Juniors Boys roll past North Emmet; Minor Girls lose tough pitching duel

The all-star post season got underway for four teams from the Rogers City Little League program with two teams surviving the first week and two getting eliminated. A couple of other squads are anxious to see their first action, and won?t have to wait much longer.

Junior Boys

Pitcher Justin LaPointe was the recipient of an early 3-0 lead and Matt Mertz was three-for-four at the plate in a 7-1 win for the Junior Boys (13 & 14 year olds). Matched up against Cheboygan, who basically received a bye because North Emmet dropped out of the tournament, the two teams squared off in Harbor Springs. LaPointe was one of three Rogers City pitchers sent to the mound. Ben Tulgestke and Tyler Szumila helped keep the Cheboygan bats in check and made sure Rogers City locked up a spot in the semifinals. They are two wins away from a district title. Among the three hits for Mertz, he had a double. Their next game was Wednesday (past press time) against Petoskey.

Minor Girls

Onaway won a pitching duel Tuesday to hand Rogers City its first loss of the tournament. The Minor Girls (9 & 10) were 2-0 heading into the showdown played at Onaway. Anna Couture took the mound for Rogers City, while Emily Estep was on the hill for Onaway. Hitters were not very successful against either pitcher, as both threw one-hitters. Estep may have given up one more walk with six, but she struck out 14 Rogers City batters. Couture ended the game with 10 K?s and five walks and took the loss. Onaway scored single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth. Rogers City drops into the losers bracket for a game today (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m.

In earlier tournament action, Tri Rivers and North Emmet were no match for Rogers City. The tournament started July 8 with a 29-3 win against Tri Rivers. Couture and Riena Altman shared the pitching duties in the victory. Rogers City scored five in the first, six in the second, 10 in the third, and eight in the fourth. Couture was two-for-three with a pair of singles, while Abbie Delekta was three-for-four with a single, double and a homer. Cassie Brege also added a home run. The girls were even more dominant the next day against North Emmet, with a 19-0 shutout victory. Four pitchers paraded to the mound and allowed no runs. Sharing time were Ashley Myers, Courtney Streich, Brege, and Couture.

Delekta was two-for-two with a single and a homer, Monica Urban had two singles, while Nikki LaLonde ripped a triple. In a few leftover results from the regular season, Stanley Wozniak Insurance defeated Nautical Lanes, 8-3, June 30. Taylor Chojnacki (two doubles), Abbie Delekta, and Ashley Meyers all had two hits apiece. Courtney Streich was two-for-three for Nautical. Anna Couture was the winning pitcher, striking out a dozen and allowing only two hits. Wozniak Insurance beat FOP, June 22, 13-1, with Ashley Meyers striking out eight.

UPDATE: The girls topped Onaway in the semifinals then lost on Saturday and were eliminated from the tournament. More details will be posted later.

Major Girls

The season came to an end for the Rogers City major league girls all-stars as the team lost two games in the Cheboygan district tournament. In the July 6 game, the Rogers City girls managed just four hits and committed seven errors in a 12-2 loss to Cheboygan. Paige Lewandowski went all six innings for Rogers City, allowing 13 hits while walking one and striking out four. Emily Delekta had two hits, including a double, while Linnea Brege and Kelleigh Lamb scored the two runs for RC. In the Saturday game, the Rogers City team came out on fire, scoring nine runs in the first two innings. Onaway came back to notch a 15-9 win and move on in the tournament. Rogers City had five hits and were aided by 10 walks and two hit batters.

Paige Lewandowski had two hits for Rogers City while Hilary Viegelahn, Emily Delekta, and Karlee Wilk each had a hit. Wilk started, working the first four innings before Brege relieved her. Kelleigh Lamb and Brittany Ciup

ka each scored two runs for Rogers City. Junior Girls Their first tournament game was Wednesday (past press time) against North Emmet. A win would match them up with the winner of the Petoskey-Harbor Springs game today. There are only four teams in the tournament being played at Pellston.

Minor Boys

The wait will be over Saturday in what is supposed to be one of the hottest days of summer, but as coaches say, it will be the same conditions for both squads. Rogers City plays Onaway at 11:30 a.m. A victory would pit them against the winner of the Cheboygan-Harbor Springs contest Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Major Boys The tournament run came to an end after three games. The boys dropped their first game to Petoskey, won their second game, but were eliminated from the tournament by Tri-Rivers. No further details were made available by the coaching staff.

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