Whittemore-Prescott's softball team gathers around its district championship trophy for the fifth time in seven years after topping Standish-Sterling on Saturday.
SSC's Schylur McLean races in to make a catch in right field during Saturday's district title game.
Oscoda's Abigail Wilkerson makes a diving catch at second base during the Owls' 3-2 semifinal loss to Standish-Sterling.
Brent Baker
Whittemore-Prescott's Sharesse King reacts after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning that got the Cardinals off and running to their district championship victory.

STANDISH-STERLING - June 2, 2007 - Whittemore-Prescott wasn't about to let up after a strong start at Saturday's Division 3 District 70 softball tournament.

The Cardinals, after edging Tawas Area 1-0 in a pre-district game on Tuesday and Alcona 16-0 earlier in the day, made a statement in the first inning of the championship contest with Standish-Sterling and took a 10-2 victory over the host Panthers for W-P's fifth district title in seven seasons.

The Cards, who lost to Standish-Sterling two weeks ago at the Tawas Invitational, knew that the Panthers would be dangerous -- especially considering SSC came into the game having won 19 of its last 23 games after a 3-10 start.

Sharesse King followed Kaylon Leslie's one-out triple with her first career home run, a 240-foot shot over the center field fence, to give the Cards a 2-0 lead and W-P never trailed on its way to taking the district title.

"King's home run was a great start," said W-P coach Sam Harrison. "She hits the ball so hard, we've been expecting her to hit one out for awhile. And then we kept putting the ball in play and getting hits."

SSC scored an unearned run in the second to pull to within 2-1, but the Cards, helped by three Panther errors in the fourth inning, scored five unearned runs of their own to take a 7-1 lead. Theresa Janish had an RBI single and Julie Janish a run-scoring double in the inning.

"How quick did things change?" asked SSC coach Keith Fegan. "All those runs were unearned. The game can be played a lot differently when it's 2-1. Bunts steals, all that was gone.

"Credit W-P, they kept hitting the ball. We were getting on base but couldn't get the key hit. The kids played hard though. They kept at it even after the score got out of hand."

Theresa and Julie Janish, King and Leslie each had two hits and all but Leslie had two RBIs apiece. Leslie and King each scored three runs. Theresa Janish earned the win, allowing two unearned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out 12.

Tiffany Belanger had two hits, Terra Hartley had a hit and an RBI and Barbara Filipeck had a double. Filipeck took the loss, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and three walks, striking out one.

"We have a young team, and to finish 19-5 (finishing 22-15 overall) after the start they had says a lot about them," Fegan said. "They could have gone the opposite direction.

"If we keep losing district championships, then at least we're getting a shot at the next level."

The Cards (30-9) hope to end their run of frustrations at the regional level next Saturday at Kalkaska, where they take on Gladstone in a 10 a.m. semifinal.

"We've been improving as the season has gone on," Harrison said. "We keep knocking on the door at regionals; hopefully it's our turn to get to that next level."

 

Semifinal: Standish-Sterling 3, Oscoda 2

Oscoda looked a far cry from the team that Standish-Sterling outscored in 40-1 in a doubleheader earlier in the season.

The Owls threw a big-time scare into the Panthers in Saturday's district semifinal, with SSC scratching out a fifth-inning run to take the lead for good.

"The last 12 games we've played some really great ball," said Oscoda coach Mike Williams. "We haven't made as many errors, and when we do we have bounced back a lot better."

Nikki Shugart's base hit gave the Owls a 1-0 lead in the first, though SSC's Olivia Picard threw a runner out at home on the same play to help limit the damage. The Panthers came back with two runs in the third inning as Terra Hartley and Barbara Filipeck had RBI singles. After Oscoda tied it in the fourth, Picard's double scored Alyssa Bonnau with what proved to be the winning run.

Filipeck earned the win, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out five. Nikki Shugart gave up nine hits but didn't walk a batter, striking out three in the loss.

"Nikki has gotten more accurate, throws harder and with more confidence than earlier in the year," Williams said. "Things have been starting to come together; it's too bad the season is over and this didn't start happening a bit earlier."

The Owls finished their season with a 10-19 mark, winning seven of their final 12 heading into the tournament.

 

Whittemore-Prescott 16, Alcona 0

The Cardinals rolled into the championship contest with a 16-0 defeat of Lincoln Alcona as Theresa and Julie Janish combined to throw a five-inning one-hitter.

The Cards scored eight runs in the third inning and six more in the fifth to ensure an early finish. Kaylon Leslie had three hits and scored three runs, while Sharesse King and Kelsey Sievers each scored three runs and Julie Janish and Robin Sievers each scored twice.