Junior girls lose in state quarterfinals

A dream of state title ended in the hot summer sun at Pinery Park in Wyoming Tuesday for the Rogers City Little League Junior Girls All Star team. Taylor came up with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to notch an 8-3 win over the local team. Rogers City scored a run in the first inning and Taylor answered with a run in the third off starter Leilani Kortman. Rogers City came back with two more in the top of the fourth to lead 3-1.

Kortman went the first four innings and was relieved by Katie Darga, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning and left in the sixth without recording an out. Logan Schuiteman went two-thirds of an inning and Paige Lewandowski pitched one-third. Leanne Buczkowski, Lindsay Ponik and Leann Strzelecki each had two hits. Paige Lewandowski and Katie Darga added a single each. The loss ended a great run for the Rogers City and Posen girls, led by head coach Mike Darga and assistant Gary Bisson.

?These were a proud group of girls to coach,? Darga said after the game. ?Of all the years and all of the teams I have coached over the years, this team was the best.? The team and their parents stayed in a Grand Rapids area hotel four nights and were very supportive of their girls in the tournament run, Darga said. ?This is the best bunch of parents you will every have. They stood behind their kids and never stopped cheering,? Darga said. Darga said the long run might not have been possible without the assistance of Bisson, who Darga said ?knows a lot about softball.? The juniors earned their way to bracket play by winning four straight games over a three-day period in pool play at Wyoming?s Pinery Park Little League complex. Their winning ways began with a 33-3 pasting of Gladwin Saturday. Lindsay Ponik led a 36-hit attack by blasting five hits and knocking in five runs. She also pitched four innings and struck out five to earn the win on the mound.

Leilani Kortman, Logan Schuiteman, and Leanne Buczkowski also had five hits while Emily Marx, Leann Strzelecki, and Emily Delekta had four hits each. Katie Darga added three hits and two walks as Rogers City marched to a powerful win. On Sunday, the juniors took a 12-9 win over Hanover-Horton in a game which went 10 innings.

Schuiteman started, working the first four innings while notching three strikeouts. Darga pitched the middle innings and Kortman finished and got the pitching win. Kortman had three hits and walked in the contest to lead a nine-hit attack. Buczkowski and Strzelecki each had two hits while Schuiteman and Erika Kuznicki had one hit each. The juniors played two games Monday, winning each to finish 4-0 in pool play.

The RC-Posen all stars defeated Portage 15-3 in the first game as Buczkowski went the first four innings and struck out six in a winning effort. Darga relieved, striki

ng out two in three innings of work. Again the bats were hot as 10 different players had hits. Kortman had five hits in six trips while Schuiteman had four hits. Marx, and Darga had three hits while Ponik and Buczkowski had two hits each.

The second game brought more excitement, but again fell in the win column, but with a closer score. This time the locals won 8-6 over Cass City. Ponik started and got the win. She pitched four innings and struck out five. Schuiteman pitched two innings, striking out three. Darga came on in the seventh, retiring Cass City on three pitches, on two fly balls and a groundout.

Marx had three hits while Kortman, Ponik and Strzelecki had two hits while Darga, Schuiteman and Buczkowski had a hit each.