The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) rallied from a 7-0 deficit and defeated South Bend, Ind., 10-8, Tuesday at the Central Regional Tournament in Akron, Ohio. A bunt with two outs and two strikes in the fifth inning led to the go-ahead runs. Click the above headline to read more details and to see pictures, and listen to interviews.
The Escanaba Junior girls stayed undefeated at the Central Regional Tournament on Monday, beating London, Kentucky, 11-0, and Elyria, Ohio, 12-9. The result moves the girls into Tuesday's Regional Semifinal round. Click the above headline to read the details and to see photos.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) made six errors and gave up 15 hits Monday, losing to North Canton, Ohio, 17-11, in their second pool play game at the Central Regional Tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind. But the boys played much better later in the day, posting an 8-2 win over Fargo, N.D. Click the above headline to read the game story, and to see pictures and videos taken by Kammie Burks. Pictured: Jack Valentine gets his first home run.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) won their first game of the Central Regional Tournament Sunday night, turning back DeSoto, Mo., 14-3 in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Brandon Punzel hit three home runs in his first three at-bats, driving home eight runs. Hunter Garling added three hits and a three-rum homer for the boys. Click the above headline to see pictures, videos, and listen to radio replays.
The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) had to work hard to earn a victory Saturday at the Central Regional Tournament in Akron, Ohio. Escanaba scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eleventh inning to beat Melrose Park, Ill., 2-1. Then the girls scored eight runs in the first inning and beat the Des Moines, Iowa, Grandview Little League team on the mercy rule, 14-4, in five innings. Click the above headline to read the game story, listen to highlights, and see more pictures.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) went through their warm-ups in preparation for their first Central Regional game against North Canton, Ohio, on Saturday. Twice. Two blasts of heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Ft. Wayne, Indiana, area, ending any thoughts of playing any more baseball. Click the above headline for more.
The best summer in more than a decade for the Delta County Little League teams got even better on Wednesday as the Gladstone 9-10 Girls won a state championship in suburban Grand Rapids. Brittany Schwartz pitched a complete-game two-hitter, and she drove in the winning run with a triple, to lead Gladstone to a 2-0 win over Freeland. Click the above headline to read details and see photos.
The Escanaba Bears 12-and-under boys baseball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cal Ripken Regional Tournament at Kokomo, Ind., before falling in bracket play. The boys beat Muncie, Ind., 10-0, in four innings. They lost to UCT, Ind., 5-1., and lost to South Lexington, Ky., 5-4. In bracket play, Escanaba beat Magoffin County, Ky., 7-2. But the boys lost in the Final Eight to Scott County, Ky., 13-2. Pictured: the Escanaba Bears during the Opening Ceremonies.
Andie Balenger threw a complete-game shutout and Brittany Schwartz had two triples and three runs batted in as the Gladstone 9-10 girls beat Grandville, 7-0, Tuesday at Pinery Park. Click the above headline for details.
Click the headline to see the game schedule for the 2012 Junior Little League Softball Michigan State Tournament, to be hosted by District Nine and Pinery Park Little League. Scores will be posted on that page during the tournament, so bookmark it.
Click the headline to see the game schedule for the 2012 Major Little League Softball Michigan State Tournament, to be hosted by District Ten and Gladstone Little League. Scores will be posted on that page during the tournament, so bookmark it.
The Norway 10-11 Boys lost two out of three games and were eliminated from the state tournament in West Branch on Monday. Norway lost to Detroit-area powerhouse Birmingham, 3-0, after losing to another Detroit team (Taylor) earlier in the event. Click the above headline to read more information.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) fought off a tough challenge from the Richmond All-Stars and won the Junior Baseball state championship on Monday, 3-1. The win sends the boys to the Central Regional Tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind., the first District Ten team to accomplish that since 1997. Click the above headline to read more details, see a bunch of pictures and videos.
The Gladstone Minor Girls (age 9-10) stayed unbeaten at the state tournament on Monday by beating Rogers City, 8-5, in the quarterfinals at Pinery Park. Brittany Schwartz picked up another win in the circle, striking out eleven batters. Taylor Trudeau added three hits and two runs batted in. Click the above headline to read more details about the game.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) advanced to the state championship game on Sunday with an impressive 13-3 win over North Saginaw Township at the state tournament in Montague. The boys pounded out 14 hits, with Sean Bissell collecting four of them and Brandon Punzel getting three. Click the above headline to read the story and see pictures, videos, and audio clips.
In what could be a preview of this Wednesday's state championship game, the Gladstone Minor Girls (age 9-10) beat Tecumseh, 1-0, in seven innings as the state tournament continued Sunday night at Pinery Park. Click the above headline to read the story and to see pictures and a video of the only run.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) were their own worst enemy on Saturday, as they played two games at the state tournament in downstate Montague. But they overcame a slew of stranded baserunners and several untimely errors to advance to the state semifinals on Sunday. Delta County lost to Taylor North Central, 4-2, but hung on to beat Western Grand Rapids, 8-7, to advance out of pool play. Click the above headline to read the details, see pictures and videos, and listen to highlights and interviews.
The Gladstone 9-10 girls got off to a good start this weekend at the state tournament at Pinery Park in suburban Grand Rapids. Gladstone sat through a long rain delay and then beat St. Clair, 4-0, Friday as darkness fell. Then the girls whipped Ypsilanti Lincoln, 22-1, on Saturday, to improve to 2-0. Click the above headline to read more details and to see photos and pictures from Friday's game.
The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) scored seven runs in the third inning Friday to beat Kalamazoo Parchment, 9-4, in the state tournament opener in Montague. Six different pitchers combined to throw a four-hitter for Delta County. Click the above headline to read more details, see pictures and videos, and listen to audio soundbytes from the game. Pictured: Jake Peterson throws as second baseman Brandon Punzel gets ready.
The Kingsford Senior Boys (age 15-16) beat Parchment, 13-5, but lost to Taylor South, 9-8, at the Senior State Tournament in Petoskey on Thursday. The tournament was delayed by a day because of heavy rains on Wednesday. Click the above headline for more details and to see the full schedule.
In the end, there just wasn't a team strong enough to compete with the Escanaba Junior Little League All-Stars (age 13-14) at the state tournament in Grand Rapids this week. Escanaba rolled past Croswell-Lexington, 9-0, in Wednesday's semifinal, and then bested the host Hudsonville team, 7-3, to earn a trip to Regionals in Ohio. Click the above headline to read all of the details, and to see pictures and videos taken by Morgan Szukalowski.
The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) continue to dominate their opponents at the Junior Softball State Tournament in suburban Grand Rapids. Escanaba shut out South Portage, 13-0, as Callie Heller and Katie Ross combined to throw a no-hitter. Escanaba advances to the state semifinals against defending Junior World Series champion Croswell-Lexington. Click the above headline to read the details.
The Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) posted their third straight shutout on Monday, beating Boyne City, 13-0, at the Junior Softball State Tournament at Pinery Park. Sam Connor, Michelle LaFave, and Callie Heller all had three hits for Escanaba. Click the above headline to read the story, see pictures and videos, and listen to some of the audio highlights.
