Esky Senior Girls Start Slow, Finish Fast In Opener

IRON MOUNTAIN---The Escanaba Senior Little League All-Stars (age 15-16) were sluggish for a few innings in their district tournament opener Thursday, but the girls got going late in the game to post a 10-0 win over the Norway All-Stars in Iron Mountain.

Escanaba struggled to hit the ball early on and led just 2-0 in the fifth inning.

But the girls scored four runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth inning to pull away for the win.

"We haven't played a game in a long time," Escanaba Manager Jamie Segorski said. "The last game we played was in the middle of June. So, it's been three or four weeks. It took a little time to settle in. Practice gets a little boring when you get this late in the year."

Taylor Gauthier and Claire McInerney smacked back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth inning after an infield error kept the inning alive for Escanaba.

Then in sixth inning, Jerika McAlpine and JJ Laviolette had back-to-back RBI singles, after Emily Bruntgens brought home a run with a sacrifice fly. Escanaba had three SAC flies during the contest.

Escanaba would have scored more runs, earlier, but Norway center fielder Britta Grayvold made five catches. Four of them robbed Escanaba of extra-base hits.

"We got the bat on the ball and hit it hard, but she tracked it down a few times," Segorski said. "They made some fantastic plays out there. It's not that we weren't hitting, we just weren't finding the holes."

Escanaba had 13 hits in the game, more than enough for pitcher Katie Ross. She struck out 14 batters in the six innings, mixing a lively fastball with a devastating change-up.

"She threw really well today," Segorski said. "We're used to seeing that. She's a fantastic pitcher. She kept the ball in the strike zone the whole game and her change-up was working. It made for a nice outing for us."

Ross's no-hitter was broken up in the sixth inning as Barbie Slagle's pop fly not far from home plate landed fair. Norway had just three base runners in the game.

Escanaba got two hits apiece from Bruntgens (both on the infield), McInerney, Gauthier, and Malary Hiney. Harlie Caster took the pitching loss for Norway.

In Thursday's first game, Kingsford jumped to a 6-0 lead and held on to beat Iron Mountain, 8-5. So, Escanaba will face Kingsford in Iron Mountain Friday night at 8 ET/7 CT. The game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com.

The winner of this tournament advances to the state tournament next weekend in Calumet. The host Keweenaw team beat Baraga County, 8-1, Thursday night, to win the District Eleven championship and will serve as the host team next weekend.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken during the game by Mary Gauthier.