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Women’s fastpitch softball final set

Gold Standard to face Northern Wishes for trophy

LAKE LINDEN -- The stage is set for the Copper Country Women’s Fastpitch softball finals on Wednesday because of quarterfinal and semifinal games played on Monday. It will be Northern Wishes and Gold Standard battling it out for the Holly McCullah Memorial Trophy.

SUPERIOR SERVICE 11, FIGARO'S PIZZA 6

In the opening quarterfinal game Monday at the Boneyard, after a scoreless first inning, Superior Service plated three runs in the second frame. They went on to win the game, 11-6.

A base hit by catcher Mackenzie Ekdahl led to the first run. Pitcher Josie Heinonen crossed for the second and Mallory Sporalski’s walk led to the third run of the inning.

In the top of the fourth, however, Figaro’s Pizza tied it with three of their own.

Hits by outfielder Lena Myhren, pitcher Kaylee Newsom, and catcher Abby Bausano, all led to them crossing home.

The 3-3 knot was undone in the bottom of the fourth with Superior Service plating four more runs. It was a combination of walks and hits off of Newsom that led to the four tallies.

The score was now 7-3 in favor of Superior Service.

Figaro’s added three more in the fifth to get within one run at 7-6, but that is close as they got as the Superior Service bats stayed hot and added four more runs in the sixth.

A strikeout by Figaro’s Pizza's Kira Diaz ended the game.

GOLD STANDARD 7, SUPERIOR SERVICE 4

With the win, Superior Service advanced to a semifinal game against the league's top team, Gold Standard. In the end, Gold Standard held out for the win, 7-4.

The matchup pitted Gold Standard’s Olivia Shank against Reagan Moyle in the circle.

The bats proved to be a little hotter on the Gold Standard side of the dugout. The ladies in white had a 7-0 shutout going into the seventh inning. They scored two in the second, three in the third, and one in the fifth and sixth frames. This included home runs by Emily Jokela and Maria Chezik in the third inning.

"That certainly helped," noted Gold Standard’s coach Curtis Kinnunen. "An out-of-the-park homer builds momentum for the team."

He added though that the game ball goes to his starter Shank.

"Olivia threw strikes and calmed down at the end (after a couple runs scored) and finished for a complete-game win," he stated. "I am proud of the girls. They played well."

Superior Service avoided the shutout by plating a four-run seventh, all with two outs. This included a walk to Sporalski, a double to Mel Baker, and an error at short that put Ekdahl on base.

All scored, as did Raili Marcotte. While they made it a 7-4 game at that point, the rally ended with a Molly Grace strikeout, which was Shank’s eighth of the game.

Up next

The championship game will be Wednesday at the Boneyard in Lake Linden, with opening pitch set for 7 p.m.