Escanaba Girls Hang On For World Series Victory

ROXANA, Del.---The Escanaba Big League Girls (age 17-18) jumped to a 7-0 lead and held on for a 8-6 win over the West Regional champions from Lancaster, Calif., in the opening game of the Big League World Series late Sunday night in Roxana, Delaware.

Katie Ross pitched all seven innings, allowing no hits in the first three innings, before the California state champions woke up and pounded out eleven hits the rest of the game.

"They started to play a little looser as the game went on," Escanaba Manager Andy Fields said of the California comeback, which featured dancing coaches and players who were having a good time despite the score. "I think they got comfortable and we got too too comfortable."

"But it was nice that we had a big lead," Fields added.

Escanaba took advantage of several Lancaster errors in the early going, and the Central Regional Champions played small ball.

In the second inning, Taylor Gauthier led off with a walk and Claire McInerney was safe on an error. Aubree Saunders put down a bunt to move the runners up, then Cassi Wisler was asked to squeeze home Gauthier.

Wisler got the bunt down and was safe.

"I got the sign and I was a little bit nervous because she (California pitcher Allie Williams) was kind of a wild pitcher, so I wasn't sure if I could bunt it," Wisler said. "She ended up pitching it inside, which is the best place to bunt it, I think. It just went right down the middle where I needed it to be, and it turned out good."

Jerrika McAlpine, Becca Piron, Katie Ross, and Taylor Segorski followed with RBI base hits and Escanaba had a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half. The girls scored two more runs in the fourth inning as Piron doubled home a run and Lancaster committed two more errors.

Escanaba, meanwhile, played great defense. Gauthier caught a line drive at shortstop in the fifth inning and then ran down, and tagged, the runner trying to get back into second base.

Segorski (pictured at left) threw out a runner trying to steal, and Claire McInerney made two nice plays at second base. But the California girls did not fold.

Erin Askins had an RBI hit just before the double play line-out in the fifth inning, and they loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning before Ross wiggled off the hook with a fielder's choice grounder and a pop up. It was 7-1 entering the final inning, and Escanaba picked up another run in the seventh as McInerney walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch. That would turn out to be huge.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Lancaster girls batted around, scoring five times. Askins had her second RBI hit of the game, while Trinity Holman and Viviana Lopez each had RBI groundouts.

Ross also walked two batters, and then with two out, Jennifer Diaz surprised the Escanaba girls with a perfect bunt that closed the lead to 8-6.

The tying run came to the plate, but Ross got Leanne Arroyo to pop up to end the contest.

"We didn't play our best game," Fields said. "We made some mistakes. We made some baserunning mistakes. We missed some signs. But we're going to improve on that as the week moves on."

"We're going to be alright."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, listen to player interviews, and radio replays.