ESCANABA---The Escanaba High School softball team shook off a sluggish start to beat the Manistique Emeralds, 10-1 and 11-0, in the Eskymos' home opener Thursday at Lemmerand Park. It was Escanaba's first games on dirt and grass this season.
In the first game, Manistique took a 1-0 lead against Katie Ross in the top of the first inning, and the Emeralds had the bases loaded before Ross recovered with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. The Eskymos struck quickly in the bottom of the first, as Kayla VanPortfliet singled in two runs and Aubree Saunders had a sac fly.
The Eskymos blew the game open with J.J. Laviolette's RBI hit to center field and Mackenzie Leisner's RBI hit down the left field line.
Escanaba closed the scoring in the sixth inning when Taylor Gauthier came in off of the bench for an RBI base hit.
"After running away from school and getting over here, it's always tough to get warmed up," Escanaba Coach Jamie Segorski said. "We sleptwalked through the first couple of innings. (But) we touched the ball pretty well today. We didn't have as many hits as we'd like, but, you know what? It is what it is. The girls were playing tough, and the defense was there. It was nice to see the defense perform."
Ross pitched all seven innings to earn the win in Thursday's opener.
Manistique Coach Jessica Nord was happy to see her team compete.
"I think it gives us the opportunity to see better pitching before districts," Nord said. "Gladstone and Negaunee usually end up taking the district, so if we can see better pitching, that will give us the confidence to play them. We did pretty good. I think there were a lot of nerves. You can't be disappointed in how the game ended."
In the second game, the Eskymos jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and then put the game away with seven runs in the second inning.
The game was called by the mercy rule in the middle of the fifth inning.
Escanaba (7-0-1) will travel to Gladstone to compete in a tournament on Saturday. The Eskymos will face Marquette at 9:00 a.m. and then battle Kingsford at 12:30.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from Thursday's games.
The Eskymos blew the game open with J.J. Laviolette's RBI hit to center field and Mackenzie Leisner's RBI hit down the left field line.
Escanaba closed the scoring in the sixth inning when Taylor Gauthier came in off of the bench for an RBI base hit.
"After running away from school and getting over here, it's always tough to get warmed up," Escanaba Coach Jamie Segorski said. "We sleptwalked through the first couple of innings. (But) we touched the ball pretty well today. We didn't have as many hits as we'd like, but, you know what? It is what it is. The girls were playing tough, and the defense was there. It was nice to see the defense perform."
Ross pitched all seven innings to earn the win in Thursday's opener.
"I think it gives us the opportunity to see better pitching before districts," Nord said. "Gladstone and Negaunee usually end up taking the district, so if we can see better pitching, that will give us the confidence to play them. We did pretty good. I think there were a lot of nerves. You can't be disappointed in how the game ended."
In the second game, the Eskymos jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and then put the game away with seven runs in the second inning.
The game was called by the mercy rule in the middle of the fifth inning.
Escanaba (7-0-1) will travel to Gladstone to compete in a tournament on Saturday. The Eskymos will face Marquette at 9:00 a.m. and then battle Kingsford at 12:30.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from Thursday's games.
