News file photo The Alpena girls varsity softball team huddles up after a game earlier this season.

TRAVERSE CITY– The Alpena Varsity girls softball team opened its district tournament with a strong 6-3 victory over the Marquette Varsity Sentinels on Saturday, but their run ended later that day with a 9-2 loss to the Traverse City Central Varsity Trojans in the district final.

In the district semi-final, senior right-hander Paige Samp was dominant on the mound for Alpena. Samp struck out 12 batters while throwing four and two-thirds hitless, scoreless innings, walking just three. She kept the Sentinels completely off the scoreboard until late in the game.

Alpena jumped out to an early lead in the second inning when Emma Darga singled to drive in a run. The Wildcats then added three more in the top of the third on RBI singles from Lexie Souva and Lilly Rospierski. Laura Poli provided insurance with a solo home run to left field in the fifth inning.

Marquette mounted a late rally with a two-run homer by Charlye Swajanen in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough. Samp and the Alpena bullpen (which featured relief appearances by Emmi Ruby and Emma Darga) held on for the win.

Offensively, the Wildcats pounded out 11 hits. Maddie Spomer, Laura Poli, and Georgia Alberts each had two hits, while Lexie Souva drove in two runs. Swajanen led Marquette with two RBIs on a 1-for-2 day.

Alpena Head Coach Paul Marwede shared his thoughts on game one of Districts:

“We got off to a good start, we were able to get some runs on the board first and that’s crucial in tournament play,” Marwede said. “We hit the ball well, including several hard-hit balls that didn’t fall.”

“Our pitching was excellent, and it was a complete team win,” Marwede added.

In the district championship game against Traverse City Central, Alpena struggled to keep pace. The Trojans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice bunt by Eden Kitzmiller and a two-run double by Kayla Noble.

Piper Cavanaugh was outstanding for Traverse City Central, striking out 15 batters over seven innings while allowing just four hits and two runs. Paige Samp pitched a complete game for Alpena but took the loss, allowing nine runs on 12 hits with eight strikeouts.

Emalee Parsons and Lilly Rospierski each drove in a run for the Wildcats, with Rospierski collecting two hits. Defensively, Alpena played error-free ball, led by Laura Poli’s eight chances in the field.

Traverse City Central finished with 12 hits, paced by Cavanaugh’s 3-for-3 performance with three RBIs. Grace Cary also had three hits, and Kallie Kloosterman added two.

While the day ended in disappointment with a district final loss, the Wildcats showed plenty of fight throughout the tournament. Marwede expressed pride in his team’s effort as the team wrapped up its season.

“I give the kids a lot of credit, we battled. Just a few days earlier we were shut down, and today we had much better plate appearances,” Marwede said. Saturday, we picked up seven base runners and applied significant pressure on the TC defense, especially in the middle inning. In the third inning, when TC scored the first three runs of the ball game we could’ve folded, but we didn’t”.

Marwede also shared a message to his seniors, Georgia Alberts, Laura Poli, Paige Samp, Emmi Ruby and Kaila Girard:

“Great job ladies, you were a big part of this year’s 27-11 season, we could not have done it without the five of you. You have made us all incredibly proud.”