WEST BRANCH – July 11, 2005 – Dan Ferrell got more than he bargained for when he agreed to coach this year’s 9-10 year-old softball all-stars.

With most of last year’s state tournament team graduating to the 11-year-old bracket, the expectations may not have been there for a return trip to the finals. But Ferrell and the West Branch squad earned themselves a trip to the big show, beginning Friday, July 15 in Escanaba, with a come-from-behind 17-7 victory over East Jordan for the District 8 title.

It took a gutty pitching effort from Shelby Killinger, who overcame early control trouble to hold East Jordan to three runs over the final four innings; a timely double play from Ciara Cannoy to help escape the near-disastrous first inning; and a barrage of late-inning hitting that turned a tight contest into a 10-run mercy-rule victory.

Six walks and a three-base error put West Branch in a 4-1 hole in the first inning. East Jordan still had the bases loaded and one out when Cannoy took a sharp grounder to third, tagged a baserunner who didn’t attempt to score, and touched third base to force the runner from second.

East Jordan added two more runs in the second to make it 6-1, but the final three innings belonged to West Branch.

The offense got rolling in the third when Killinger led off with a double. Molly Keetch followed with an RBI single, Ashley Ferrell walked and Kelsey Killinger reached base on an error. Cannoy followed with an RBI single and Chelsea Miles drove home two runs with a hit that tied it at 6-6.

Ferrell drove home Keetch with the go-ahead run in the fourth. But in the fifth inning, West Branch strung together seven hits and were helped by two East Jordan errors, a walk and a hit batter. Shelby Killinger, Keetch, Cannoy, Kennedy Beechum, Magan Mahaney and Shelby Marshall each drove in runs in the inning.

West Branch also played near-flawless defense, not committing an error after the first inning and recording 13 of 15 outs in the field. Jordan Bacchus had the lone hit for East Jordan.

West Branch reached the championship game with a 3-0 record in pool play, including a come-from-behind 15-13 victory over Roscommon, a 9-5 win over Huron East and another win over East Jordan.