MESICK - The Lake Leelanau St. Mary Eagles battled high temperatures and a pair of tough softball teams to claim their third straight district title on Friday, beating Glen Lake in the championship game, 10-4.
Earlier in the day at Mesick, the Eagles needed extra innings to outlast Buckley 2-1. Glen Lake advanced to the title game by slugging their way past Suttons Bay, 20-4.
In the title tilt, it was the Lakers that struck first with a pair of runs with two out in the third inning on an RBI single by Olivia Mikowski. She attempted to break for second base, drawing a throw that allowed a second run to come home and give the Lakers a 2-0 lead.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary responded in their half of the third, taking advantage of a pair of Lakers’ defensive miscues to plate three runs and take a 3-2 lead.
It was a 4-2 St. Mary lead in the fifth inning, when Glen Lake was helped out by an Eagles fielding error that allowed two runs to score to tie the game up at 4-4.
The Eagles re-took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, striking for back-to-back doubles in the inning, as they scored three runs and went in front 7-4. They would add three more runs in the sixth for insurance, and Jenny Morio would keep the Lakers off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game to earn the win in the circle.
Jessie Pugh scored a pair of runs for the Lakers in the game, and in the semifinal vs. Suttons Bay, Mikowski recorded her 20th triple of the season, tying the state’s single-season record.
For the Eagles, Audrey Smith and Leah Fleis each drove in a pair of runs. Cathryn Mikowski scored twice and drove in a run, while Delana Kirt and Amelia Duham each scored twice.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary (25-6) advances to next week’s regionals, where they will meet the winner of Saturday’s district tournament in Central Lake at 10 am in Onekama.