The Manistique Emeralds jumped to a 3-0 lead early in their softball game against the Norway Knights Wednesday afternoon. But the Knights scored five runs in the second inning to get the lead, and Norway went on to post a 9-4 win in the first game of the doubleheader. The Knights also won the second game, 13-8.
This twinbill was played one day late after cold, windy conditions on Tuesday forced the postponement. Pictured: Manistique's Sammi Williams takes a "strike" during Wednesday afternoon's game. Click the headline above to see more photos and video clips from the game.
There have been many wars between the Escanaba Eskymos and the Norway Knights over the past few baseball seasons. But Wednesday night's matchup was not one of them. The Eskymos pounded the Knights at Marion Park, 13-0, in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. The Knights fielded a team that includes nine freshmen, and the Eskymos had five freshmen on the roster. That youth showed, especially for the Knights, as the boys were pretty much helpless against the pitching of Eskymo senior Alex DeHaan was in complete control for most of the afternoon, yielding only two base hits and striking out seven batters in his four innings of work on the mound. Click the headline above to see the complete story on the game, plus a bunch of pictures, video highlights, and audio highlights.
Nick Vandermissen drove in four runs and Austin Young had a home run and three RBI as the Escanaba Eskymos beat the Marquette Redmen, 12-2, in the baseball season opener for both teams Tuesday night. Sophomore Ben Kleiman allowed one run in three innings of pitching to earn the win, and he had three base hits at the plate. Click the above photo or headline to see the full story, and listen to audio highlights.
Great Lakes Ice Racing proudly features modified cycles racing on a quarter mile oval track on a frozen river. Many hours of hard work by members of our club are needed to groom the icy surface to allow bikes with special studded tires to compete in an exciting environment unlike any other.
Sands Speedway is located in Sands, MI. It's an asphalt oval track racing on Saturday evenings during the summer. "Sands Speedway is the premiere track in the Lake Superior region."
Jason DeGrave, and his wife Lea had their dream come true with the opportunity to purchase and maintain the former Zambon's Motorcross track. They have alot of great things in the works but it all takes money and time. They will be having two weekends of AMA district 16 points motocross races and are planning on having a tough truck series, snowcross, and possibly ice races.
The schedule for the 2012 racing season is beginning to take shape. Races will include events in Houghton, Marquette, Skandia, Escanaba and other events.
The Bark River International Raceway will once again host offroad racing in Bark River! The dates for this big event will be August 10th, 11th & 12th! Check out their website for complete racing details!
Delta County's three high school softball teams had a successful weekend at the ninth annual Northern Michigan University "Spring Swing" softball tournament. The Rapid River Rockets won all three of their games, the Escanaba Eskymos went 2-1, and the Gladstone Braves went 1-1-1, with their only loss coming to the Rockets. And the Escanaba junior varsity team won all three of its games in the two-day event. See all of the scores by clicking the picture above.(Pictured: Rapid River's Neena Brockway digs in during a game during last year's regional tournament)
The Escanaba Eskymos have just three seniors on their roster, but heavy plenty of young talent as the 2012 high school baseball season begins Tuesday evening. Escanaba will host the Marquette Redmen in the first game under new head coach Kirk Schwalbach.
"Senior Night" ceremonies won't take long, with only Alex DeHaan, Austin Young, and Ian DeMarse making up the Class of 2012. But the Eskymos do have talent in returning junior starters Nick Vandermissen and Dave Falish.
The Norway Speedway is a third mile oval track thatis slightly banked. The track, originally a dirt track, was built in 1942 and was blacktopped in 1979.
The 2012 high school softball season got under way Friday with the ninth-annual Northern Michigan University Spring Swing Softball tournament at the Superior Dome. The Rapid River Rockets beat the Superior Central Cougars, 10-1, as Shannon Wolf hit two home runs and Heather Sanderson added an inside-the-park homer. The Escanaba Eskymos opened the season on a positive note Friday, beating the Marquette Redettes, 6-1, at the Dome. Codi Jenshak picked up the win on the mound.
The Atlanta Knights won the USA Hockey Junior A Tier III National Championship on Tuesday afternoon, beating the Long Island (NY) Royals, 4-3, in Rochester, Minn. Escanaba High School graduate Brent Kallio scored the first two goals of the game and then the Knights held on from there. Kallio finished the tournament with seven points (3G, 4A) in five games. "It's pretty hard to put my exact emotions into one word," Kallio said after the title game. "It is the craziest feeling of happiness that I've ever had in my life."
The Keweenaw Storm Under-19 girls hockey team lost Saturday in the quarterfinals of the USA Hockey National Tournament in Irving, Texas. The girls fell to the Alaskan state champions, 1-0, to drop out of the running for a national championship. The Storm lost despite outshooting Alaska, 29-11.
