Ponytails, Pee Wees wrap up the season with tournament

By John Behling
In typical summer fashion, parents sat in lawn chairs, ate hot dogs, soaked up the sun and watched their sons and daughters engage in a day of tournament baseball.
Saturday, July 19 at Rick Doyle fields in Stacy, the Chisago County Ponytail and Pee Wee teams finished their seasons with a double-elimination tournament.
Ponytails
The weather had turned from welcoming to worrisome by late-afternoon when the final Ponytail game started. Both teams hoped the weather would hold up for the gameís 5 innings.
On the road to the finals, the North Branch Diamondbacks beat their hometown rivals, the North Branch Cardinals to face off against Stacy-Lent for the championship.
North Branch went to bat first, hoping to secure an early lead. Joslin Peterson of the Diamondbacks led off with a single but her team wouldnít be able to keep their bats cracking. Stacy defended their home field, sending North Branch away scoreless after 5 batters.
With a strong performance on defense setting the tone for the game, Stacy was in position to take the lead.
A streak of base hits did the trick, raking in 6 quick runs as North Branch couldnít seem to throw any runners out.
The visitors made a stand in the second, however, getting onto the board for the first time. Hits by Rachel Aho, Alexa Berthiaume, Joslin Peterson, Tiffany Mansk and Kim Holmes helped the team score 3, to cut Stacyís lead to 6-3.
Stacy answered in the bottom of the second with another 6 runs, restoring their lead to an impressive 12-3. Brittany Schifsky cracked a double, scoring 1. North Branch continued to struggle on defense, unable to stop their aggressive opponent.
Coaches watched the skies cautiously as the game went into the third. The Diamondbacksí hopes for a rally went down 1-2-3 to an outstanding Stacy defense. Brittany Schifsky caught a pop-fly, then threw out a runner on second for a double play. Kortney Schroeder made another big catch to put the Diamondbacks away.
North Branch stepped up the defense in the bottom of the third, only allowing 3 runs. Brittany Schifsky followed her double play with a second two-base hit. She scored, along with Laura White and Angel DeSantis to bring it to 15-3.
North Branch was again shut out in the fourth, leaving only one more at bat for the possibility of a comeback.
Shannon Mahoney and Kortney Schroeder scored in the bottom of the fourth, finalizing their lead 17-3. North Branch scored one more in the top of the fifth, ending the game on a positive note. The home team declined to play out their last at bat.
After celebrating with her team, Coach Tammy Good rushed to the bench and promptly emptied their water coolers.
ìIím saving us,î she joked to coach Kathy Anderson. They werenít saved completely from getting wet, however, as a celebrating player got a hold of a water bottle and tried to drench both coaches. Both teams left the game in high spirits.
ìWe had a lot of fun,î North Branch coach Jim Peterson said.

Boys Pee Wee Baseball
An underdog fought back from the consolation bracket to oust the undefeated favorites in a pair of closely-fought games at the boys Pee Wee baseball end-of-season tournament. The North Branch Tigers powered past the NB Orioles, Stacy #1 and the NB White Sox to enter the final game undefeated.
But the White Sox werenít finished. Flung into the third place bracket, the Sox re-matched the NB Royals, who they defeated in the first round.
The Sox won, advancing to the finals for another shot at the undefeated Tigers.
In an upset, the Sox won a close 6-4 game. But they couldnít celebrate yet. According to tournament rules, each team must lose twice to be eliminated, giving the Tigers one more shot.
The clincher was a scoring frenzy with both teams hot at the plate. The White Sox came out on top again, this time 17-15, to take the end-of-the season championship honors.

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