Chiefs’ season ends in loss to softball power Eskymos

SAULT STE. MARIE – It was the start the Cheboygan softball team had hoped for against Escanaba on Saturday.

But unfortunately for the Chiefs, their momentum evaporated quickly in their Division 2 district semifinal clash with the Eskymos.

As a result, the Chiefs couldn’t keep up with the Eskmyos, who rolled to a 13-3 victory in Sault Ste. Marie.

“(Esky’s) got good pitching and good hitting and swing the bat well,” said Cheboygan coach Mike LaLonde. "If we come out and play our game and don’t make any errors, hey, we’ll be right with them, we can stick right with them. We just had too many errors today.”

The Chiefs (26-9) made an early statement, opening up a 2-0 lead. However, defensive errors plagued the Chiefs, who surrendered five runs to the Eskymos (26-5) in the bottom half of the first inning. The Eskymos added a combined five runs in the second and third innings to take a commanding 10-2 advantage.

“That’s when you want to come in and shut them down, after you put a two-spot on them,” LaLonde said. “You want that inning where you shut them down, but they came back and put a five-spot on us, and that kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit.”

Libby VanFleet took the loss on the mound for Cheboygan, striking out two, allowing two hits and walking one in 1 1/3 innings. Amelia Johnson, who threw one inning in relief, allowed three hits and walked two. Emerson Eustice tossed the last three innings, striking out five and allowing five hits.

VanFleet tripled and scored a run to lead Cheboygan’s offense, while Eustice had a hit and scored a run. Jordan Ashley and Johnson added a hit apiece.

The loss snapped a 15-game winning streak for the Chiefs, who had not been defeated since a 13-6 loss to Boyne City on Friday, May 13.

Meanwhile, the Eskymos sealed another district crown with a 16-0 win over Sault Ste. Marie in the final. Esky advances to face Grant in a regional semifinal at Gaylord on Saturday, June 11.

The loss was a tough end to a thrilling season for the Chiefs, who won the Straits Area Conference title with an undefeated record.

“We won the conference, we won a big tournament in Kingsley – the girls had a great year,” LaLonde said. “It started out where we couldn’t get outside. It was raining and cold and snow, so we got out late and the girls just seemed to progress as the days went on. They just seemed to get better and better and better as the weather warmed up and everything, getting outside and playing on the field, but I’m looking at the whole picture.

“The girls had, to me, had a fantastic year. We swung the ball well, we had good pitching. We’ll probably have to pick it up on our defense a little bit, but that’s going to come.”

In his first season back as head coach, it’s safe to say LaLonde enjoyed it a ton.

“Oh, I loved it. I loved it,” LaLonde said. “My heart was really into it. I just love seeing these girls excel in this game. I had a lot of fun.”

LaLonde also lauded his senior class, a group that led by example all campaign long.

“The seniors stepped up to the plate this year, and I’m going to really miss them,” LaLonde said. “I had some people in different spots who stepped up and filled that position for me and did really well. One was Shayla LaVigne at third base. I asked her at the beginning of the year if she ever thought about playing, and she said she’d give it a try, and that’s where she was. She did a great job.

“And then you’ve got Jackie Seaman out in center field. Nothing gets by her. That girl catches everything and has a strong arm, a real strong arm.

“And then I got Zoey Chamberlain at second base there, a really good speedster, good glove at that.

“Kaitlyn Penfield, she’s my No. 4 hitter, she hit the ball a ton this year and made some nice defensive plays.

“I’m really going to miss these girls.”

With several players returning, along with a strong junior varsity class joining, the future looks very bright for LaLonde’s Chiefs.

“I’ve got some great girls coming up,” LaLonde said. “The ones that also contributed to the team this year were all sophomores, and there was a good JV class of sophomores that played very well, so I’m really looking forward to next year with these girls coming up and playing for me.”

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan loses to Escanba in district softball semifinal