While the high school softball season is still in pre-practice mode, the college softball season is under way. And Gladstone High School graduate MacKenzie Shepeck is making the most of her opportunity as a freshman at Western Michigan University. Shepeck picked up her second pitching victory of the young season on Sunday as she pitched three scoreless innings to shut down the Miami (Ohio) Red Hawks, 5-1.
The Carney-Nadeau High School basketball team cleaned up on post-season awards this week following an improbable run to the Class D state semifinals. The Wolves were named the Upper Peninsula's Class D Team of the Year by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
The Wolves received 14 votes, while Ewen-Trout Creek got four votes and Munising three. Carney-Nadeau senior Lucas Moreau and Wolves junior Wade Schetter were both named to the Class D First Team. Bark River-Harris senior Jake Kleiman was also named to the Class D First Team, and Mid Peninsula junior Brett Branstrom was selected to the All-Class Dream Team.
The Gladstone High School girls basketball team had a dream season this winter, winning 24 games in a row and winning a Class B regional championship for the second year in a row. Now the Braves are being recognized for that success.
Gladstone was named the Upper Peninsula Class A-B Team of the Year by the U-P Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Braves Coach Karl Dollhopf was named the Class A-B-C Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.Gladstone senior forward Jammie Botruff was named the Class A-B-C Player of the Year, sharing the title with Escanaba senior Olivia Nash.
Jim Hansen was hired Tuesday to become the new head coach of the Escanaba Eskymo varsity football team. The 29-year-old Hansen is a 2001 Escanaba High School graduate, and has spent the last six years as an assistant coach under Dan Flynn, who retired earlier this year.
"I'm extremely honored, and humbled, and thankful to everybody involved in the school," Hansen said, "I'm so happy and excited to have this opportunity."
The Escanaba School Board voted 7-0 to hire Hansen, who becomes just the third head coach in the last half-century in the Escanaba football program, after Jerry Cvengros coached from 1963 to 1985, and Flynn from '85 until this past year.
There's a new team in town.
The Escanaba Rollin' Hellcats Women's Roller Derby team played at the Wells Sports Complex over the weekend, before a packed crowd of more than 500. The Esky ladies lost their game to the Kingsford Krush, 180-60, but it was a fun night for everyone involved. The Hellcats practice at a small venue near Escanaba Public Safety, but this was their first actual competition.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association on Monday announced the "classes" that its 760 member schools will compete in during the 2012-'13 school year. They used enrollment figures to determine whether a school is Class A, B, C, or D. This is only used for boys and girls basketball and girls volleyball. Other sports use a "division" system. Here in the Upper Peninsula, Sault Ste. Marie moves from Class B to Class A, while Rudyard and St. Ignace move from Class C to Class D.
Police and fire sirens could be heard from Harris to Carney on Saturday as the Carney-Nadeau boys basketball team returned home from East Lansing, following the team's appearance in the Class D state semfiinals. Several hundred people turned out as the boys enjoyed an escort from the county line to the school.
They just stood there on the ice. Stunned. A feeling of disbelief. Could it really be all over, just like that? After all of the ups and downs the Escanaba Eskymos have faced this hockey season, every boy truly believed that after upsetting Marquette in the regional semifinals, the hockey gods were finally smiling on them.
And when the boys rallied from two goals down Sunday in the regional championship game, well, that just reinforced the confidence that somehow, someway, this team would find a way to pull out a dramatic win over the Traverse City Central Trojans.
The USA Hockey Tier III National Championships are going on in Rochester, Minnesota, and there is a local connection to one of the teams that will play for a national championship Tuesday afternoon. 2010 Escanaba High School graduate Brent Kallio is a member of the Atlanta Knights, which beat Billings (Mont.), 4-2, in the national semifinals Monday afternoon. Kallio had two assists in the game, and now has five points in four games in the tourney.
The magical post-season run of the Carney-Nadeau Wolves came to an end Thursday night, as the Wolves dropped a 52-44 decision to the Climax-Scotts in the Class D State Semifinal at Michigan State University's Breslin Center.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association lists the Carney-Nadeau School with an enrollment of 71 students. But on Thursday, the Wolves boys basketball team will play in the state's biggest venue: Michigan State University's Breslin Center.
SAULT STE. MARIE---They weren't supposed to win either of their conferences. They weren't supposed to win their district. They certainly weren't supposed to win their regional. And the Carney-Nadeau boys basketball team most certainly wasn't supposed to beat the Pellston Hornets in the Class D state quarterfinal game Tuesday night in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Negaunee Miners lost in the Class C state quarterfinals Tuesday night at Petoskey High School, falling to a talented Traverse City St. Francis team, 71-60.
Escanaba nine-year-old Nicole Kamin won the championship at the Elks Hoop Shoot Regional Finals over the weekend in Angola, Ind. She made 19 of her 25 shots, and then made all five shots in a tiebreaker to take first place in the competition.
The Negaunee High School boys basketball team will face a tough challenge Tuesday when the Miners take on Traverse City St. Francis in the Class C state quarterfinal in Petoskey.
