MERCY, MERCY!! Junior Girls Dominate At States

JENISON, Mich.---The Delta County Girls (age 13-14) opened state tournament play on Thursday with a pair of dominating victories. Gabi Salo pitched a perfect game and a one-hitter as Delta County blanked Georgetown and Tecumseh by identical 10-0 scores.

Both games were against opponents who many thought would be strong competition for the DC All-Stars, who include eight girls from Escanaba and four from Gladstone. But neither team could handle the pitching of Salo, who mixed her pitches well and had tremendous success on locating her pitches. That was despite a gusty 25-mile-per hour wind blowing in her face.

"It was pretty positive," Salo said. "We were just 'up' the whole time in the dugout, and that really helped. I was throwing everything. All four pitches were working well."

In the game against Georgetown, Delta County took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, with two of the runs scoring on a base hit up the middle by Jasmine Clark.

Two more runs came home in the third inning on hits by Dakota Cloutier and Nicole Kamin, plus a double steal and an RBI groundout by Natalie Hansen.

The DC girls put the game away with four runs in the fourth inning, with Sydney Herioux and Salo each getting two-run base hits.

Cloutier's sacrifice fly in the fifth inning ended the game on the ten-run rule.

Georgetown's Dianna Corson got the only base hit against Salo, and Ashley Fields drew a walk for the only other baserunner. Georgetown's Alissa Braam took the pitching loss.

In the game against Tecumseh, the girls from southern Lower Michigan has a nightmare game on defense, committing five errors in the first three innings, leading to six Delta County runs. Salo had a ground rule double and Jenna Tardiff added a double of her own early in the game.

Tecumseh ace pitcher Madison Cytiak deserved better, throwing three innings and allowing six runs...all of them unearned. Delta County added four runs in the fourth inning against reliever Libbi Fair, with Hansen stroking a two-run single during that rally.

Salo retired all 15 Tecumseh batters she faced, striking out nine. In the two mercy-shortened wins, Salo retired 30 batters...20 of them on strikes.

"This is a great team and I love them," Salo said. "We just mix well together, and coming down here is awesome."

Delta County returns seven players off the team that won the state championship last year and advanced to the Central Regional Championship Game in South Holland, Ill.

The tournament continues on Friday as Delta County faces fellow U.P. team Portage Lake from the Copper Country. Game time is 3:00. There will be no radio coverage of this game, but the game against Boyne City on Saturday will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. That game is scheduled to start at 4:00.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Scott Balenger and videos shot by Heidi Bullen.