July 8, 2020 at 10:59 a.m.
Northwoods Fastpitch teams compete in Michigan
Northwoods Fastpitch teams compete in Michigan
By By Brett LaBore-
The 17U squad went 2-2, advanced to the championship game and took second in an 18U tournament that featured CC Crush, Northern Storm, Calumet, Negaunee and Kingsford.
"When you consider this is the first time in a year the girls have played, their first competition - it's pretty good," coach Mike Richie said. "That Negaunee team is pretty good and I think they had a few games under their belts as well."
The 14Us finished 1-3 and advanced to the semifinals of bracket play before falling to Kingsford.
17U
"The girls had a good time, it was great to be able to play a game," Richie said.
It all started against Calumet, where a combined no-hitter was tossed in the first game of pool play. Anna Schilling pitched four innings of no-hit baseball and secured the win. Saylor Timmerman relieved her and pitched one inning to complete the no-hitter.
"It was amazing. Both very good pitchers," Richie said. "Anna has a lot of control and then Saylor might be a little bit faster, but threw the other team off a bit. Both pitched very well."
On the offensive side, several players had two hits. Saylor Timmerman, Hannah Worachek, Lucy Lurvey and Ali Timmerman all went 2 for 3. Both Timmermans scored two runs each in addition to Maddie Marino.
Northwoods won the game 6-0.
In the second game of pool play, Northwoods faced tough pitching from Negaunee. Negaunee took the game 8-0. Northwoods accounted for just two hits from Schilling and Kylee White who both went 1 for 2.
"That was where we faced their best pitcher," Richie said. "She was impressive."
Another no-hitter was tossed for Northwoods, this time from Maddie Marino. The trouble came from numerous walks and a number of errors.
"Seven or eight walks and that was the difference," Richie said. "We had probably four errors in the game. That was tough."
Upon the completion of pool play, Northwoods was seeded second for bracket play on Sunday.
After a first-round bye, Northwoods found itself in another game against sixth-seeded Calumet in the semifinals of bracket play.
The game played out much differently than the first contest.
This time, Northwoods won 7-6 behind a comeback.
Down 3-0, Northwoods scored three runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth inning to complete the comeback. Hamerla went 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs while Worachek scored twice.
"The bats were silenced the first few innings and we had some strikeouts and we hit the ball right to them and then all of a sudden in two innings the bats just came alive and we scored all those runs," Richie said.
Schilling got another win, pitching five innings. Maddie Marino pitched one inning of relief.
The championship game was a rematch against Negaunee. Once again, Negaunee took the win, this time by a score of 3-2. Heading into the sixth inning, Northwoods had a 2-1 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Negaunee rallied for two runs.
"Their batter hit a line shot in the outfield and our right fielder got a good jump, got to the ball, totally extended and the ball hit in the middle of her glove and bounced out," Richie said. "It was a great effort and she went a long way to get to the ball and it just didn't stay in her glove when she was extended. Otherwise, we would have had the lead in the seventh inning and that scored two runs."
Hamerla was potent behind the plate, throwing out two runners trying to steal second.
"We were making real good defensive plays, not allowing base runners," Richie said. "A great softball game."
Saylor Timmerman had a complete effort in the championship game. Offensively, she went 1 for 3 with a triple.
"Saylor's pitching was incredible and they again threw their ace so basically a pitcher's duel," Richie said.
Bella Marino went 1 for 2 with a double and a run scored and Schilling scored the other run.
"This was a great championship game," Richie said. "I am very proud of this team and what they accomplished."
Northwoods Fastpitch took on Hurley in a doubleheader on Thursday. Next up, they are scheduled to play Hurley in another doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m.
14U
"Real nice. It was fun," coach Jacob Schueller said of the play of the 14U team. "It was awesome. There is no other feeling that can replicate competition and get out there and have those juices flowing."
It was a tough start. In pool play, Northwoods fell to Kingsford 8-3 and then lost to Soo Lookout 10-3.
"We simply didn't play very well in any aspect of the game in pool play," Schueller said. "There was definitely some rust and kinks as a result of only getting five practices in leading up to the tournament."
The bright spot came in the first game of bracket play against Negaunee. Northwoods was the six seed and Negaunee the three seed. Savannah Satterburg had a perfect game after three innings and ended up allowing one hit and one walk.
"That was a blast. Her change-up was just as good as her fastball, hitting her spots inside, outside, high or low," Schueller said. "Just to have that going, I haven't had that much fun in a lot of years."
Northwoods won the game 6-1.
"You got quick innings and up to bat right away and feeling those vibes - a sharper defense and the game is moving at a faster piece," Schueller said.
In the semifinal against Kingsford, Northwoods started out hot with a 4-0 lead in the first inning. But in the bottom half, they allowed three runs and things went downhill from there.
"The other team put the ball in play a lot. They found some timely base hits and then as we had some timely base hits from that first inning our bats went very quiet," Schueller said. "We had a ton of momentum right away and we lost it and it slowly swung their way and we never got it back."
Kingsford won the game 11-4.
Abigail Bixby finished with six hits in four games. Aubrey Beyer, Kieren Petrie and Tommie Jo Springer each recorded a triple.
Next up, the 14U team will head down to the Wisconsin Dells tournament July 17-19.
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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