Posen still in command of NSL with sweep of Au Gres; defeat state ranked school at host tourney

For the Posen softball team, getting swept at Rogers City seemed like nothing more than a bump in the road, as the Vikings went on to win the trophy at their own tournament and improved their North Star League record to 10-0 with a sweep of Au Gres. Posen (21-3) waited through a rain delay Monday against the league school which requires traveling the farthest, but that was the only bad luck the girls found at Au Gres. The Vikings shut out the Wolverines in game one, 4-0, with three runs in the third and one in the fifth, and coasted in the nightcap, 10-3.

Michelle Bednarski started both games and had a combined 12 strikeouts and allowed only one walk. She gave up three hits in game one and five in the second contest.

?AT AU GRES, we put the ball in play routinely,? said head coach Glenn Budnick. ?We hit the ball really hard, in the second game, especially. As long as we continue to do that, we?ll score runs on a consistent basis.? Dorothy Romel had two of Posen?s seven hits in the opener against Au Gres including a double, while Beth Julian was two-for-three with an RBI single. Katie Lewandowski had a pair of RBI, one coming off a bases-loaded walk. Jenny Ciarkowski pitched a perfect final inning in game two for the red and white, ending the evening?s action with a strikeout of the last Wolverine batter.

Posen is looking to capture its third straight NSL championship and had four games left going into Wednesday?s game at Atlanta (past press time) and then they play Tuesday at Arenac Eastern. The last home games of the season are next Wednesday against the Onaway Cardinals. A milestone was reached during the last week as three seniors: Bednarski, Shannon Ciarkowski, and Danielle Smolinski have been a part of 100 victories with the program over the last four years, which is believed to be the first group to accomplish that mark in school history.

THE VIKINGS took a 5-1 lead in their semifinal game of the Posen Invitational against Harbor Light Christian and held on for a 5-4 win. Shannon Ciarkowski earned the win. The championship game of the tournament was an impressive matchup. Ellsworth (20-2) had won 20 games in a row going in, with their only losses coming in the first games of the season to Central Lake. The Lancers defeated Mackinaw City in the semifinal game of the tournament, a school Posen edged by one run earlier in the month. The Vikings had a textbook performance, with no errors, and another solid performance by Bednarski. ?We played great defense, which got some great pitching from Michelle,? said Budnick. ?We started to put the ball into play. As I told the girls, as long as they put the ball in play, good things will happen and eventually they?ll become base hits and the balls will start going through.?

ELLSWORTH, WHICH is an honorable mention in the polls, scored in the bottom of the first, while Posen countered with two when the Vikes came up to hit. Shannon Ciarkowski had a bloop hit and later scored on a throwing error after Courtney Rome

l sacrificed her to second. Roxann Hincka, pinch running for Bednarski, who reached on the error, would score on another throwing error, to make the score 2-1. The Vikings pushed the final run of the game across in the next inning, by manufacturing a run. Katie Lewandowski led off the inning with a single through the infield. She stole second and third and came home on an RBI single by Jenny Ciarkowski. The pitchers then settled into a duel, but the Vikings were just a little bit better in that department. The streak of setting down a dozen straight only came to an end with a bloop single with two out in the fifth.

IT WAS an authoritive way for Posen to rebound after being swept for the first time this season at Rogers City, 3-0 and 5-2. Huron Ashley Fleming threw a one-hitter in game one and struck out 11. Beth Julian had the only hit. Bednarski held Rogers City to three hits. Fleming earned the win in game two as well, throwing the first four innings. Setting the record straight: Bednarski had a combined 19 strikeouts in a doubleheader May 10 at Fairview. She picked up wins in both games against the Eagles. Last week?s article said Michelle shared the strikeout total with Shannon Ciarkowski.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.