Escanaba Girls Lose Marathon; Marquette Also Out
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MARQUETTE---The Escanaba Major Little League All-Stars (age 11-12) battled hard before losing a dramatic state quarterfinal game to St. Clair on Tuesday in Marquette.
McKenzie Becker's solid base hit to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 7-7 tie and gave the District Seven champions from the Port Huron area an 8-7 win at the Kaufmann Sports Complex.
It ended a game that went back-and-forth all afternoon, and had four ties and four lead changes.
“It's very, very tough,” Escanbaa Manager Todd Milkiewicz said. “The kids, offensively, did very, very well. We just all ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. I'm very proud of my kids. They're a good bunch of kids. They fought hard and played hard. This tournament is over and it is sad. I would love to continue fighting with these kids.”
St. Clair took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as the Escanaba defense fell apart with three errors, and Camryn Cody made them pay with a long double to center field. And then a throwing error on an easy play at second base cost the two runs.
Escanaba, though, tied the game in the second inning on a walk to Kinsley Williams, a base hit by Addy Stropich, and a wild pitch. Later, an error on the St. Clair infield kept the inning going, and Ava Ryno's RBI single tied the game at 2-2.
In the third inning, Escanaba got four base hits, including two-out RBI singles from Addie Humbert and by Williams. That made it 4-2, but St. Clair tied it up again in the bottom of that inning, Another error on the Escanaba infield hurt, and then Becker smacked a two-run base hit to retie the game at 4-4.
Escanaba regained the lead in the fourth inning. Gabby Parlato led off with a double, and with one out, Ava Jackson's bunt brought in the go-ahead run to make it 5-4.
Cody responded with an RBI double with two out in the fifth inning to tie the game again for St. Clair at 5-5, setting things up for a Battle Royale at the end.
Escanaba had its chances but could not push across another run. With two out in the top of the sixth, Stropich walked and Parlato was hit by a pitch. But Brynn Puszczwicz took a called third strike to end the threat.
That put pressure on Jackson to keep the game going for Escanaba in the circle. Meadow Karas added to the pressure by leading off with a single, and she stole second base. She went to third on a ground out, but Jackson got Leigh Kaczpuski to pop up to end the inning, sending the game to extra innings, tied at 5-5.
Both team's managers then had a decision to make. Do you keep your starting pitcher in there, knowing that she cannot pitch in the semifinals the next day? St. Clair did, having Cody carry the flag into extra innings.
In the seventh inning, Koeller Hayes got a two-out single, and she went to second and third bases on wild pitches. Brynn Lucas drew a walk, and stole second. With the go-ahead runs in scoring position, Taylor Williams battled through a long at-bat with multiple foul balls, but Cody won the battle with a strikeout. Advantage, St. Clair.
Milkiwiecz decided to bring Stropich in to pitch, hoping to save Jackson's availability for a potential semifinal game. Stropich got the first out, but Ally Roberts out down a sweet bunt for a one-out single. Roberts tried to steal second, but was thrown out off a strong throw from Hayes on a close play at second base.
That turned out to be a game-saver for Escanaba, when Macey Kerbrat smoked a double to center field. But Maryanna Mullins grounded out to first, sending the game to an eighth inning.
Cody continued pitching for St. Clair, and under the international tiebtreaker rule, each team got a runner at second base to start their half-innings. And she tore through the top of the Escanaba batting order as Escanaba could not get a bunt down.
Two pop ups and a strikeout ended the Escanaba eighth inning, and St. Clair then had the advantage with its top batters up. Stropich threw a wild pitch to move the placed runner to third base, and then she walked Cody to put runners at the corners.
Milkiewicz brought Jackson back in to pitch, but Becker smoked a no-doubt shot to the fence to bring home the winning run.
“We tried to get the bunts down, and we just couldn't get them down when we needed to,” the long-time Escanaba manager said. “We just couldn't score at the right time. But kudos to them. They hit well at the end, and scored the runs.”
BULLOCK CREEK 11, MARQUETTE 1---The host Marquette team also played in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, and lost to Bullock Creek, 11-1, in a game shortened by the mercy rule. Claire Dewitt doubled in Marquette's only run in the fourth inning, but a second girl was thrown out at the plate. Bullock Creek, from the Midland area, then put the game away with six more runs, ending Marquette's tournament run.
“To get to the Final Eight was a goal of ours,” Marquette Manager Justin Gustafson said. “For being a younger program, we've been trying to make that next step. Today, it showed. We battled a tough, tough team. Bullock Creek has a great program. Their names are on that (state championship) trophy a couple of times. It was great to see our girls come out and just compete. Hopefully, they can use the experience in the future.”
The semifinals on Wednesday will see St. Clair face Grosse Pointe, and Bullock Creek take on Gerorgetown.
