Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JASON JUNO
NORWAY --- The Gogebic Miners softball team, made up of players from Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco, isn’t all that old, starting play back in 2017.
The district drought at both schools in basketball dates back longer than that. The Bessemer girls last won one on the hardwood in 2006 and it was 2004 for Wakefield-Marenisco.
The Miners softball team jumped for joy as coach Kassi Huotari brought them the softball district championship trophy, the softball program’s first, after they beat North Dickinson 17-6 in Friday’s district final.
Huotari was happy to see them get a championship trophy.
“It’s really important for the girls,” she said. “They haven’t won a district title, I don’t think ever for the Gogebic Miners, especially other sports, too. They’re seeing a lot of success in softball and it’s great to see. Hopefully we can continue it going forward.”
She gave them all the credit for elevating the program to the status it’s at now after some lean years to start.
“We just have a really talented group of girls,” Huotari said. “Beth Steiger worked with them since they were little and that has followed all the way through to high school.”
They’ve made the other sports at both schools better as well with both basketball programs improving of late also. Finding some success now at the district level meant a lot to them.
“I’ve been waiting for four years, finally got it my senior year,” said Gogebic’s Brooke Stanislawski, also a standout basketball player at Bessemer. “So happy.”
“It’s huge, we’ve never had one before, so it’s exciting,” shortstop Emily Delfavero said.
“It’s really nice because actually Bessemer doesn’t have anything for softball yet and winning districts was really big for us,” pitcher Madison Luzinski said.
Gogebic had to overcome a rocky start in the championship game to get its time with the trophy.
The Nordics took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Huotari said they usually play better defense than they did early. Despite the pressure of the tournament, they got over it quickly, scoring six runs in the second inning.
“Our girls are pretty good mentally,” Huotari said. “They can stay very positive. We focus on that every single practice, every single game that we play, just to stay up all the time. And they do a really good job with that.”
Morgan Maki started the six-run second inning with a bunt single. Two walks later, Greta Steiger drove in a run with a single. Brooke Stanislawski cleared the bases with a triple to put the Miners in front 4-3. Emma Choronzy and Kenly Anderson knocked in runs before the inning was over and they led 6-3.
North Dickinson kept it interesting for one more inning while taking advantage of Gogebic’s defense. They pulled within 6-5, but the Miners kept scoring with one in the third, two in the fourth, five in the sixth and three in the seventh.
“We were able to chip away at the plate each inning to secure our lead,” Huotari said. “We held them to one run in innings three through seven and played much improved defense.”
Anderson finished 4 for 5, Maki was 3 for 3 and Stanislawski and Choronzy were both 2 for 4.
Luzinski and Olivia Peterson both pitched in the final. Luzinski had four strikeouts and two walks in three innings. Peterson struck out three and walked just one.
The Miners beat Crystal Falls Forest Park 14-3 in the district semifinal earlier Friday.
Luzinski struck nine and walked three in that victory. She also hit a grand slam in the fourth inning.
Ironwood fell to North Dickinson 10-5 in the other Friday semifinal.
Gogebic plays Bark River-Harris Saturday in the regional back in Norway at 10 a.m. Ishpeming meets Hancock in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. The final is at 4 with the winner advancing to the state quarterfinal on June 11 at Pickford.
BR-H beat Stephenson 20-0 in its district final last week, while Ishpeming defeated Superior Central 15-0 and Hancock won a fifth straight district title with an 8-3 victory over Lake Linden-Hubbell.
