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Chisago Lakes 6

Princeton 5

Standing at 2-2 overall going in to last Tuesday’s game with Princeton, the Chisago Lakes softball team crept above the .500 mark once again with a 6-5 win over the Tigers. The win also evened their conference record at 1-1.

After Princeton opened up the scoring in the first, Chisago charged back with two runs in the second to take the lead. Three straight singles by Diane Reineccius, Ashley Wilke and Karina Swanberg plated the two runs, putting the ‘Cats in front 2-1.

The lead was short lived because one inning later, the Tigers scored two of their own to re-take the lead on three singles.

However, the Wildcats were about to get the last laugh. Down by two runs in the top of the sixth, Wilke came up with another single, driving in Nicole Oehme in the process, trimming the deficit to 4-3.

Then in the top of the seventh, three more runs on three hits. Senior Rachel Nelson got everything started with a walk. Katie Reed, Morgan Baumgard and Oehme followed with singles, pushing the Wildcats in front 6-4. It was their first lead since the second inning.

Rachel Nelson, the seventh-grader, made sure that the lead would hold in the bottom of the seventh, holding the Tigers to one run, preserving a 6-5 win.

Of course, that’s not to say there weren’t some tense moments in the seventh. With one run already in, the Tigers put runners at first and second before a fly ball ended the game.

The ‘Cats will take it

Cloquet 8

Chisago Lakes 6

Sure they lost, but when looking at the season as a whole, the fact that Whitney Slagerman was back on the mound last Saturday against Cloquet was the most important fact. Slagerman got her first start of the season after sitting out the first three weeks of the season with an injury.

She faced a strong Cloquet team. The Lumberjacks didn’t waste any time, building a 6-0 lead through the first four innings. The big inning was the fourth where Cloquet batted the ball around the diamond, scoring five runs in the inning on two doubles and three singles.

Not to be outdone, after Cloquet tacked five on the board in the fourth, the Wildcats offense finally got going with five runs in the top of the sixth.

Two straight errors gave Chisago some momentum. The errors were then followed by six straight hits, including a three run triple by Morgan Baumgard. In all, the ‘Cats banged out three singles, two doubles and a triple in the inning, pulling within one at 6-5.

After the Lumberjacks added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to stretch their lead back to three, the Wildcats did their best to complete the comeback in the top of the seventh. However, despite loading the bases with one out, one was all they could get as Cloquet snuck away with an 8-6 win.

The loss dropped Chisago’s record to 3-4 overall.

In her first game back, despite picking up the loss, Slagerman pitched well, allowing eight hits and striking out one. Rachel Nelson (the seventh-grader) pitched the final two innings, allowing four hits and one walk.

At the plate, the ‘Cats were led by Rachel Nelson the senior who went 2-4 with an RBI. Ariel Novak also had two hits and an RBI, and Baumgard finished with one hit and three RBI’s.

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