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Tri-County Citizen



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PUBLISHED: Sunday, June 10, 2007
Chesaning captures district softball title

Indians beat Rams in semis thriller, cruise in finals


BURTON - Chesaning rallied from behind twice to finally beat Montrose, 10-8, in the Bentley softball district semis before coasting to an easy 15-0 win in the title game against Flint Northwestern on Saturday, June 2.

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With little opposition awaiting them in the finals, the two neighboring schools hooked up in a seesaw semi-final contest that went right down to the wire.

Devon Burzynski's Indians jumped out to an early lead by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning, but the Rams scored once in the bottom of the frame and then took the lead by plating six runs in the bottom of the third, running starting pitcher Beth Kensrud off the mound with a barrage of hits. Denelle Schian came on in relief for Chesaning and yielded just one run on four hits over the final 4 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Indians struck for a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the score at 7-7. But the Rams scored their only run off Schian in the fifth and clung to the 8-7 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

Jill Hunt opened the top of the seventh with a double to put the tying run in scoring position. The Indians then put down two sacrifice bunts, both of which were mishandled by the Ram defense, allowing the tying run to cross the plate. The two runners who reached base by error eventually scored as a result of two more Ram miscues, giving the Tribe a 10-8 lead. Montrose went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to send Chesaning to the finals.

"Going into the last inning, I knew it came down to what Jill Hunt was going to do," assessed Burzynski. "Once she hit the double, we knew we had a chance to win. The next two batters executed the bunt well and we scored off errrors. It was a great comeback and team effort for us."

Montrose's Kylie Adams gave up eight hits, striking out three and walking just one, but the senior hurler was hurt by five errors behind her.

Hunt had three hits and three RBI's to lead the Tribe offense. Cassie Harris had a pair of hits. Montrose was led by Steffanie Anderson's three hits, including two doubles. Amber Bouchard rapped a pair of doubles and while Adams and Alisha Arthur collected two hits each.

"This was the toughest loss we suffered this year," commented Coach Miller. "Three outs away from the victory and we collapsed with four consecutive errors. I love this group of ballplayers and the effort they gave. I only wish we could have come through and extended our season. The seniors will be missed."

After a scoreless first inning in the title game, the Indians scored eight runs in the second and followed with seven more in the third to win the title game in just three innings, 15-0. Kensrud pitched a perfect game, setting down all nine batters she faced. She struck out five.

Hunt, Whitney Pacek and Tiffany Eurich each stroked a pair of hits for Chesaning, who improved to 12-20 overall.





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