Click the thumbnails to see photos from the tournament.
ESCANABA---It was a full day of softball on Saturday as the Escanaba Eskymos hosted the third annual Candy Swetkis SISU Strikefest at Lemmerand Park.
Games were played all day, starting at 9 a.m., on three fields, with the championship game coming down to the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves. And that one was a classic, with Lauren Pare outdueling Landry Bray to lead the Braves to a 1-0 win over the Eskymos before a large crowd on a windy afternoon.
This tournament saw eight teams, with Millington and Three Rivers, both former champions of the previous Eskymo tournaments, making the long trip north. One team dropped out, so the Escanaba junior varsity girls filled in to make sure there were eight teams for the event.
The Escanaba Eskymos won both of their games, 17-7 over the Escanaba JV's, and 11-6 over Three Rivers. Gladstone, meanwhile, beat Millington, 9-5, rallying late from a 5-1 deficit, and then holding off the Houghton Gremlins, 3-2.
So that set up a championship game between Escanaba and Gladstone. In the first inning, Escanaba (the visiting team on the scoreboard) got a single from Chloe Dubord, and Breleigh Reinhart bunted her to second base. Dubord was thrown out trying to steal third, and sure enough, Abby Derkos followed with a double.
Harlee Coolman followed with a line drive that was caught by Ava Goodman at shortstop, so the Braves got out of it unscathed.
From there, the next few innings, it was all about pitching and defense. Gladstone had a chance in the bottom of the fourth inning when Bray walked two batters. But she got Teagan Reynolds to fly out, keeping it a 0-0 game.
In the top of the seventh inning, Escanaba had a chance against Pare. Coolman smacked a base hit to center field, and Bray bunted her to second base. Addy Noblet bunted, but Coolman got caught up in between second and third base, and she was tagged out. Cam Buckley then grounded out to end the threat.
Bray was still throwing a no-hitter entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but then Gladstone had its chance to walk it off.
Malia Quigley led off with a walk, and after Bray struck out Maddy Sundquist, Jordan Drielick and Reynolds came through with base hits.
With the winning run on second base, with two outs, Emma Trombley smacked a fly ball to right field, bringing home Quigley with the walk-off run.
Pere was good on the mound for the Braves, and the defense behind her was alsoro strong. Pare struck out just one batter, but allowed limited baserunners: four hits, one walk, and one hit batter.
Bray, meanwhile, took a tough loss. She threw six no-hit innings, struck out eleven batters, but could not get any offensive support.
The Braves improved to 18-6 on the season and the Eskymos dropped to 15-5.
The two teams will face each other again on Monday in a doubleheader, also at Lemmerand Park. Another rivalry doubleheader on May 21 will be played in Gladstone.
Earlier on Saturday, the Eskymos had 14 hits against the Three Rivers Wildcats from southwest Lower Michigan. Abby Derkos smacked a three-run home run, while Cam Buckley and Mara Anderson also hit home runs. Dubord added a pair of doubles, and Bray stuck out 16 batters to earn the win in the circle.
Three Rivers' record went to 20-6 on the season after the Wildcats beat Millington in the tournament's third place game, 11-1.
Gladstone's win over Millington was also a good one. The team from the Thumb area of Lower Michigan had a 5-1 lead, with Kamryn Blackmer hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals. The Braves took the lead in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Drielick and an RBI single from Trombley.
The Braves put it away with three runs in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Addy Sanville and a two-run double by Quigley. Pare also pitched that game, allowing eight hits but striking out nine batters.
Millington's record fell to 17-8 on the season. The Cardinals also lost to Three Rivers, 11-1, in the tournament's third place game.
Saturday's tournament was a fun one that also raised money for the Eskymo softball program, as well as for the Candy Swetkis Memorial Endowment Fund.
Swetkis, who taught science at the Escanaba Junior High School for almost three decades, loved softball. She was inducted into the Michigan USA Softball Hall of Fame, and the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame, and she played the sport for more than a half-century. Swetkis kept playing softball well into her 70's before she died in 2022.
SATURDAY'S TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD
Escanaba 17, Escanaba Junior Varisty 7
Three Rivers 11, Norway 1
Millington 13, Menominee 0
Gladstone 9, Millington 5
Menominee 13, Houghton 10
Escanaba JV 10, Norway 0
Escanaba 11, Three Rivers 6
Gladstone 3, Houghton 2
Escanaba JV 10, Houghton 4
5th Place: Norway 16, Menominee 3
3rd Place: Three Rivers 11, Millington 1
Chanpionship: Gladstone 1, Escanaba 0
