Esky Girls Top Gladstone After 15 Innings Of War

KINGSFORD---There wasn't the backdrop of Little Bay deNoc behind the ball diamond, and there was no crack of the bat from a nearby Al Ness Field.

But even though the Major Little League All-Stars district championship game was played an hour away at Kingsford's Lodal Park, it was still the Battle of Delta County as the Escanaba and Gladstone All-Stars faced off in two intense softball games.

Escanaba entered Sunday's play with the upper hand after a 2-0 win over Gladstone earlier in the week.

But everything evened up quickly as the two teams played 15 innings of what Escanaba Assistant Coach Dave Wilson later described as an all-out war.

Gladstone took advantage of several Escanaba mistakes to post a heart-stopping 3-2 win in the first game. And then in the "winner-take-all" match-up, nothing was decided until three extra innings were played.

Escanaba emerged with a 3-2 win in those nine innings, and will represent District Ten in the Major Softball State Finals later this week in Essexville.

Pitchers can throw for nine innings in a day, under a special waiver granted to District Ten because a doubleheader needed to be played on Sunday. That's because the winner needed to be ready to arrive in downstate Essexville (near Bay City) on Wednesday.

So, Escanaba's Hannah Eddington and Gabi Salo, and Gladstone's Amber Lenards and Brittany Schwartz, took turns throwing what turned out to be 15 innings of war Sunday.

In the first game, Salo threw for Escanaba and deserved a batter fate. There were three errors behind her in the field, and all three of Gladstone's runs were unearned.

Eddington drove in both of her team's runs in a loing effort, with a triple early in the game and a single in the bottom of the sixth inning.

But Lenards was able to get the final out in the sixth inning, and so the teams played again on a hot, sunny evening.

The winner-take-all game saw Escanaba hold a 1-0 lead into the final inning as Eddington was throwing a one-hitter. But Gladstone's Mackenzie Monkevich and Brittany Schwartz both got base hits, and the tying run scored on a ground out.

In the ninth inning, Salo worked for a walk leading off for Escanaba. Christina Olson put down a bunt and was safe on an error. After a bunt single loaded the bases with one out, Katie Wilson hit a fly ball that got past the Gladstone drawn-in infield.

It landed for a base hit, and Escanaba celebrated a hard-earned trip downstate.

And so the Escanaba girls will head for Essexville-Hampton, a softball powerhouse in the early 2000's who has not hosted a state tournament since 1994.

The league has a renovated stadium, and will be hosting the 16 teams from around Michigan.

Escanaba's first game is against the District Six champions from the northeastern Detroit suburbs on Thursday. Game time is 3:30.

The game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.