ESCANABA---It was a playoff atmosphere Tuesday night as the Escanaba Eskymos hosted the Gladstone Braves met in a softball doubleheader at Lemmerand Park.
The Battle of Delta County was certainly that as both games went down to the wire, and then some. The Braves won the first game, 1-0, in eleven innings, and then Gladstone rallied from four runs down to win the second game, 6-4.
The opening game was a classic softball battle between two good rival teams.
It was 0-0 all afternoon long as Gladstone senior Tinner Sharon overpowered the Eskymos with her fastball, along with an occassional change-up to keep the batters off-balance.
Meanwhile, Escanaba's Sam Connor went toe-to-toe with the Braves pitching ace.
Connor allowed ten hits in the eleven innings, but she scattered them throughout the game and got very good defense behind her.
Ashley Cook tracked down several long fly balls to center field, and Callie Heller was solid at shortstop with four big putouts.
Gladstone's best chance to score in regulation time came in the fifth inning. Mikayla Depuydt led off with a single, and Lauren Parrett walked. Sharon put down a bunt, putting runners at second and third.
Sadie Strasser grounded to short, and Heller threw home to catcher Becca Piron. Piron blocked the plate and applied the tag for the out.
Escanaba's best chance to score was in the sixth inning when MacKenzie Leisner drew a two out walk. She stole second, and an overthrow on the play put her on third base. But Sharon was able to strike out Michelle LaFave on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
In the top of the eleventh inning, Kowalski led off with a double to the left field fence. Sam Sailor bunted her to third, and then Depuydt put down a perfect bunt up the first base line, scoring Kowalski, who came home with a head-first slide.
In the bottom of the inning, pinch-hitter Anna Burch hit a grounder off of Sharon's glove. The ball bounced to second base, but Burch legged it out at first base, breaking Sharon's no-hitter after 10 2/3 innings.
Sharon recovered, however, to get the next three outs; two of them were Eskymos who could not get the bunt down and popped up to Kowalski up the first base line. Escanaba tried six sacrafice bunts in the game and did not get a single successful bunt.
Sharon struck out 18 batters in those eleven innings of work, walking three batters and allowing just the one infield single.
Sharon also had three base hits at the plate. Lexi Hongisto also had three base hits in the game for the Braves.
In the second game, Escanaba got the early lead as Depuydt got the ball for the Braves.
The Eskymos scored three runs in the first inning as LaFave ripped a two-run single and Piron followed with a solo home run to center field.
In the third inning, LaFave ripped a home run to right field, and the Eskymos led their rivals, 4-0.
Braves Manager Ashley Hughes decided to bring Sharon back to the pitcher's circle in the fourth inning, and Sharon kept the Eskymos off the board for the final four innings.
That performance gave the Braves the chance to come back, and they did.
Gladstone scored its first run against Eskymo pitcher Jayme Frappier in the fifth inning on a ground out by Anna Caramella.
Then in the sixth inning, Bridget Becker had an RBI single to cut the gap to 4-2. The seventh inning became dramatic when with one out, Parrett was safe on an error.
Caramella bounced into a force play, so Gladstone had a runner on first with two outs, trailing by two runs.
But Sharon kept the game alive with a base hit. Then Strasser came through with an RBI single to make it 4-3. That brought up Hongisto, and she crushed a Frappier pitch to the fence for a two-run triple, giving Gladstone a 5-4 lead.
A wild pitch brought in an insurance run, and the Braves had a 6-4 lead for Sharon to protect in her 15th inning of pitching work in the doubleheader.
She worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning, with two strikeouts, to preserve the doubleheader sweep.
Gladstone improved to 16-2 on the season. Escanaba's record fell to 10-9.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and to hear highlights and interviews.
The Battle of Delta County was certainly that as both games went down to the wire, and then some. The Braves won the first game, 1-0, in eleven innings, and then Gladstone rallied from four runs down to win the second game, 6-4.
It was 0-0 all afternoon long as Gladstone senior Tinner Sharon overpowered the Eskymos with her fastball, along with an occassional change-up to keep the batters off-balance.
Meanwhile, Escanaba's Sam Connor went toe-to-toe with the Braves pitching ace.
Connor allowed ten hits in the eleven innings, but she scattered them throughout the game and got very good defense behind her.
Ashley Cook tracked down several long fly balls to center field, and Callie Heller was solid at shortstop with four big putouts.
Bunt scores winning run in 11th for Braves
Sadie Strasser grounded to short, and Heller threw home to catcher Becca Piron. Piron blocked the plate and applied the tag for the out.
Escanaba's best chance to score was in the sixth inning when MacKenzie Leisner drew a two out walk. She stole second, and an overthrow on the play put her on third base. But Sharon was able to strike out Michelle LaFave on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, pinch-hitter Anna Burch hit a grounder off of Sharon's glove. The ball bounced to second base, but Burch legged it out at first base, breaking Sharon's no-hitter after 10 2/3 innings.
Sharon recovered, however, to get the next three outs; two of them were Eskymos who could not get the bunt down and popped up to Kowalski up the first base line. Escanaba tried six sacrafice bunts in the game and did not get a single successful bunt.
Tinner Sharon post-game comments
Sharon also had three base hits at the plate. Lexi Hongisto also had three base hits in the game for the Braves.
The Eskymos scored three runs in the first inning as LaFave ripped a two-run single and Piron followed with a solo home run to center field.
In the third inning, LaFave ripped a home run to right field, and the Eskymos led their rivals, 4-0.
Braves Manager Ashley Hughes decided to bring Sharon back to the pitcher's circle in the fourth inning, and Sharon kept the Eskymos off the board for the final four innings.
That performance gave the Braves the chance to come back, and they did.
Michelle LaFave HR for Eskymos
Then in the sixth inning, Bridget Becker had an RBI single to cut the gap to 4-2. The seventh inning became dramatic when with one out, Parrett was safe on an error.
But Sharon kept the game alive with a base hit. Then Strasser came through with an RBI single to make it 4-3. That brought up Hongisto, and she crushed a Frappier pitch to the fence for a two-run triple, giving Gladstone a 5-4 lead.
A wild pitch brought in an insurance run, and the Braves had a 6-4 lead for Sharon to protect in her 15th inning of pitching work in the doubleheader.
She worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning, with two strikeouts, to preserve the doubleheader sweep.
Gladstone improved to 16-2 on the season. Escanaba's record fell to 10-9.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and to hear highlights and interviews.
