MOVING ON: Esky Girls Rally Past Grosse Pointe

JACKSON, Mich.---The Escanaba Minor Little League All-Star (age 9-10) softball team erased an early 3-1 deficit and beat Grosse Pointe, 6-4, in the state semifinals Tuesday in downstate Jackson. Escanaba will play for a state championship on Wednesday.

Madison Mott struck out 15 batters in a complete-game effort, and she drove in two runs with a triple in the third inning. She walked just one batter and hit a batter.

Breleigh Reinhart continued her excellent hitting at the top of the order, leading off the game with a single. She scored on a Clara Braun ground out to make it 1-0.

Grosse Pointe scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning as the Escanaba girls had trouble fielding a pair of bunts and Maggie Weiss smacked a two-run double.

But Escanaba rallied in the third inning. With one out, Braun and Addison Noblet each got base hits. With both girls on base, Mott rifled one to center field, tying the game on a two-run triple. Chloe Dubord's hard-hit sacrifice fly put Escanaba on top.

Then in the fourth inning, Reinhart was at it again. She popped an RBI double to the outfield to bring home Jenessa Platt, who had singled to lead off the inning. That made it 5-3, and then Reinhart scored on an infield error off a grounder by Braun.

Escanaba's 6-3 lead was in jeopardy in the bottom of the fifth when Aliya Abraham was hit by a pitch and stole second. With one out Addie Wakefield smacked an RBI single to make it 6-4, then Weiss followed with her second hit of the game.

But Mott was able to get Abby Evans to ground to first, ending the threat.

In the top of the sixth, Braun smacked a triple with two outs to give her team a scoring chance. And it looked like the girls would get an insurance run when Noblet roped one up the center field gap.

But Isabella Boedeker raced over, dove, and caught it, just above the ground, with the ball snow-coning in the trip of the mit.

That ended the inning, keeping it a 6-4 ballgame.

"I was kind of mad when she caught that one in the outfield," Noblet said. "But I was also excited because I actually hit it, really far."

Mott, however, retired Grosse Pointe 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, with two of the outs being strikeouts. Mott made 15 of the game's 18 outs with strikeouts.

Reinhart and Braun both had two hits, while Noblet and Mott both had one.

"It's pretty exciting," said Reinhart, her voice hoarse from three days of screaming. "Thanks to my team, Addison for getting all those balls at first base, and the outfield for getting the ball back in quickly. And Maddie has always been good for us. She's been pitching strikes, and with those change-ups, kids are going at them, high ones."

In Tuesday's other semifinal, Georgetown knocked off Evart, 10-1. So Escanaba gets a rematch with Georgetown on Wednesday in the state championship game. The two teams met in pool play on Sunday, with Georgetown winning, 19-2.

Escanaba is hoping for a better result on Wednesday, and will try to win Escanaba Little League's first-ever state championship in this age bracket. Game time is 12:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Missy Reinhart. Also, Click the AUDIO buttons to listen to interviews with Addison Noblet and Breleigh Reinhart, and with Manager Steve Braun. And listen to replays from the radio broadcast.