RC to face Onaway in softball district semifinal

by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor Errors got the scoring going and big hits helped the Hurons finish off the Atlanta Huskies in the first round of district softball play. Rogers City tagged Atlanta with a 15-5 mercy-rule win, propelling the Hurons into Saturday?s districts on the home field. The Hurons will play Onaway Saturday at 10 a.m. at Gilpin Field. Posen, an 11-1 winner over Johannesburg-Lewiston (see related story) takes on Hillman in the noon contest. The winners square off for the right to advance to the Johannesburg regional June 9.

?I?m really happy with the enthusiasm the girls had. I thought we ran the bases really hard. We were trying to be a little bit more aggressive and I think we were. We will have to play good on Saturday and we are looking forward to the home field advantage,? said coach Karl Grambau after the win. BATTING IN THE top half of the inning, the Hurons scored three times in the first, aided by four Husky errors. ?We made them throw the ball around and we took advantage of that,? Grambau said. Leadoff hitter Moni Cercone?s grounder was mishandled by the second baseman, and then the pitcher overthrew first base on Katie Tulgestke?s bunt attempt, allowing Cercone to score. With one out, Laura Konieczny singled in Tulgestke, who later scored on an error. Atlanta came back with two in the bottom of the first inning off junior Elly Plath. Plath struggled a bit with her control in the frame, walking two and uncorking a wild pitch. She struck out five and walked three while allowing five hits in her three innings.

The top of the order answered the bell for the Hurons in the top of the third. Cercone started things by singling to right, then stealing second. She had three hits and scored three runs in the game. Tulgestke walked and stole second. Cercone scored on a wild pitch and Tulgestke scored when the catcher?s throw, trying to get her at third, went into left field. CHELSIE

BREGE singled, one of her two hits in the game, and then scored on senior centerfielder Tiffiny Krueger?s home run to right center, capping a four-run inning. It was Krueger?s first over the fence homer in her high school career. Heather Kowalski provided the big blow in the eight-run Huron fourth inning. She batted twice in the inning, walking and later scoring to lead off the inning. Then, with two out and the bases loaded, she blasted a ball between the left and center fielders, scoring herself when the relay throw sailed by the third baseman. ?Heather?s triple kind of broke things open for us,? Grambau said.

?The softball district is very evenly matched, I think. The team that plays the best defense and can come up with a few key hits here and there will be the one to move on,? Grambau said. Freshman Logan Schuiteman pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning and sophomore Sammie Brege struck out one in a 1-2-3 fifth inning. Rogers City had nine hits and were aided by five Atlanta errors.