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STATE CHAMPS! Escanaba Girls Indiana-Bound
 ESCANABA---At first, it looked like the Escanaba Senior Girls (age 15-16) would cruise to a state championship. Then, the momentum switched, and it felt like the girls from Edwardsburg might just steal the championship away from the Eskymos. 
Jayme Frappier pitched a complete game.
The girls advance to the Central Regional Tournament next weekend in South Bend, Ind. "That was definately was a nailbiter," Escanaba Manager Michelle Carne said. "It feels pretty good. This is my first state championship as a player or as a coach. It's very exciting for me, as well as for the girls." "They are a good-hitting team," Frappier said. "They came out ready to play, and so did we. It just feels great (to win the state championship)." Escanaba built a 5-0 lead early in the game, and after Edwardsburg scored two runs, Escanaba's #9 batter, Alyssa Polequin, came through with a clutch two-run single to right field. She did it with two outs, and with two strikes on her.  
Alyssa Polequin gets a clutch two-run hit
Alyssa Polequin had the clutch hit.
But not for long. Escanaba's 7-2 lead was far from safe as the Edwardsburg team made yet another comeback. The District 15 champions had rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 7-0 to win two games on Sunday just to make it into Monday's championship game. Edwardsburg scored four times in the fifth inning as Escanaba made two errors and the downstate girls hit Frappier hard. Then Edwardsburg scored two more runs in the top of the sixth inning, and all of a sudden, Escanaba trailed, 8-7. But the Esky girls were still confident. "I wasn't really worried because I knew we had the top of the order coming up," first baseman Sam Connor said. "And I knew that our defense would pull through." 
Mackenzie Leisner makes big catch by fence.
Edwardsburg's Bailey Thomas was shaken up on this play, but stayed in the game.
In the top of the seventh, Frappier was helped out when shortstop Sam Sailer caught a line shot that was going to be extra bases. Sailer was at short because Callie Heller needed to leave the game in that inning. Frappier struck out the final batter, and Escanaba celebrated a state championship. Frappier pitched all seven innings, allowing twelve base hits, striking out six. Bailey Thomas led Edwardsburg by going three-for-four at the plate. It was a disappointing loss for Edwardsburg, which was hoping to make it to the regionals in their own back yard. Edwardsburg is located along the Michigan-Indiana border, and would have been less than an hour away from the regional site in South Bend. But instead, it will be Escanaba to make the long trip to the Hoosier state. 
Escanaba gets the final out for a state championship!
"They picked it up a bit in the middle, but we were able to tough it out at the end." And for five of the girls (Callie Heller, Sam Connor, Mackenzie Leisner, Anna Burch, and Becca Piron), it is back-to-back state championships, as they won the Junior Softball state tournament last summer and made it to the World Series. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos, and listen to post-game comments from Carne and the girls.  Escanaba will play three pool play games in this eight-team tournament. The girls will face the host Indiana District Eleven team Sunday night at 6:00, then they'll play twice on Sunday. The first game will be against the Kentucky State Champions at noon, and then against the Missouri State Champions at 2:00. There are no games at all on Tuesday. The semifinals and finals are on Wednesday. The winner of this tournament goes to the Senior Softball World Series in Delaware. WCHT-AM (600) will broadcast all of the girls' games live from South Bend. CLICK HERE to go to the Central Regional Tournament's web site. CLICK HERE to see the schedule for the Central Regional Tournament.
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