving home one run on a sacrafice bunt and another scoring on a wild pitch.

In the second inning, Escanaba made it 5-0 as Emily LaFave got an infield hit, got bunted to second base by Heller, and scored on an error.

Then came a scary moment in the bottom of the inning as Connecticut's Natalia Hart tried to steal second base but ran her throat right into shortstop Becca Piron's shin. Hart lay flat on her back as tournament officials (and an umpire who is a registered nurse) told her not to move.

The game was delayed for almost a half-hour as an ambulance came to take Hart to the hospital. It turned out that Hart did not suffer a severe injury in that incident.

Scary moment for West Haven, Conn.

In the fourth inning, Heller was at it again...this time, a double to score Emily LaFave (who was pinch running this time for Taylor Segorski, who had a lead-off pop fly single).

Heller tossed three hitless and scoreless innings in the circle, then Sam Connor came in to pitch.

She committed a throwing error on the first play, and that led to a sacrafice fly by Ashley Mendillo to put the Eastern Regional Champions on the board.

Katie Ross blasted a two-run triple to the fence in the fifth inning to make it 8-1, and the girls were on cruise control from there.

Ross then came in to pitch the final two innings (after Heller threw the first three and Connor the next two). Ross allowed one run on three hits.

Altogether, the West Haven team had five hits. Escanaba had eight.

Heller had three hits, giving her a total of seven hits in the last two games.

"Our heads were in the game more than in the previous games," Heller said. "The infielders were pulled in (for the bunt). When that happens, you have to hit it instead."

In the semifinals, Anchorage, Alaska, beat Kirkland, Wash. 9-2...and Victoria, Canafda topped Puerto Rico, 5-2. So Canada and Alaska will play for the World Series title.

Katie Ross closed the door at the end.

In Friday's other consolation game, Honaker, Va. beat Eagle Pass, Texas, 5-1.

That means that Texas and Connecticut will play for seventh place Saturday morning, while Escanaba and Virginia will face off for fifth place.

"Let's see if we can come out and play some solid defense," Segorski said. "We played solid defense against them last time and we were right in the game."

The game is an early one, 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5) and rrnsports.com starting at 11:15 ET Saturday morning.

The team will fly out of Seattle on Sunday, but they won't be coming home right away. They have to fly back to Cleveland, Ohio, where their cars have been since winning the Central Regional more than a week ago.

The girls will make the long ride back to the Upper Peninsula on Monday. A Welcome Home Community Celebration will be held Monday night at 7:30 at Lemmerand Park.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see numerous pictures and videos, and to listen to audio highlights and interviews. Thanks to Julie Ross for taking the pictures and videos for us.