KINGSFORD---They've been on a collision course since the brackets were first drawn up two weeks ago. And now, the Escanaba and Gladstone Major Little League All-Stars (age 11-12) will face each other for the first time Wednesday in the district tournament.
Escanaba beat Kingsford, 16-0, and Gladstone topped Iron Mountain North, 14-4, in Tuesday's district games at Kingsford's Lodal Park.
The Escanaba-Gladstone matchup will be played Wednesday night in Kingsford, at 5:00 CT/6:00 ET.
In the first game, Escanaba overwhelmed Kingsford as Hannah Edington and Gabi Salo pitched alternating innings for the shut out.
The two girls combined to strike out 11 of the 12 outs, with only one Kingsford girl managing to hit a ground ball to the circle.
Kingsford's baserunners were both in the second inning (a walk and a hit-batter).
Escanaba had plenty of runners, scoring six runs in the first inning, four in the second, and six more in the third inning. The Eskymos were the home team after winning the coin flip, so the girls did not bat in the fourth inning as the mercy rule went into effect.
Edington went 3-for-3 at the plate, with two singles, a triple, and two singles.
Katie Wilson had a single, triple, and a walk at the top of the batting order. And Maddy Griffin drove in four runs with a double and two ground balls.
In the second game, Gladstone scored five runs in the top of the first inning, with Hannah Sharon's two-run single to left field being the highlight.
But in the bottom of the inning, Iron Mountain North scored four times against Gladstone starter Brittney Schwartz.
Jordan Stoner had an RBI triple and Emily Curtis had an RBI single in that inning for Iron Mountain. Gladstone added to its 5-4 lead with four runs in the third inning on a bunch of bunts, walks, and wild pitches.
The Purple continued to play "small ball" with numerous bunts in the fourth inning, plating three more runs, and with one run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Gladstone used three pitchers for two innings each: Schwartz for the first two, Amber Lenards for the middle two, and Andi Belanger for the final two innings. Lenards was the most-effective, retiring all six batters she faced, four of them on strikes.
Iron Mountain used four pitchers, with Curtis throwing the first three innings and taking the loss. Olivia Galeazzi, Ellis, and Julie Ann Wickman also throwing.
Gladstone and Escanaba face off in the winner's bracket final in Wednesday's first game, while Norway and Kingsford play in the loser's bracket game in Wednesday's nightcap.
There will be no radio coverage of Wednesday night's games, due to American Legion Baseball coverage.
The district championship game Sunday afternoon will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com .
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see Escanaba-Kingsford photos taken by Sam Connor, and Gladstone-Iron Muntain pictures taken by Paula Schwartz.

The Escanaba-Gladstone matchup will be played Wednesday night in Kingsford, at 5:00 CT/6:00 ET.
In the first game, Escanaba overwhelmed Kingsford as Hannah Edington and Gabi Salo pitched alternating innings for the shut out.
The two girls combined to strike out 11 of the 12 outs, with only one Kingsford girl managing to hit a ground ball to the circle.
Kingsford's baserunners were both in the second inning (a walk and a hit-batter).
Escanaba had plenty of runners, scoring six runs in the first inning, four in the second, and six more in the third inning. The Eskymos were the home team after winning the coin flip, so the girls did not bat in the fourth inning as the mercy rule went into effect.

Katie Wilson had a single, triple, and a walk at the top of the batting order. And Maddy Griffin drove in four runs with a double and two ground balls.
In the second game, Gladstone scored five runs in the top of the first inning, with Hannah Sharon's two-run single to left field being the highlight.
But in the bottom of the inning, Iron Mountain North scored four times against Gladstone starter Brittney Schwartz.
Jordan Stoner had an RBI triple and Emily Curtis had an RBI single in that inning for Iron Mountain. Gladstone added to its 5-4 lead with four runs in the third inning on a bunch of bunts, walks, and wild pitches.
The Purple continued to play "small ball" with numerous bunts in the fourth inning, plating three more runs, and with one run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Gladstone used three pitchers for two innings each: Schwartz for the first two, Amber Lenards for the middle two, and Andi Belanger for the final two innings. Lenards was the most-effective, retiring all six batters she faced, four of them on strikes.

Gladstone and Escanaba face off in the winner's bracket final in Wednesday's first game, while Norway and Kingsford play in the loser's bracket game in Wednesday's nightcap.
There will be no radio coverage of Wednesday night's games, due to American Legion Baseball coverage.
The district championship game Sunday afternoon will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com .
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see Escanaba-Kingsford photos taken by Sam Connor, and Gladstone-Iron Muntain pictures taken by Paula Schwartz.
