News Photo by James Andersen Members of the Rogers City softball team hold six fingers up after defeating Hillman in a district final on Saturday. The win advances the Hurons to a regional next Saturday in Rogers City and gives the Hurons their sixth straight district title.

HILLMAN–One by one, members of the Rogers City softball team held up a hand, all five fingers extended.

Then each member held up another hand, extending their index fingers.

The Hurons are district champions once again. Since 2012, that’s just what the Hurons do in the playoffs.

Mary Brege and Hannah Fleming each had a home run and the Hurons defeated Hillman 7-1 in a Division 4 district final on Saturday in Hillman.

The win gives the Hurons their sixth straight district crown and moves them to a regional semifinal matchup with Lake Leelanau St. Mary on Saturday in Rogers City.

Rogers City defeated Johannesburg-Lewiston 11-3 in the district semifinals and Hillman defeated Onaway 4-3.

All day the Hurons (32-5) asserted themselves, making routine defensive plays with ease and made contact at the plate, confounding opponents with power hits as easily as singles and bunts.

“This group of kids is such a great group of kids. They work so hard and have a lot of fun and it’s a great group of kids working together,” Rogers City coach Karl Grambau said. “I’ve got great assistant coaches in Duane Pitts and Mike Bowden and they take care of that (the hitting). The girls just have to go out and have fun.”

Brege led off the top of the third inning with a home run to left field and after Kayla Rabeau drove in a run on a sac fly, Fleming launched a two-run shot to center field to give the Hurons a 4-0 lead.

It proved to be more than enough to take the fight out of Hillman (26-6), which was limited to a run on five hits the rest of the way.

“We’re just so close together and we know how everybody plays. We’re super close, just like family,” Rabeau said. “It’s a ton of pressure. Even though we played this team in the past and we beat them, it’s a different game every single play.”

Hillman’s lone run came in the bottom of the third inning when Vanessa Schook scored on an error. In the final four innings, Hillman was held to three hits and left two runners on base.

“We tried to put the ball in play and we just couldn’t hit the ball hard. When we did hit the ball hard, we hit it right at them,” Hillman coach Ken Rundell said. “As far as playing, we played ball and the girls made plays when they had to make them. They just got the better of us with the bats.”

After their four-run burst, the Hurons added a run in each of the next three innings and retired Hillman in order during its final turn at the plate.

Brege and Jayna Hance each had two hits and an RBI for the Hurons and Amanda Wirgau had two hits. Fleming had a hit and two RBI and Rabeau and Saige Wagner each had a hit and an RBI.

Hance earned the win, allowing a run on five hits with two strikeouts. Schook took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Errors in consecutive at-bats gave Hillman a pair of runners with two outs in the second inning. But the Tigers were unable to capitalize.

For as deflated as Hillman might have been feeling after the final, the Tigers felt just the opposite after a thrilling victory over Onaway.

Lindsey Ryba scored on a double from Eve LaFleche in the top of the seventh inning to give Hillman the win. Ryba led off with a single, stole second and was driven in by LaFleche.

Onaway was retired in order in the bottom of the inning.

The loss came after a hard-fought battle by the Cardinals. Onaway scored twice in the sixth inning to tie the game 3-3, scoring runs on a bases-loaded fielders choice and a bases-loaded walk.

Hillman took advantage of two errors in the top of the third inning to score twice and Onaway answered back with a run in the bottom of the inning.

Kennedy Crawford looped a single to right field to score Jordan Larson to cut the lead in half. Calley Selke attempted to score from first base on the play, but was called out at home on a close play at the plate.

Hillman took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning as Morgan Armon singled in LaFleche.

Selke and Schook combined for 21 strikeouts, but it was ultimately Schook who earned the win. Schook allowed three runs on two hits, struck out 10 and walked three.

Selke allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits, struck out 11, including eight of the first nine batters she faced, and walked four.

Crawford had a hit and an RBI for Onaway and Lauren Welklin and Larson each had an RBI.

Ryba had two hits and scored twice for Hillman and LaFleche had two hits and an RBI.

The Hurons scored in every inning against Joburg and collected 20 hits on their way to victory, a win that gave Grambau his 400th career victory as coach.

Hance had four hits, including two doubles, scored four times and had two RBI. Rabeau had three hits and three RBI and Hannah Fleming had three hits and two RBI. Taylor Fleming had two hits and two RBI, Wirgau had three hits and Hannah Dittmar had two hits.

Krysten Altman earned the win, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts an a walk.