Tense 13 inning win sends RCHS softball team to regional

Saturday?s 3-2 Huron win over Hillman in 13 innings proved to be the kind that tried the emotions of supporters of both teams. Finally decided after nearly three hours of battling, the district championship game sends the Hurons into regional play against Gaylord St. Mary Saturday at noon in Rogers City. With Huron junior Ashley Fleming matched with Hillman junior Brianne Herbeck, each team had limited chances to score either in regulation or in the extra innings.

Herbek, who worked 20 innings on the day, seven coming in the Tigers? game one win over Onaway, didn?t overpower the Hurons, but kept getting outs aided by great defense behind her. She allowed nine Huron hits. Fleming limited the Tigers to five hits and two walks while striking out 15 in 13 innings. Each team had great defense behind its ace. ?There were some hard hit balls that were caught. Hillman made some plays, and we made some plays,? said Huron coach Karl Grambau. ?It was high school softball at its best, I thought.?

ROGERS CITY went up 1-0 in the first after a leadoff single by Laura Konieczny and an RBI double down the left field line by Fleming. It would be the last time Fleming saw a hittable pitch on the day, as Herbek walked her five times after that. Hillman tied the game in the fifth with an unearned run before senior centerfielder Cassy Brege unloaded a triple in the bottom half of the inning. With junior rightfielder Megan Hanson, who singled, on second, Brege drilled a Herbeck offering to the fence in right-centerfield, scoring the speedy Hanson. Fleming set down the side in the sixth but had trouble in the seventh inning. Needing a run to stay alive, the Tigers mounted a threat. Two singles and an error loaded the bases for the Tigers with one out.

Herbek slapped a pitch into right field, which Hanson fielded on a hop, and threw to C.J. Calabrese at first for the out, the second time Hanson did that during the game. A runner scored, but now there were two out. Fleming struck out the next batter to send the game into extra innings, tied at 2-2.

THE HURONS THREATENED in the seventh, but couldn?t push over the winning run. Hanson led off with a single, one of her three on the day, but was left stranded on third after a sacrifice, a fly out, a walk, a stolen base, and a groundout. Calabrese singled to lead off the eighth inning, but was cut down at third trying to advance from first on a sacrifice by Tiffiny Krueger. Hillman had a runner thrown out on a similar play in the top of the inning. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the ninth and Fleming struck out the side in the Hillman tenth. Hillman?s leadoff hitter reached third base in the eleventh, but a fine running catch by Hanson in rightfield notched the final out.

In the Huron eleventh, third baseman Sara Dove singled, but was erased as senior catcher Heather LaLonde drilled a liner into a double play. Fleming drew a one-out walk in inning 12, advanced to second on a Laura Koniecnzy sacrifice, but stayed there as Brege and Jess Konieczny each grounded out.

THEN CAME THE 13th inning. With the spectator area crowded from the spillover from the long-ago completed boys district championship game, the Hurons took advantage of rare Hillman errors to get the win. Calabrese led off the inning by hitting a ball that was mishandled by the Hillman second baseman. Krueger, swinging away, nearly drove one past the Hillman rightfielder, who turned it into the first out on a fine running catch as Calabrese raced back to first base. Then Dove came up with the task of bunting Calabrese to second. She laid down a 3-1 pitch two feet in front of the plate, the catcher scooped it up, throwing in the direction of first base, but the ball went into rightfield. Calabrese, who was off on the pitch, scored from first and the Hurons had a district championship. Moments before the bunt, the Hillman catcher took a foul tip off her throwing hand, causing a stoppage in play for medical attention. On Dove?s bunt, the throw sailed slightly to the right of the bag, but no one was there to cover the base. Although Fleming struggled a bit in the seventh, she came on strong in extra i

nnings, striking out six in the final six innings.

THE HURONS advanced to the championship game with an 11-0 mercy-rule win over Atlanta. Tiffiny Krueger went all five innings, and she struck out three while allowing just one hit and one walk. Krueger had three hits and scored two runs. Jess Konieczny had two hits and drove in three while Fleming had two hits and scored two runs for the Hurons. Rogers City will again host the regional tournament with Mackinaw City/Cedarville going up against Ellsworth in the 10 a.m. game. The winner will play the winner of the noon game between Rogers City and Gaylord St. Mary.

The winners square off at 2 p.m. for the regional championship. The regional winner advances to the Elk Rapids quarterfinal Tuesday at noon, the same time as the baseball quarterfinals in the same location, to play the winner of the Custer-Mason County Eastern regional. That regional includes Leelanau St. Mary, Brethren, Fife Lake, and Mason County Eastern. The state semifinals are Friday, June 18, at 10:30 a.m. at Bailey Park in Battle Creek with the championship game set for Saturday, June 19 at 10:30 a.m.

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