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Escanaba Major Girls Lose Heartbreaker At States
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos from the game, and hear post-game comments from Escanaba Coach Brian Parlato and Marquette Coach Justin Gustafson
The girls scored three runs in the first inning and pitcher Emma Parlato was on cruise control with a 3-0 lead halfway through the game  Even after they gave up a run in the fourth inning, Escanaba still led Bullock Creek, 3-1, six outs away from a win and a guaranteed spot in the state quarterfinal rounds.
But then came the fifth inning, when things fell apart. Escanaba made two errors and Bullock Creek capitalized with four base hits and four runs, and stole a 5-4 victory at Cascade Falls Park. The loss drops Escanaba into a must-win situation on Monday, and they'll have to beat one of the tournament's top pitchers to advance.
“Just one bad inning, that's all we had,” Escanaba Manager Brian Parlato said. “We started the game off good. We had a lot of momentum and had some hard hits. Just couldn't keep the momentum going. Hearbreaking. The girls are upset, naturally. But they're a good team. We knew we were in a battle today.”
The U.P.'s other team at this 15-team tournament, Marquette, was shut out for a second straight day, this time by Grosse Pointe, 15-0, on Sunday.
Braelyn Grandchamp led the game off with a base hit, Abby Derkos followed with a double, and Emma Parlato brought both of them home with a rocket to the center field fence for a triple. She scored on a Kinsley Williams grounder, and it was 3-0.
 Bullock Creek lifted pitcher Lily Coyle, and reliever Sam Swift was tough. She kept Escanaba off the board in the third and fourth innings, striking out four batters, giving her team time to mount a comeback.
They scored once in the fourth inning on a hit by Sophie Stern, a bunt by Rylei Yager, and a ground ball that was missplayed by Mya Anderson at first base. That was the first error of the game, and it cost Escanaba the first run.
But it got worse in the fifth inning when the normally-solid Derkos committed two errors at shortstop. Bullock Creek took advantage with a two-run double by #9 hitter Alexa Hamilton and an RBI single by #10 hitter Ellie Gowing, All of a sudden, it was 5-3 as Bullock Creek scored three more unearned runs.
Escanaba had a chance in the bottom of the fifth inning when Bella Noblet drew a walk and scored on a double by the hot-hitting Anderson. That made it 5-4, and Gabby Parlato got her over to third base with a groundout. But Hannah Trombley struck out to end the inning, and Swift easily set down the bottom of the order in the sixth inning.
“We've out ourselves in a hole,” Brian Parlato said. “Grosse Pointe is going to be tough. We've got to bring our “A-game” now, and hope for the best with tiebreakers. I'm proud of the way the girls battled today. There were just some unfortunate bounces, and that's softball, right?”
 Grosse Pointe improved to 2-0 with an easy 15-0 win over Marquette, and they've outscored their two opponents 23-1.
Escanaba has allowed five runs in the tournament, Bullock Creek has allowed 12, and Grosse Pointe has allowed just one.
GROSSE POINTE 15, MARQUETTE 0---Marquette made it out of the first inning without giving up a run on Sunday, but the walks started piling up again and Grosse Pointe ended up winning, 15-0. Makayla Gustafson walked 16 batters and allowed 13 runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. She did strike out seven batters, all seven of the outs that she recorded. Lilly Smigiel got the final two outs, giving up two runs on three hits. 
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