Todd Rose | Daily Press Escanaba softball coach Andy Fields (right) talks to his team during an MHSAA Division 2 State Semifinal against Stevensville Lakeshore in East Lansing Thursday.

EAST LANSING — The 2022 postseason run for the Escanaba Eskymos softball team came to an end Thursday night as they lost 2-1 to the Stevensonsville Lakeshore Lancers in an MHSAA Division 2 state semifinal at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

“We had a great season,” said Escanaba coach Andy Fields. “We pitched well, our lineup was balanced hitting and we set school records for home runs this year. Overall, just a phenomenal ride.”

The game was a close battle throughout with the Eskymos escaping the first inning only allowing one Lakeshore run in an inning that saw the Lancers put runners on quickly.

Emily Moore started the game but — after seven pitches that included a passed ball and wild pitch — McKayla Mott was called in during Lakeshore’s second at-bat.

The Lancers got two on — with Emily Morre walking leadoff batter Gianna Kerschbaum and Mott walking second batter Gabby Solloway — as Anna Chlellman stepped into the box and batted into a fielders choice to Erica Moore at first base while Kerschbaum scored.

Mott would get two strikeouts — separated by a throw from Carney Salo at home to Carsyn Segorski for an out at second — to get out of the inning.

The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Lancers until the sixth inning when the Eskymos managed their only run of the game.

With Paxton Bullen on base following a walk to get on and a sliding steal into second, Lizzy Sliva stepped into the box with two outs on the board.

Sliva battled to a 2-2 count on six pitches with four foul balls before belting a ball to right field for an RBI single that ushered Bullen across the plate.

“It was a very important at-bat for the game for me,” Sliva commented. “There was two outs, I believe. I was nervous — I’m not going to lie — but I was taking it one pitch at a time, taking my time in between pitches, taking a deep breath, calming my nerves, telling myself the three words I always do, ‘comfort, confidence and balance.'”

However, the Lancers struck back in their half of that same inning as Solloway scored on a passed ball. Despite the Eskymos’ best efforts in the top of the seventh, Stevensville Lakeshore held them off for the 2-1 win.

Mott threw for four and two-thirds innings and finished with five strikeouts and one walk, allowing one hit for one unearned run. LaMarche closed the final inning and a third that the Eskymos took to the field with two strikeouts, no walks, and one allowed hit for one unearned walk.

Sliva is among the five seniors for the Eskymos alongside Carsyn Segorski, Abby Hill, Erica Moore and Emily Moore.

“This group of girls is very important to me,” said Sliva of her Eskymos teammates. “I’ve been playing with them since I was eight, most of them at least. This season has been by far one of my favorite seasons I’ve ever had. It’s been a great season not just for me but my teammates as well.”

Carsyn Segorski also commented post-game on the season and what the Esky softball squad means to her.

“This has meant so much to me,” Segorski said. “I’ve met all my best friends on this team. It’s hard leaving them, obviously, but I’m glad that I got to end it here again and that we were in the final four. We deserved everything, every win we got. We work really well together.”

As Segorski and her fellow seniors depart the Esky program, they will be taking memories and lessons with them, she said.

Above all, she hopes the bonds created over her last four years last a lifetime.

“I just hope that I stay friends with these girls forever,” Segorski remarked tearfully.

“We’re all so supportive of each other. We’re always there. Whether it’s softball season or not, we’re always there for each other. We’re so close.”

As the season comes to a close for Escanaba at 29-6, coach Andy Fields looks back on the year with a list of accomplishments checked off his to-do list.

“We achieved our goals,” he said. “We did everything we set out to do except win the last game. Losing a 2-1 game — and losing a bounce here and there — I thought once we tied with them, we were probably going to go to extra innings.

That’s what I was kind of thinking, but a couple miscues in the final inning, and that was it.”

However, Fields is confident the groundwork laid by his senior group will only help the Eskymos into the future.

“My senior group, they’ve set the bar high for our underclassmen,” he said. “We’ll be back next year.”