Escanaba Girls Dominate Again; On To State Semis

CLARE, Mich.---The Escanaba Junior Little League All-Stars (age 13-14) scored five runs in the third inning and added eight more in the seventh to blast Grandville, 13-0, at the state tournament Friday in Clare. Escanaba advanced to the state semifinals as a result, and will face the District 16 Champions from Sand Creek on Saturday.

"Our girls are tough as nails," Escanaba Assistant Coach Andy Fields said. "They work hard at everything they do. Our defense is tough. You have to put together quite a few hits (to score against us), and our pitching is phenominal."

Katie Ross was on her game in the pitcher's circle, retiring all twelve of the Grandville batters she faced, mostly with a blazing fastball that she moved all over the zone.

"She's a competitor," Fields said. "She doesn't like to lose, and she's thick-headed. She's been there before. She pitched in our big games last year."

The game was scoreless until the third inning when Tasi Martinez and Emily LaFave drew walks to start the inning. Emily Bruntgens' bunt brought in one run, Kayla VanPortfliet bunted and a run scored on an error on the play.

Kayla Van Portfliet bangs one off the fence.

Then Ross smoked a shot past the shortstop's glove into center field for a two-run double to make it 4-0. Taylor Segorski's ground ball to short brought in the fifth run of that inning.

It stayed 5-0 until the seventh inning, when Escanaba batted around and scored eight times. Three of the runs came in on a long shot to left field by Van Portfliet, just a few inches away from a grand slam home run.

"I thought it was gone," Fields said. "Kayla has had a few home runs already this season in the high school ranks. That thing hit the top of the fence and came back. Too bad."

Later in the inning, Martinez got a hold of one and roped it over the right fielder's head with two on base. She motored around to score the inside-the-park home run.

"Tasi's our new girl," Fields said. "She came over from Gladstone, and she's fitting in very well with our system here. She's a great kid."

Tasi Martinez 3 RBI Home Run

Van Portfliet pitched the final three innings in relief of Ross, so both girls will be available to pitch on Saturday.

The only trouble spot came in the fifth inning when a walk and three errors loaded the bases for Grandville with nobody out in a 5-0 game.

After a meeting in the circle, Van Portfliet struck out the next three girls to preserve the lead.

Grandville's only hit came with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning as Olivia Pilczuk hit a pop fly that landed in left field, breaking up the no-hitter. But that was no big deal, as the Escanaba girls are headed to the state semifinals.

They will play a Sand Creek team that went 1-2 in pool play, but made it when Sault Ste. Marie blew a 4-1 lead Friday and lost to Taylor, 12-6.

That left Sand Creek, Taylor, and the Soo all with 1-2 records...and Sand Creek won the "least runs allowed" tiebreaker. Saturday's other state semifinal will pit undefeated South Portage against Grandville. Both semifinals start at 11:00 Saturday morning.

Due to other programming, the Escanaba vs Sand Creek game will be broadcast live ONLYon the Internet at www.rrnsports.com. The broadcast will be joined in progress on WCHT-AM (600) at 12:00 noon. The championship game, should Escanaba qualify, will be played at 2:00 and would be on the radio and over the Internet.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos from the game taken by Mary Gauthier. You can also listen to radio replays and interviews by clicking those buttons.

2013 Junior Little League Softball State Tournament
At Clare, Michigan

Escanaba 14, Clare 1
Croswell-Lexington 5, Grandville 3
South Portage 11, Sault Ste. Marie 5
Sand Creek 12, Taylor 2
Escanaba 6, Croswell-Lexington 0
Sault Ste. Marie 4, Sand Creek 3
Grandville 10, Clare 1
South Portage vs Taylor

Escanaba 13, Grandville 0
Taylor 12, Sault Ste. Marie 6
South Portage 11, Sand Creek 1
Croswell-Lexington vs Clare

Sat 7/27---Semifinal #1: Escanaba vs Sand Creek, 11 a.m.
Sat 7/27---Semifinal #2: South Portage vs Grandville, 11 a.m.
Sat 7/27---Championship, 2 p.m.

WINNER ADVANCES TO CENTRAL REGIONAL IN AKRON, OHIO