Katie Sequin hangs on to a pop fly at first base with some extra help from teammate Samantha Bellhorn.
Heather Spenceley waits for pickoff throw at third base during Thursday's contest.
Brent Baker
Pinny's Alisha Bishop lays down a squeeze bunt, scoring Samantha Bellhorn from third base in the second game of Monday's doubleheader with Oscoda.

PINCONNING - May 7, 2007 - While Pinconning took both games of Monday's softball doubleheader with Oscoda, 10-0 and 11-3, it was one of those rare occasions when both coaches were reasonably happy with how their teams played.

For the Spartans it was a bit more obvious why: after dropping their first NEMC contest in 79 tries last week, Pinny has bounced back and had its eyes on Thursday's showdown with Whittemore-Prescott that likely will decide the league title.

"We responded very well to that loss," said Pinny coach Tim Hoffman. "It's a long season and it's easy to fall asleep on occasion, so that was a great wake-up call.

"We struggled to adjust to Oscoda's pitching, but we eventually got the job done."

The Owls stayed within 1-0 for the first four innings of the opener before the Spartans broke loose with four runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to end it. In the second game, the Owls took a 1-0 lead the top of the fourth only to see Pinny score six in the bottom of the inning that all but wrapped it up.

"We knew coming in it would be tough," said Oscoda coach Mike Williams. "But I thought we played really well for the most part. Right now, it's usually one bad inning that lets us down when we commit two or three errors with two outs. If we can get that part of our game cleaned up, I feel like things could come together."

The Owls didn't have any luck against Pinny ace Candace Sequin in the opener, who tossed a five-inning no-hitter, walking one and striking out eight.

Kelsey Bourcier had a triple and three RBIs, while Alisha Bishop had two hits and drove in two runs. Riley Shelton took the loss, allowing seven hits and eight walks.

In the second game, Shelton's RBI base hits scored Nikki Shugart with the go-ahead run for Oscoda, but Kelsey Bourcier led off the bottom of the inning with a double, Lauren Lahar followed with a single, Ashley Mrozinski doubled and the Spartans didn't finish until they had a 6-1 lead. Samantha Bellhorn ripped a solo home run over the center field fence in the sixth to ignite the Spartans' second uprising, and Sequin added an RBI triple.

Bishop and Bourcier had two hits apiece in the second game, while Bellhorn had three RBIs and Alisha Ouillette two.

Shelton, Nikki Shugart and Dana Shugart had the Owls' hits, with Nikki Shugart taking the loss.

Taylor Beck was the winning pitcher, allowing three hits, one walk and two earned runs while striking out six.