END OF THE LINE: Jr. Girls Fall In Regional Final

AKRON, Ohio---The dream finally came to an end for the Escanaba Junior Girls (age 13-14) on Thursday as they lost twice to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the finals of the Central Regional Tournament in Akron, Ohio. Escanaba fell, 11-0 and 5-0, sending the Indiana State Champions to the Junior Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington.

"It's bittersweet," Escanaba Manager Vance Hiney said. "You get to go home and save a ton of money (on travel costs), but it still would have been fun to go for the ride!"

Escanaba was a team that no one thought would get this far...including the girls themselves.

But they kept finding a way to get it done, winning district, sectional, and state championships.

And winning all three games at regionals to get to the finals.

But on Thursday, it was clear that the Indiana girls were the best of the eight teams in the regional field, and the Escanaba girls would have to settle for second-best.

Escanaba got off to a good start in the first inning of Thursday's first game when Malary Hiney and Taylor Gauthier got back-to-back base hits. But the next two girls struck out, and Escanaba never really threatened to score after that, getting just two more hits.

Final Out. Indiana Celebrates.

The Indiana team, which won four games in the loser's bracket just to make it to Thursday, had its hitting shoes on from the get-go.

Jeffersonville scored four runs in the first inning as the Escanaba defense helped out by making three errors. The Indiana State Champs put the game away with six more runs on six base hits in the fourth inning.

Jennifer Peffley and Faith Denig both had two hits for Jeffersonville.

Claire McInerney had two base hits to go along with the first inning singles by Hiney and Gauthier. But those were the only hits for Escanaba in the five-inning game.

In the winner-take-all second game, McInerney led off with a bunt single.

But she was stranded at third base. And in the bottom of the first inning, Jeffersonville's bats picked up where they left off at the end of the earlier game. The leadoff batter was safe on an error, and then Peffley and Corey Schweitzer each had RBI base hits.

Escanaba did have a few highlights, including a nice catch in right field by Maddy Griffin that turned into a 9-4 double play that ended the third inning. Hannah Edington threw three shutout innings to end the game, but Jeffersonville pitcher Camryn Teague was tough. She threw shutouts in both games to send her team to the West Coast.

Maddie Griffin gets double play in second game!

"I don't know if she (Teague) had a lot of rotation on it or if we were just getting under it all the time," Vance Hiney said. "All we did was pop it straight up in the air for somebody to catch."

And catch it they did. The Indiana team did not make an error in either ball game.

"They're a pretty-well-trained team," Hiney said. "They were all together and went to tournaments to prepare for this. They went to some big tournaments down in Florida."

And while the Indiana team heads for Washington, the Escanaba girls headed for home. Hiney says that it was an incredible experience, and one for the whole community.

"The girls loved hearing about everybody (back home) being so excited," he said. "That meant a lot to them."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos from the game, taken by Mary Gauthier.