DOWNSTATE BOUND: Escanaba Girls Win District
Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos taken by Mackenzie Engrebretson, and to hear post-game interviews with the victorious Eskymos.
ESCANABA---The Escanaba Minor Little League All-Stars (age 8-10) earned a trip to the state tournament by beating Gladstone, 12-5, in the District Ten championship game Wednesday night in Escanaba. The win sends the Escanaba girls to the town of Sparta, near Grand Rapids, for the 16-team state finals set to begin at the end of the month.
And the win helped to erase the sting of Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Gladstone.
"It's just so much fun seeing all of their hard work paying off," Escanaba Manager Danicia Humbert said. "Just the excitement. You know, when Esky and Gladstone play, it's fun to be a part of it. We told them, this is the last game, right here, of this tournament. We've got to go out and take this game. We've got to go out with some intensity and some excitement, and they did that."
They certainly did. Escanaba jumped to an 8-0 lead in the first two innings, and even though Gladstone tried to chip away at the deficit, it was a matter of time before Esky got the win.
"I mean, it was sad to lose," Escanaba second baseman Ruby Jacobsen said. "But (now) it's happy when you win. So, I'm happy. I felt like we had pump-up music and stuff, so that kind of hyped us up. We had good hitting, so that might have helped."
It certainly did. Escanaba had 15 base hits off of Gladstone pitcher Maia Hughes, who threw the entire six innings for her team. Jacobsen had three of those base hits, and Evie Young also came through with three base hits for Escanaba.
"I felt really good because I just started baseball two years ago," Young said. "I think I've really thrived. I have amazing coaches who really support me and are patient with me."
That offensive support was more than enough for pitcher Amaya Humbert, who threw a complete game and struck out twelve batters for the second straight outing.
"My teammates were just cheering me on, and it was like, three up, three down," she said. "I just went to the field and I practiced (after Tuesday's loss), and I think everyone had a good night's sleep. Yesterday just wasn't our day. Today, we just gave it our all."
Gladstone continued its aggressive baserunning every time they got a girl on base, and although they only managed three base hits, they did get five walks off of Humbert. Three of them came back to score as Coach Brenda Damitz's team continued to steal multiple bases.
Stella Reuther had a two-run base hit down the left field line for Gladst0ne in the fouth inning, but Escanaba continued to tack on runs to boost that initial 8-0 lead.
Gen Fields put the game away with a two-run base hit in the top of the sixth inning, and Harper Adiska had a pair of run-scoring hits for Escanaba.
There were some errors on both sides, as you always get at this age group, but there were also some great defensive plays.
Gladstone shortstop Nora Nastoff had an outstanding over-the-shoulder catch of a Barlow Bosk fly ball that would have brought in at least two runs with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. An inning earlier, Gladstone right fielder Olivia Damitz was able to track down a super-high fly ball to rob Escanaba's Ziandah Boursaw of a hit and run batted in.
Despite Gladstone's best efforts, though, it will be Escanaba that will make the long trip to the Grand Rapids area next week to play in the 16-team state tournament.
"I'm excited for them to be a part of it, and to see how a state tournament is run, and to see some different teams than we see around here," Coach Humbert said. "Just experience the whole thing. Meet other girls from some other teams from throughout Michigan. There's a lot of time that the kids get to bond and to create those friendships and those lifelong memories."
And the girls are pumped.
"I'm really excited," Young said. "Because I have a lot of family members down there that I don't usually see. And I'm excited to be able to look back on this."
"I'm super happy because I got to watch my sister do it, and she got pretty far," Amaya Humbert added.
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