Ten-Run Inning Lifts Delta County Jr. Girls To Win

SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill.---The Delta County Junior Girls (age 13-14) finished pool play undefeated at the Central Regional Tournament with a 16-6 win over Poland, Ohio, on Monday in the Chicago suburb of South Holland. The game was called after five innings of play.

Delta County jumped to a 6-0 lead early in the game, then had to hold on for a while as the Ohio State Champions scored five runs to get back to within one.

But the Escanaba/Gladstone girls sent 15 batters to the plate in the fourth inning and scored ten runs to put the game away.

Delta County scored two unearned runs in the first inning as the Ohio girls made two errors, while Jenna Tardiff and Nicole Kamin got base hits.

In the second inning, four more runs crossed the plate, as Sydney Herioux got an RBI single and Kamin drove in two runs with her second hit.

But in the top of the third inning, Poland rallied against Delta County pitcher Gabi Salo, who had thrown back-to-back shutouts to start this tournament. Salo struck out the first batter, but the ball got away on the third strike and she rached base. The next batter reached base oin an infield ground ball, then Salo hit #2 batter Camryn Lattanzio with a fastball to load the bases.

Poland shortstop Lauren Sienkiewicz hit a pop fly to short center field to score a run, then cleanup hitter Ally Nittoli smoked a long fly to the right field fence. It ended up being a triple that scored on three runs, making it 6-4.

Nittoli scored on a ground ball, making it a one-run game again.

But in the fourth inning, the Delta County girls teed off on Lattanzio. They scored ten runs on ten hits, with a couple of "bench" players coming through.

Jasmine Clark ripped a single and a double to drive home three runs in the inning. Allison Sommers, who had her arm in a sling during last week's state tournament, also smacked a base hit during the rally.

Herioux added an RBI single...she reached base all four times to the plate during the game. Dakota Cloutier had an RBI hit, and had three hits in the game. Natalie Hansen and Maddie Block also had RBI base hits as the DC girls wrapped up their third straight tournament victory.

Salo earned the victory in the circle, yielding six runs on four hits. She struck out nine batters, walked one, and hit two batters (the same girl twice).

Delta County advances to the regional quarterfinals on Tuesday against the winless Omaha Millard, Nebraska team. Game time is 6:00 ET. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Cheri Lehto, and to listen to player interviews.