For the Express
On Tuesday, Aug. 10, the Inlet Hot Screamers softball team traveled to North Creek to face Inn on Gore in a semi-final playoff game. As was the case during the regular season game, won by Inlet 3-1, this game was a low scoring, strong defensive affair. And once again, Inlet came away with an impressive 5-2 victory, securing a trip to the championship game.
Inlet put the home team and top seed Inn on Gore in an early hole, scoring three runs in the first inning. After consecutive singles from lead off hitter Dede Ste. Marie and number two hitter Heather Levi, Karen Hoskins came to the plate and delivered and RBI single. Clean-up hitter Angela Williams connected for Inlet’s fourth straight single, but Levi was thrown out at home for the first out of the inning. With runners on second and third, Crystal LaPorte drilled a two-run double to left center, scoring Hoskins and Williams, giving Inlet a quick 3-0 lead after half an inning.
Strong pitching by Colleen Brigham and solid defense behind her held the home team to only three hits over the first three innings. Some outstanding defensive plays were turned in by outfielders Ste. Marie and LaPorte as well as infielders Williams and Michaela Beckingham. Gore scored an unearned run in the fourth, cutting Inlet’s lead to 3-1.
However, Inlet quickly got that run back in the top of the fifth on an RBI from Hoskins, and tacked another run on in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Jen Gaffney. Leading 5-1 going into the last inning, Gore loaded the bases with one out. But as was the case the whole game, solid defense allowed only one run to score, for a final score of 5-2.
For the game, Inlet out hit Gore 17-6, lead by Levi going 4-4 and Ste. Marie going 3-4 with a run scored. Hoskins and Williams both went 2-4, with Hoskins scoring a run and driving in two and Williams scoring a run. Michaela Beckingham went 2-3 with a run scored and LaPorte ended up 1-3 with two RBI.
Inlet will face Ohio, who defeated Speculator in the other semi-final game, 11-7, on Tuesday, Aug. 10. They will meet up today, Aug. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in Speculator.