By Staff
The Intensity, a travelling all-star softball team from the Niles-Brandywine Girls Softball Association, captured the NSA 12-and-under Class B State of Michigan Championship last weekend at the state tournament in Potterville.
The team is comprised totally of girls ages 12 and under who participate in the Niles-Brandywine Girls Softball Association at Fireman's Youth Park.
Intensity won eight games while losing only one game, causing it to come through the loser's bracket on Sunday with three consecutive wins.
Intensity claimed its first victory by defeating the Kalamazoo Klash 4-3 in eight innings. Jenna Ignowski earned the win in relief of starting pitcher Demi Schrader. Delana Schroeder led the offense with two doubles and a single.
Intensity then defeated the Oakland Sidewinders 11-0 in five innings with Ignowski hurling a complete-game victory, striking out seven Sidewinders. Ignowski helped her own cause at the plate with three singles. Maggie Ernsberger contributed two doubles and Schroeder added a single and a double.
Next the team defeated the Kalamazoo Klash Blues 9-0 with Schrader pitching a complete-game shutout, striking out four batters. Schroeder again led the offense with two singles while Kaley Jones and Ashton Gordon both added a single and RBI.
The Intensity defeated the St. Clair Shores Vipers 3-2 in a close matchup. Intensity scored two runs in the first inning on Ernsberger's single, scoring Schrader and Ignowski. Patty Anton scored the eventual game-winning run in the last inning, scoring on a wild pitch after leading off with a base hit and stealing a base. Ignowski went the distance in the circle, striking out six Vipers to gain the win.
Intensity then lost to the Klash 5-4. The Kalamazoo team opened the game with three first-inning runs including an in-the-park home run. Intensity made a comeback that fell just short with Anton's double and single and Ignowski's two singles. Anna Callahan added a base hit while Schrader took the loss.
Intensity bounced back by defeating the Vipers 5-2 with Ignowski going the distance, striking out seven. Schrader and Ernsberger each had two singles to pace the offense. That left the team the task of defeating the Klash two straight games to win the state championship.
In the first game, Intensity once gain defeated the Klash 6-3. Ernsberger led the offense with three singles. Anton added a double and a single with Schrader contributing two singles. Jones had two singles and Alexis Lenox singled. Ignowski once again was the winning pitcher, striking out five batters in the process.
In the final game, Intensity claimed the championship by beating the Klash 5-3. The team broke open a scoreless game in the second inning with five straight singles by Ernsberger, Holly Lucas, Callahan, Jones and Nicole Newman. Despite suffering a painful blister on her pitching hand, Ignowski made the five-run lead stand up by once again going the distance for the win.
On the year, Intensity has a record of 18-2 and has now qualified for the NSA world series for the third time.
Head Coach Dennis Ignowski was pleased with his team's performance, noting that most other competing teams were comprised of girls from larger metropolitan areas while his whole team is made up of local girls playing in the Niles-Brandywine league.
Ignowski said that while this group of girls is talented, he had not expected them to win the State Championship and he is proud of the team.