Tawas Area enjoys its district championship trophy after topping rival Oscoda in the title contest.
Riley Shelton winds up for a pitch during Friday's championship game with Tawas.
Whittemore-Prescott and Julie Janish saw their season end with an 8-5 loss to Tawas Area in the opener.
Linda Eyer
Tawas Area's Cassie Bush slides safely into second base with a steal as Heather Spenceley pulls down the throw.

OSCODA - May 30, 2008 - Tawas Area earned its long-awaited district championship on Friday, vanquishing rival Oscoda 14-2 in the championship contest.

To get there, though, the Braves needed to beat another conference rival that has been a perennial thorn in their sides the past few years in the district tournament.

That would be Whittemore-Prescott, which has enjoyed a string in recent years of being the team to knock Tawas out of the district tournament.

It looked for awhile like it might be more of the same as W-P jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning as Julie Janish's RBI single, a two-run triple by Ashley Tanner and a wild pitch gave the Cards the lead.

Tawas came back with a five-run third inning that proved to be decisive. The Braves loaded the bases on two walks and an error, then got on the board as Lyndsey Look drew a walk to force in a run. Christie Cooper followed with a two-run single, and Rachel Adaline's two-run double gave Tawas the lead for good.

"Tawas's big third inning was the difference," said W-P coach Sam Harrison. "We have up three walks, an error and two hits."

The Braves added two in the fourth and one in the sixth before W-P got a Janish triple and an RBI groundout from Tanner.

Katie LaHaye, Look and Adaline each finished with two hits for the Braves, while Janish and Sharesse King each had two for W-P. Nikki Stein earned the first of her two wins on the day, allowing seven hits and four earned runs while striking out six.

"It wasn't our best game of the season," Harrison said. "But I was pleased with the effort and energy we brought to the game.

"This team improved more from the first game to the final game than any varsity team we've coached, and that goes back 13 seasons. For a team to go 22-9 with our schedule after (graduation) two all-state players, then start four sophomores and a freshman is pretty amazing."

Oscoda, which advanced to the final with an 8-5 win over Roscommon, hung with the Braves through the first four innings. The Owls drew first blood on Nikki Shugart's RBI groundout in the first inning after Heather Spenceley led the inning off with a triple.

Tawas scored three times in the second inning and once in the third to take a 4-1 lead, but the Owls came back with another run in the third, again thanks to Spenceley, who tripled and scored on a wild pitch.

Tawas, leading 4-2, put the game out of reach with four runs in the fifth and six in the sixth.

Stein took the win, allowing one earned run on six hits and striking out nine while walking two. Riley Shelton started and took the loss for the Owls, pitching into the sixth inning.

The Owls, though they weren't able to win an NEMC contest this year, came as close to .500 as they have been in some time.

"We're certainly pleased with our accomplishments," said Owls coach Mike Williams. "We would have liked to win the last one, but Tawas was a better team in that game.

"Our girls played hard this year, that's for sure."

Adaline had four hits and two RBIs, Stein had two doulbles and Cassie Bush added a double to place the Braves' offense.

Riley Shelton had two hits for the Owls.

The Braves (24-12) face the host squad at Kalkaska in Saturday's second regional semifinal game at approximately noon. The winner plays Gladstone or East Jordan in the regional final.