×

Softball: Spring Swing hosting 32 games

Florence, Norway, Kingsford playing in Dome tourney

MARQUETTE — The high school softball season kicks off this weekend at about the only place it could in the Upper Peninsula during the early part of April.

Indoors.

The Superior Dome in Marquette will host the 17th annual Spring Swing Softball Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The Marquette JV team holds the distinction of playing in the first game of the event, 12:30 p.m. Friday, and the last, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

The younger Redettes will also be the only team playing four games as nearly every one of the other 21 teams plays three.

The exceptions are Munising, which plays once against the Marquette JV in the Friday opener, and the Kingsford varsity, which only has a pair of Friday night games.

The field includes seven area varsity teams — Marquette, Westwood, Munising, Superior Central, Newberry, L’Anse and Manistique — along with 11 other varsity units from out of the area, and four JV teams, the only local one being Marquette’s.

All are from the Upper Peninsula save two varsity teams from Florence and Bonduel, Wisconsin.

The other nine U.P. varsity teams taking part are Houghton, Hancock, Calumet, Lake Linden-Hubbell, Gladstone, Kingsford, Norway, Rudyard and Ironwood.

Joining the Marquette JV are junior varsity units from Calumet, Escanaba and Gladstone.

It’s a slightly expanded field from last year, when 18 teams played 27 games on two fields. This year, organizers, led by MSHS varsity head coach Paul Seibert, will squeeze in 32 games by expanding the early and late starting times.

Organizers include a rule that games have a time limit of 75 minutes with a tight schedule of contests spaced just 90 minutes apart.

The Marquette JV faces the Munising varsity in a 12:30 p.m. Friday game, with the L’Anse varsity taking on the Gladstone JV on the other field at the same time.

The final games Friday begin at 9:30 p.m., with play resuming at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and running until the final games start at 8:30 p.m. that night.

Teams will generally play teams they won’t see any other time during the season.

For example, while Marquette plays Marquette County rival Westwood at 2 p.m. Friday, the Redettes also take on Bonduel, Wisconsin, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Calumet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Bonduel is located about 30 miles northwest of Green Bay.

And most teams from out of town will probably spend Friday night in Marquette with nearly all teams playing games both Friday and Saturday.

Exceptions are Kingsford and Florence, Wisconsin, each playing all its games on Friday, and Superior Central and Manistique, each getting in all three of their contests on Saturday.

Seibert and others involved with the MSHS softball program keep busy with their own games and keeping the event organized. Parents, school officials and other local volunteers play a big part in allowing things to run smoothly, too.

“The tournament allows teams to make early-season evaluations and guarantees them three games in perfect weather,” Seibert said as organizers recall a big snowstorm that hit the area just a few days before the event in 2017.

Daily admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and free for children ages 10 and under. Concession stands will be open.

Here is the full schedule, with the Field 1 game listed first. Teams listed are varsity teams except as noted:

Friday

12:30 p.m. — Munising vs. Marquette JV, L’Anse vs. Gladstone JV

2 p.m. — Marquette vs. Westwood, Gladstone JV vs. Escanaba JV

3:30 p.m. — Norway vs. Hancock, L’Anse vs. Florence

5 p.m. — Westwood vs. Gladstone, Newberry vs. Florence

6:30 p.m. — Kingsford vs. Hancock, Marquette JV vs. Calumet JV

8 p.m. — Ironwood vs. Rudyard, Houghton vs. Florence

9:30 p.m. — Kingsford vs. Calumet, Marquette JV vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell

Saturday

8:30 a.m. — Superior Central vs. Hancock, Newberry vs. Houghton

10 a.m. — Gladstone vs. Rudyard, Westwood vs. Calumet

11:30 a.m. — Marquette vs. Bonduel, Superior Central vs. Houghton

1 p.m. — Rudyard vs. Norway, Manistique vs. Calumet JV

2:30 p.m. — Gladstone vs. Bonduel, Newberry vs. Ironwood

4 p.m. — Norway vs. Bonduel, Manistique vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell

5:30 p.m. — Marquette vs. Calumet, Ironwood vs. Escanaba JV

7 p.m. — Calumet JV vs. Gladstone JV, Superior Central vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell

8:30 p.m. — L’Anse vs. Manistique, Marquette JV vs. Escanaba JV

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today