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Salo Pitches Delta County Jr. Girls To District Title
 GLADSTONE---Gabi Salo struck out 15 batters for the second straight game on Friday as the Delta County Junior Girls beat Kingsford, 6-3, to win a district championship. The girls advance to the state tournament, which starts next Thursday in downstate Jenison.  Maggie Strehlow again kept her Kingsford team in the game, and her teammates made good use of the baserunners that they got. The problem was they just couldn't get enough girls on base against Salo, who struck out 30 of the 42 outs recorded in the two games. Delta County jumped to a 2-0 lead on Friday, just like they did in Thursday's 3-2 win. But this time, the DC girls were able to tack on runs in nearly every inning, before Kingsford scored twice at the end of the game to make the final score closer. Delta County's first run came on infield hits by Jenna Tardiff and Maddy Block, and a groundout by Dakota Cloutier. They made it 2-0 in the second inning when Natalie Hansen singled to start the inning and scored on a bunt by Georgia Lehto. Kingsford closed to within 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Strehlow got an infield hit off of Salo's glove. She scored on a wild pitch.  The backbreaker for Kingsford was the fifth inning, when Delta County scored twice to take a 5-1 lead. Cloutier's RBI single brought in the first run, and Salo's pop fly turned into a double to score the inning's second run. Block's run-scoring single in the sixth inning made it a 6-1 game before Kingsford got two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Strehlow led off with a single and scored on a passed ball. Jenna Springer walked and scored on a Kathleen Seldon bounceout. Delta County will play in the state tournament starting next Thursday, hosted by Georgetown Little League in the downstate community of Jenison. The girls will face the host team at noon, and then take on the District 16 champions from southern Michigan at 4:00. Both games will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (600) and on rrnsports.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos from Friday's game, and from the post-game celebration.  |
