The Rapid River Rockets got a complete game pitching effort from Heather Sanderson and overwhelmed the Bellaire Eagles, 10-0, in the MHSAA Division Four state quarterfinal Tuesday at Traverse City West High School.
Neena Brockway had three hits and a sacrafice fly and Ashleigh Monticello was on base all five times and played stellar defense at shortstop.
Click the above headline to read the game story, see more pictures and video highlights, and listen to audio highlights from the game. Thanks to Mike Dagenais for taking the pictures and videos in cold, rainy conditions.
The Escanaba High School softball team had its best season in almost a decade come to an end on Tuesday, as the girls fell to the powerhouse Saginaw Swan Valley Vikings, 12-1, in the MHSAA Division Two state quarterfinals at Central Michigan University. The Eskymos were in a 0-0 game in the fourth inning before the roof caved in against the state's #3-ranked team. Click the above headline to read details about the game.
Cody Frazer hit a three-run homer to help the Gladstone Indians build a 4-0 lead against the Kingsford Blues Tuesday night in Gladstone. But Gladstone had to hang on for dear life at the end of the game as Ian Wienke hit a three-run shot for the Blues before the Indians posted a 4-3 win at Don Olsen Field. Click the above headline to read more about the game.
Big news in Upper Peninsula high school football. Longtime Menominee Maroons Coach Ken Hofer announced his retirement on Monday. He won 320 games over more than four decades coaching at both Stephenson and Menominee, using the old single wing offense. Hofer won three state championship games in Menominee, and was inducted into the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. Click the above headline to read more.
A nightmare scenario played out for Escanaba Baseball Coach Kirk Schwalbach as his team took the field Saturday in the Division Two regional semifinals in West Branch. He saw his young team walk six batters, hit four others, commit four errors, and come up with no clutch hits. And as a result, his group of Eskymos was eliminated by the Warriors, 8-1, on a hot, sunny afternoon in Lower Michigan. Click the above headline to see more pictures and listen to post-game interviews.
Three Delta County high school softball teams will play for a trip to Battle Creek's Bailey Park on Tuesday as the MHSAA state quarterfinals are held in Traverse City and Mount Pleasant.
The Escanaba Eskymos will face Saginaw Swan Valley in the Division Two quarterfinal at Central Michigan University. The Gladstone Braves take on the Reed City Coyotes in the D-3 quarterfinal at Traverse City West High School. And the Rapid River Rockets will face the Bellaire Eagles, also at Traverse City West.
Click the above headline to read more about Tuesday's matchups.
If the Escanaba High School girls softball team was flying high after winning a district championship last Monday, then the girls must be floating on Cloud Nine right now.
The girls beat a pair of Vikings teams to capture the Division Two Regional Championship Saturday at West Branch Ogemaw Heights High School.
First, the Eskymos overwhelmed Howard City Tri-County, 10-0, in six innings, and then topped Cadillac, 9-1, in the regional championship. The girls will face Saginaw Swan Valley in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday at Central Michigan University.
Click the above headline to see more pictures, watch video highights, and hear interviews with Coach John LaMarch and Eskymo senior Erin Gregoire.
The Gladstone Braves and Rapid River Rockets are both returning to Michigan's cherry capitol for some softball playoff action. Both Delta County teams won regional championships again on Saturday, and advance to the state quarterfnal rounds in Traverse City, just as they both did last year. Gladstone beat Tawas, 8-0, and then topped Traverse City St. Francis, 6-2, to win the Division Three regional. Rapid River outlasted Posen, 2-1 in nine innings, before slipping past Rogers City, 6-1, to win a Division Four regional. Click the headline for details.
The Escanaba Eskymos baseball team arrived in West Branch Friday afternoon, and the boys held a two-hour practice there in preparation for this weekend's MHSAA Regional Tournament. Escanaba had an up-and-down regular season, but put together two strong games in Monday's district tournament to earn this trip to the regionals. Escanaba faces Remus Chippewa Hills in the regional semifinal Saturday at 12:30. Click the above headline to read more.
The Escanaba High School softball team won its first district championship in seven years last weekend, and the girls don't want the fun to end just yet. Escanaba will open Division Two Regional Tournament play Saturday morning in downstate West Branch. The girls will face Howard City Tri-County in their first game.
The Gladstone Indians are finding ways to win, even in games that are sometimes ugly. Wednesday's game against the Menominee Red Wave certainly qualifies, as the Indians committed four errors but rallied to post a 5-4 win in nine innings. Click the above headline to read more details and to see pictures and listen to audio clips from the game.
The Gladstone Indians fell behind by four runs by playing some uninspiring baseball Tuesday night, but the Indians woke up in time to rally past the Iron Mountain Golds, 10-5, at Ranger Field.
The Indians got two-run triples from Cody Frazer and Jake Pearson and Colin O'Neal pitched three innings of relief to earn the win. Click the above headline to read the story, see pictures and videos from the game, and listen to audio highlights.
The Escanaba High School softball team used good pitching and defense to win a pair of tight games at the MHSAA Division Two softball district tournament Monday afternoon in Sault Ste. Marie. The Eskymos edged Petoskey, 2-1, and then shut out Cheboygan, 2-0, to win the school's first softball title since 2005.
Click the above headline to see more pictures, watch video highlights, and hear interviews with Coach John LaMarch and winning pitcher Codi Jenshak.
