Pinconning's district championship has the Spartans back in familiar territory as they head for next weekend's Benzie Central regional.
Pinny freshman Kayla Kazmierski tossed a shutout in the Spartans' district championship win over Standish-Sterling.
Kayla Hilyard (left) opened SSC's scoring in its win over Ogemaw Heights by scoring on an error.
Ogemaw's Kate Dombrowski turned in a strong outing for the Falcons despite their opening-round loss to SSC.
Linda Eyer
Pinny's Paige Little scores during the Spartans' district championship victory over Standish-Sterling.

OGEMAW HEIGHTS - May 31, 2008 - Early in the season Pinconning softball coach Mike Horner wasn't sure where his team would end up.

Come June, they are right where they're used to being, playing in a regional tournament with fresh NEMC and district trophies in hand.

The Spartans took Saturday's district championship game with a 4-0 victory over Standish-Sterling, after topping Gladwin 11-2 in the opener.

"We played pretty decent," he said. "I'm pleased with where we are, but we still need to pick it up a notch."

Freshman Kayla Kazmierski tossed a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts to earn the championship game win. Chelsea Adcock had two hits and Kelsey Bourcier had an RBI double to lead the Spartans in the win.

The victory earns the Spartans (28-12-1) a regional tournament date with Reed City in Saturday's semifinal contest at Benzie Central.

"I don't know a lot about them," Horner said. "I hope we can beat them. If we do, the favorite (to win the tournament) has to be Petoskey. But we have to get their first.

"At his point we just have to play good defense. The games always seem to end up 1-0 and 2-1, and anyone can win on a given day. Defense usually wins or loses games at this time of year."

The Panthers (23-12) advanced to the championship game by knocking out host Ogemaw Heights in the opener, 4-1, behind the six-hit pitching of Barbara Filipeck.

The Panthers took the lead in the first inning as Kayla Hilyard reached base on one error and scored on another.

The Falcons bounced back with Jenna Zettel's RBI single in the bottom of the first to tie it, but after that there wasn't much for the hitters until SSC strung together four hits in the sixth inning to take the lead.

Alyssa Bonnau led off with a single, Hilyard followed with another single and Samantha McQuarter's single leaded the bases. Jordan Dodd's RBI groundout scored Bonnau for the lead, and Terra Hartley's two-run single broke the game open.

Filipeck walked two and struck out four in the win.

Kate Dombrowski took the loss, allowing three earned runs on six hits, walking one and striking out 10. Through the first five innings two of the three baserunners she allowed got there due to errors.

The Falcons wrapped up their season with a 20-15 mark.