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GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Junior Little League 14u All-Star softball team took care of business on Monday, winning a district championship by beating the Kingsford girls, 12-1 and 6-1, to earn a trip to the state tournament in West Branch.
The games were set up literally at the last minute, as Kingsford barely met the deadline last Friday to field an All-Star team.
They had already given up two of their players, Mya Brunswick and Mylee Kreider, who joined the Gladstone team with hopes of makinga run to the Little League World Series this summer.
But the other Kingsford girls (also Norway, Niagara, and Florence) also wanted to play, so this impromptu tournament was arranged.
In the end, it was good for the Kingsford All-Stars to get the chance to compete, and for Gladstone (and its one Escanaba and two Kingsford girls), it was a chance to tune up and work on things before next Monday night's state tournament games in Lower Michigan.
Brunswick, in fact, pitched for Gladstone, against her Kingsford buddies, and was the winning pitcher in the first game as Gladstone won, 12-1. She allowed only one hit in the five inning game, although she walked two and hit two batters. The only run against her was unearned.
In the second game, Pare, a Gladstone Little League veteran, was in command, striking out 12 batters, including the first nine outs of the game. She also yielded only one base hit: a bunt single by Jazzlyne Shaughnessy in the fifth inning. Pare walked four batters as well.
Emma Trombley, Ava Goodman, and Claire Jacobsen all had two hits in the first game, and Jacobsen had two RBI. Brunswick also had two RBI on a double and a sacrifice fly.
Lola Vargo, batting in the #10 spot under the new "roster-batting" rule, came through with an RBI single to center field in the fifth inning to help Gladstone turn a 2-1 game into a 6-1 contest. Jacobsen added an RBI hit and Pare helped her own cause with a two-run single.
Tatum Cherubini scored Kingsford's only run in the first game on a grounder, after she reached on a bunt single that nobody came to cover defensively.
Gladstone will play two games at the state tournament next Monday night, at 7:00 and 9:00, under the lights at Ogemaw Heights High School in West Branch. The games are scheduled to be broadcast on FM-93.5, AM-600, and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Junior Little League 14u All-Star softball team took care of business on Monday, winning a district championship by beating the Kingsford girls, 12-1 and 6-1, to earn a trip to the state tournament in West Branch.
The games were set up literally at the last minute, as Kingsford barely met the deadline last Friday to field an All-Star team.
But the other Kingsford girls (also Norway, Niagara, and Florence) also wanted to play, so this impromptu tournament was arranged.
In the end, it was good for the Kingsford All-Stars to get the chance to compete, and for Gladstone (and its one Escanaba and two Kingsford girls), it was a chance to tune up and work on things before next Monday night's state tournament games in Lower Michigan.
Brunswick, in fact, pitched for Gladstone, against her Kingsford buddies, and was the winning pitcher in the first game as Gladstone won, 12-1. She allowed only one hit in the five inning game, although she walked two and hit two batters. The only run against her was unearned.
In the second game, Pare, a Gladstone Little League veteran, was in command, striking out 12 batters, including the first nine outs of the game. She also yielded only one base hit: a bunt single by Jazzlyne Shaughnessy in the fifth inning. Pare walked four batters as well.
Emma Trombley, Ava Goodman, and Claire Jacobsen all had two hits in the first game, and Jacobsen had two RBI. Brunswick also had two RBI on a double and a sacrifice fly.
Lola Vargo, batting in the #10 spot under the new "roster-batting" rule, came through with an RBI single to center field in the fifth inning to help Gladstone turn a 2-1 game into a 6-1 contest. Jacobsen added an RBI hit and Pare helped her own cause with a two-run single.
Tatum Cherubini scored Kingsford's only run in the first game on a grounder, after she reached on a bunt single that nobody came to cover defensively.
Gladstone will play two games at the state tournament next Monday night, at 7:00 and 9:00, under the lights at Ogemaw Heights High School in West Branch. The games are scheduled to be broadcast on FM-93.5, AM-600, and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
