WEST BRANCH---If the Escanaba High School girls softball team was flying high after winning a district championship last Monday, then the girls must be floating on Cloud Nine right now. The girls beat a pair of Vikings teams to capture the Division Two Regional Championship Saturday at West Branch Ogemaw Heights High School.
First, the Eskymos overwhelmed Howard City Tri-County, 10-0, in six innings, and then topped Cadillac, 9-1, in the regional championship game.
The girls will face state-ranked Saginaw Swan Valley in the Division Two state quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon on the campus of Central Michigan University.
"It's pretty sweet because it was against two tough teams," Escanaba Coach John LaMarch said. "We scored a lot of runs, defense was awesome again. But the biggest thing is: we get to play at Central Michigan University! That is special."
"I am pumped," Eskymo senior Erin Gregoire said. "I did not think I would be this excited, but I am extremely excited right now."
Before the tournament began, the girls talked about the need to improve offensively. That after they managed to win two district games last Monday by scoring just four runs. And so the 19 runs that they scored on Saturday was a big part of the gameplan.
"We got our bats going more today, not so much in the first game, but we adjusted and we hit better in the second game," Gregoire said. "And our defense was just great."
In the opener, Howard City Tri-County (10-21) threatened in the top of the first inning against Eskymo pitcher Codi Jenshak. The Vikings got the first two batters aboard, but Jenshak retired the next three batters to keep the game scoreless.
Escanaba (25-14) scored twice in the second inning, with Jenshak driving Mallory Zimmerman home with a double.
Jenshak later scored on a sacrafice fly off the bat of Braedyn Bosilovatz. The Eskymos scored five runs in the third inning to make it a 7-0 game, then put it away in the sixth inning to end the game on the mercy rule.
The next game featured Fremont and Cadillac, with Fremont being the favorite because of a talented pitcher who will play at Grand Valley State University next year.
But Cadillac pulled out an emotional win, 2-1, with a squeeze bunt in the seventh inning.
So, the Eskymos faced their second "Vikings" team of the day, and wasted little time in getting the upper hand, scoring two early runs to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Jenshak earned the pitching wins in both games, as she tossed all but one inning of the tournament. Jayme Frappier pitched the seventh inning of the game against Cadillac.
The Eskymos will face a tough opponent on Tuesday in Saginaw Sawn Valley, a team that has been ranked in the Division Two state rankings all season long.
Game time is 4:00 at Central Michigan University.
Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box at the top of this page to see more photos, see numerous video highlights, and listen to post-game interviews.