The Escanaba Eskymos baseball team came from behind to beat Cheboygan, 9-7, as sophomore Devin Olsen turned in a heroic relief pitching effort. And then in the district championship game, the Eskymos stunned the Petoskey Northmen, 9-2, pounding out eleven hits in the process. Click the above headline to read the game story, see pictures, watch video clips, and listen to audio highlights from the game.
The Marquette Redmen swept the Division One boys and girls championships at the Upper Peninsula Track and Field Finals in Kingsford on Saturday. In Division Two, the Saint Ignace Saints took the team title for both the boys and girls. And in Division Three, Pickford and Brimley took first-place trophies back to the Eastern U.P.
Delta County was well-represented, with Gladstone's boys taking second place in Division One and Bark River-Harris's boys taking second in Division Three. Click the above headline to see all of Saturday's results.
The MHSAA Division Two district tournament baseball and softball games scheduled for Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie have been postponed by rain. Escanaba High School Athletic Director Dave Wilson says he was informed by Sault High officials that the fields were unplayable due to overnight rains, and more rain is in the forecast.
The Gladstone High School softball team cruised to another district championship on Friday, beating the Negaunee Miners, 8-0, and then turning back the Houghton Gremlins, 13-0. Houghton eliminated Manistique, 9-3, earlier in the day.
Christine Sharon got the win in both games for the Braves, and Jordan Schwartz had a home run and four RBI in the second game. Click the above headline to read the game story, to see photos and videos, and to listen to audio highlights.
The Gladstone High School boys golf team saved its best for last. The boys have been "middle of the pack" for most of the season everywhere they played, but at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division One Finals on Friday, the Braves were on the leaderboard.
Gladstone finished in a three way tie for first place by shooting a 329, but ended up losing in a tiebreaker to the Houghton Gremlins. Click the above headline to read more details.
The Norway Knights hosted a baseball district for the first time on Friday, and took full advantage by winning the championship with wins over Stephenson and Newberry. Meanwhile, in Division Three, Pickford knocked off Superior Central before being blasted by defending champion Negaunee. Click the above headline to see photos and videos from the Pickford-SC game.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association says that its member schools have overwhelmingly approved a change to the association's age-limit rule, which will allow kids with disabilities to apply for waivers to be able to play sports even if their 19th birthday falls before September 1st. This will likely mean that Ishpeming High School student Eric Dompierre, who has Down Syndrome and has been fighting for a chance to play basketball in his senior year, will be allowed to play. Click the above headline to read more details.
The Battle of Delta County went down to the wire again as the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Indians met Wednesday night. The Indians got a complete-game pitching effort from Matt Weyers and the Tribe held on for a 4-3 win on Escanaba's Senior Day. Click the above headline to read the game story, see more pictures and videos and listen to audio highlights.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association's Division 3 U.P. Golf Finals were held on Thursday in Delta County. But it was teams from opposite ends of the U.P. that took top honors on the links. Cedarville won the girls championship in Gladstone, and Painesdale-Jeffers won the title in the boys meet in Bark River. Click the above headline to see the scores.
The Negaunee High School boys tennis team wrapped up the season with a dominating performance at the U.P. Finals Wednesday in Marquette. The Miners won championships in six of the eight flights. Escanaba's best effort came from the #3 doubles team of Hunter Bradford and Carter Murray. Click the above headline to see the details.
The opening day for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's girls softball district tournaments did not have much drama on Tuesday. The Division Three districts in Gladstone saw a forfeit and another game that was mercied after three innings of play. The Division Four districts in Norway featured three games that ended on the mercy rule. Click the above headline to see Tuesday's scores.
The Gladstone Indians American Legion Baseball team managed to get just two base hits, but took advantage of five Ishpeming errors to post a 4-0 win Tuesday at Don Olsen Field.
The game was halted in the third inning because of a rainstorm, and after a 25-minute delay, the game was finished on a muddy field. Click the above headline to read the game story, and to see more pictures and videos.
The Escanaba High School tennis team closed the regular season by posting a 5-2 win over the West Iron County Wykons Tuesday night in Iron River. The #4 singles match was rained out. Escanaba won three of the four doubles matches, and the Eskymos got wins from Tyler Myrick and John Brant at #2 and #3 singles, respectively.
Click the above headline to see all of the scores.
The Escanaba High School baseball team blew a 4-0 lead and lost to the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils, 6-5, Saturday at the Sault Baseball Invitational in the eastern U.P. The loss followed a 9-0 win over the Alpena Wildcats and a 6-5 loss to the Shepherd Blue Jays. Click the above headline to read the game story, see pictures and videos from the games.
The post-season gets underway for some of the Upper Peninsula's high school girls softball teams on Tuesday. Division Three games will be held in Gladstone, while Division Four games take place in Norway. Both are hosting districts for the first time. Click the above headline to see all softball/baseball schedules.
The British are coming, the British are coming!
They're coming to teach our kids how to play soccer this summer. Challenger Sports holds summer soccer camps in all 50 states, as well as in Canada. And they will come to four Upper Peninsula cities this year: Munising, Manistique, Iron Mountain, and St. Ignace.
Click the above headline to read more about the camps, see registration information, and hear audio soundbytes from A.J. Nwosu describing the goal of the camps.
The Gladstone High School boys track team followed up its MHSAA regional championship victory by easily capturing the Great Northern Conference championship on Thursday in Marquette. The Braves won the team title with 151 points, while Kingsford was a distant second. Escanaba finished fifth.
Marquette easily won the girls championship, with Escanaba finishing third and Gladstone fourth. Click the above headline to see all of the results.
