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Section 7AAA playoffs-

Big Lake 2

North Branch 0

Oh sure, with teams like Big Lake (seeded first in the south), St. Michael-Albertville (seeded second in the south) and Duluth East (seeded first in the north) taking part in the section 7AAA softball tournament, it would be easy to believe that the Hornets, Knights and Greyhounds were the talk of the field on Saturday, May 28th.

Not the case.

Instead, the talk around the water coolers centered around the North Branch Vikings who upset Grand Rapids in the first round of the section 7AAA north sub-sections.

Next on the schedule for the Vikings was top-seeded Big Lake, the same Hornet team that North Branch saw twice earlier in the season, losing both times. The Vikings were hoping the third time was the charm.

It looked like it was early. Dottie Graff led off the game with a single, however, North Branch failed to push her across for the game’s first run.

Instead, thanks to two Vikings errors, it was Big Lake who drew first blood. The Hornets scored one run in the bottom of the first to grab a 1-0 lead. Big Lake registered just one hit in the inning.

Unfortunately, that’s all they needed. Thanks to a solid pitching performance, the Hornets got the Vikings to strike out seven times in game. Even more impressive than that, North Branch picked up two hits the rest of the game, one in the fourth and one in the fifth. Heather Hoveland was the only Viking to reach second base in the game, that came in the fifth.

“We played a solid game for the most part on defense but offensively, we couldn’t generate anything,” said Larry Brodin, North Branch head softball coach.

Still leading 1-0, Big Lake then finished the Vikings off for good in the fifth with their second and final run of the game on a one out double, putting the finishing touches on a 2-0 win.

Tiffany Good picked up the loss despite pitching six innings of five-hit softball. Good also struck out two in the game. On offense, Graff, Hoveland and Megan Ranger each finished the game with a hit.

Section 7AAA playoffs-

Duluth Central 4

North Branch 1

After losing to Big Lake, the Vikings faced elimination in the losers bracket against Duluth Central. North Branch gave it everything they had.

Stephanie Saxe led the way early on the mound by keeping Central off the board for the first four innings. Unfortunately, the Vikings were held at bay as well at the plate, compiling just one hit through the first four frames. It wasn’t until the fifth when Duluth Central made their move. Helped out by two North Branch errors, Central got on the board first with an RBI single, making the score 1-0.

The Vikings charged right back in the bottom of the fifth. After Hoveland opened up the inning with a double, Gabi Olson drove her in with a two-bagger of her own, tying the game 1-1 heading into the sixth inning.

Things stayed that way until the top of the seventh when Central came to life at the plate, scoring three runs in their last at bat to steal away a win. The Trojans kicked off the inning with a double before a walk put two runners on with nobody out. Two batters later, Central scored the eventual game-winning run on a force out. Two batters after that, a bases loaded single brought in two more, pushing the score to 4-1 after six and a half innings. The Vikings had one shot to answer- they couldn’t. Despite getting a two out single from Olson, the Vikings season came to an end after Good grounded out to shortstop to end the game, 4-1.

“It was not what we were hoping for but it was a great experience for the young team,” commented Brodin. “Dottie Graff and Ashley Klein were the only two seniors and their leadership will be missed next year. The rest of the team got a taste of what they need to do to take it a step further next year. Hopefully we can build on this and continue to improve and advance a little farther.”

The Vikings finished the game with four hits as a team. Gabi Olson led the way with two while Hoveland and Maggie Johnson each had one hit apiece. Saxe took the loss on the mound. Over seven innings of work, Saxe allowed just seven hits and struck out two.

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