La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Union County loses

Written by Paul Harder, The Observer July 04, 2008 10:49 am

KACI AT THE BAT: Union County's Kaci Langford takes a rip at Sam Marcum Field Thursday. - Observer photo/PAUL HARDER

The road to the state tournament will once again run through Milton-Freewater.

Union County fell in the 9-10-year-old All-Star game 8-2 Thursday at Sam Marcum Field.

It’s Milton-Freewater’s second straight trip to the state tournament.

Rikki Griffin did all she could from the pitching circle. Griffin struck out seven — including the first three batters of the game.

But simply putting the ball in play led to Milton-Freewater’s win.

Flyballs dropped time and time again in the outfield, leading to big innings for Milton-Freewater.

Megan Kimball opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a triple, driving in Cheyanne Kessler and Amanda Contreras.

Four Union County errors and three walks led to six runs crossing the plate in third and fourth innings combined.

Milton-Freewater pitcher Megan Reed settled in after allowing a hit in the opening inning to Dani Strum.

Reed finished with nine strikeouts.

Union County finally cracked the scoreboard in the sixth.

Alli Fullerton drew a one-out walk, and Strum belted an RBI double.

Strum came around to score on a passed ball.

Union County 000 002 — 2

Milton-Freewater 023 30x — 8

WP — Reed. LP — Griffin.

2B — UC, Strum; M-F, Reed. 3B — Kimball