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Grant County Herald
Web site last updated:
May 8, 2008
West Central Area Lady Knights go 3-3 in softball action last week
Hillary Johnson fires a runner out from her shortstop position.
The Lady Knights were 3-3 in softball competition last week to move their season record to 5-6. They swept a conference double-header over Breckenridge at Barrett on Tuesday, April 29, but were then swept by Hawley in another conference double header two days later. The Lady Knights then traveled to Morris on Saturday where they lost a close one to Morris but bounced back for a win over Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, avenging an earlier loss to the Comets.
The girls are scheduled for another busy week of home softball action this week. They host Clinton-Graceville/Beardsley on Monday, DGF in a double-header on Friday and Pelican Rapids on Friday, May 9.
Lady Knights – 8
Cowgirls – 3
&
Lady Knights – 12
Cowgirls - 2
The Lady Knights started the week with a pair of home conference wins over the Breckenridge Cowgirls. They were consistent on both offense and defense and the result was a two-game sweep.
“We did a nice job of being patient at the plate today,” said Head Coach Shawn Carlson. “As a team, we collected more walks than we have all year. We also bunted the ball well today when we needed to move runners over. Our pitching was solid all day and we continued to limit our walks. I was very proud of the way the girls came out and took both games of the conference double header.”
In game one, the Lady Knights got a solid pitching performance out of Taylor Brekke. She went all seven innings and allowed three runs on three hits while striking out four.
Caitlin Peterson led the Lady Knights offensively as she went two for three at the plate and scored twice. Hillary Johnson was two for four and Dana Rude was one for two.
Game two was about the same story as game one – solid pitching combined with patience at the plate. This time, the solid pitching performance came from Lauren Nelson. She got the five-inning win, allowing just two runs on two hits while striking out five. It was her first varsity start and win.
Offensively, the Lady Knights were led by Paige Sierakowski who was one for one with a three-run homer. She also walked three times and scored four runs. Taylor Brekke was two for four with an rbi and two runs scored. Caitlin Peterson was one for two and Nicole Lindor got a solid hit in her only plate appearance.
Lady Knights – 2
Nuggets – 14
&
Lady Knights - 7
Nuggets – 12
In the second double-header of the week, the Lady Knights did not fare as well as they did in the first. Hawley came in ready to play and swept the Lady Knights. In both games, the Lady Knights got behind early and Hawley’s pitching prevented them from coming back. That pitching was the biggest factor in Hawley’s success over the Knights.
“Hawley has a very nice team. They have a great young pitcher in the young Noreen girl,” said Carlson. “For an eighth grader, she has fantastic stuff. She changed speeds well all day and kept us off balance for much of both games.”
Carlson also said, “We are still having a hard time finding our identity. There are some games when we don’t show up ready to play and we fall behind early and often. Hopefully we can iron out some of those issues and continue to improve. We did hit the ball much better in the second game, so we should be able to take that as a positive out of today’s games.”
For the double header, Hillary Johnson led the Lady Knights offensively as she went four for seven at the plate. Dana Rude was three for seven at the plate, Kayla Miles was three for four and Lauren Nelson was two for three.
Morris Tournament
Lady Knights – 4
Tigers – 5
The Lady Knights were in Morris for a tournament on Saturday. They opened the tournament with a tough loss, 5-4, to the host Morris Area Tigers.
“We started slow again on this cold and windy morning,” noted coach Carlson. “We gave up four runs in the first three innings. We did have a nice comeback to tie the game up, 4-4, in the seventh. Unfortunately, Morris managed a couple of hits and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to beat us.”
Taylor Brekke pitched all seven innings in the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out three.
Offensively, Brekke led the way with two hits in four at bats and two runs batted in. Kayla Miles was one for two in the game and Hillary Johnson, Cassie Olson and Anna Mattson were all one for three.
“I was happy with the way we came back in this game,” said Carlson, “but we still need to start better in our games.”
Lady Knights – 6
Lady Comets – 2
In game two of the Morris Tournament, the Lady Knights got a solid win over a Hillcrest team that had buried them, 12-0, earlier in the season.
“Today, I think we showed how much we’ve improved and that should give us confidence as we head into the rest of the season,” said coach Carlson.
Brekke again pitched a complete game, going seven innings and giving up just two runs on four hits while striking out six Comet batters.
“Taylor was great in this game. She had a tough pitching match-up with Sam Hanson but she was up to the task today,” said Carlson. “She only gave up four hits to a team that pounded us, 12-0, in the second game of the season.”
Paige Sierakowski led the Lady Knights at the plate with a two for three performance. She knocked in three runs and scored three times herself. Dana Rude and Caitlin Peterson were each one for three and Hillary Johnson was one for four in the game.
According to Carlson, “Paige had a great game at the plate and hit a huge two-run double in the sixth inning to put us ahead for good. If we continue to pitch well like we did today and have some timely hitting, we’re going to be fine.”
