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The Wildcats played six games in six days to open the season, going 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference games.

Head coach Herb Jangor talked about sophomore Ashley Oehme. Jangor said, "Ashley's sister Nicole graduated last year after another solid season as our catcher. Ashley brings a great attitude and work ethic to our program. She's played in five of our six games so far this season. She has the versatility to play in the infield or the outfield for us. So far, we've used her at second base and as a pinch hitter."

Hermantown 13, CL 2

The Wildcats stayed even with Hermantown early in the season opener, with the score tied 2-2 after four innings. But the Hawks blew the game open with three runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth and five runs in the seventh to scorch the Wildcats 13-2 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday, April 14 at Chisago Lakes.

Wildcat pitcher, freshman Rachel Nelson, and her Hawk counterpart, dominated the early going, and the game was scoreless after three innings. The Hawks scored two in the top of the fourth, and the Wildcats came back with two in the bottom of the inning. Ariel Novak and Morgan Baumgard led off with singles. They moved to second and third on Alyssa Lundberg's groundout and scored on Tracy Schneider's single to right.

But the Hawks started their scoring binge in the fifth and never looked back. The Wildcats got a scare when Nelson took a line drive off her shin in the fifth and had to leave the game. But she returned partway through the sixth inning and finished out the game.

"Despite the score," said Wildcat head coach Jangor, "I was pleased with our effort for the first game. Our players did the little things right and executed well early. Tracy Schneider came up with a key hit to tie the game in the fourth. Unfortunately, things got out of hand after that. Hermantown is one of the best teams in the state at the 3A level, and they sure can hit", said Jangor.

Virginia 1, Chisago Lakes 0

The Virginia Blue Devils scratched out the game's only run in the fifth inning and hung on to beat the Wildcats 1-0 in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Wildcats' best scoring chance came in the fourth inning. They loaded the bases on two walks and an error. But a strikeout ended the threat. In the top of the fifth, Virginia's first two batters reached on a hit and an error. The next two batters went out, but a walk loaded the bases. The next batter singled up the middle, driving in a run.

Wildcat Pitcher Rachel Nelson and her Blue Devil counterpart dominated this one. Nelson allowed four hits and struck out five, while her opponent allowed just two hits and struck out seven.

"Our bats were silent over the weekend," said Jangor. "I know we faced some good pitching, but our big hitters need to get their bats on the ball. Still, I was pleased with our overall performance. And Rachel battled back after a tough first game. She has the potential to be a pretty good pitcher."

CL 12, Cambridge-Isanti 2

The Wildcat hitters unloaded on the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets and won 12-2 Monday, April 16 at Chisago Lakes. The Wildcats got to be on the other end of a game that looked like the Hermantown game. They broke open a 1-1 tie after three-and-a-half innings with three runs in the fourth, four runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth. The Wildcats had 16 hits overall, including five doubles and one triple.

Senior Morgan Baumgard went four-for-four on the day, with two doubles and three RBIs. Ariel Novak had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs. Jenny Reed chipped in with a double, triple and two RBIs. Brittany Lofgren and Tracy Schneider had two hits apiece, Alyssa Lundberg helped break the game open in the fourth with a two-run single. Nelson gave up five hits and struck out five to earn the victory.

"Lundberg's hit really gave us some breathing room," said Jangor. "And it was encouraging to see us get our bats on the ball and knock it all over the place. I like what I've seen the first three games. The girls have showed what I had hoped they'd show. They battled hard, played together and are starting to play smart."

CL 3, Robbinsdale Cooper 0

Rachel Nelson posted her first shutout of the season, striking out 13 batters as the Wildcats opened the North Suburban Conference season with a 3-0 victory over the Robbinsdale Cooper Hawks, Tuesday, April 17 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats scored their first run in the second inning. Bailey Eichten and Alyssa Lundberg walked with one out. They pulled off a double steal, with Eichten moving to third and Lundberg to second. Eichten scored on Lisa Schommer's sacrifice fly to put the Wildcats on the board. The Wildcats added two more runs in the third. Tracy Schneider led off the inning with a single and stole second. With one out, Jenny Reed tripled to deep right, driving in Schneider. Reed scored on Schommer's groundout to put the Wildcats up 3-0. The Wildcats kept Cooper in check the rest of the way to pick up the win.

"This was a solid game for us," said Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor. "We got good defense, good pitching, did the little things right and got just enough timely hitting to squeak out a win."

Spring Lake Park 9, CL 2

Playing their first road game of the season, the Wildcats committed eight errors. It proved to be too much for the Wildcat hitters to overcome as they lost to the Spring Lake Park Panthers 9-2 at Spring Lake Park Wednesday, April 18.

With the Wildcats trailing 6-0 going into the top of the fourth inning, Morgan Baumgard doubled to drive in Ariel Novak with the Wildcats' first run of the game. Baumgard scored the Wildcats' other run in the sixth inning on Ashley Nelson's sacrifice fly, but that was all the scoring the Wildcats could muster as they lost, 9-2. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 1-1 in the conference.

"Of their eight runs," said Wildcat head coach Jangor, "only four were earned. Brittany Boettcher, a freshman, pitched this game for us and she pitched well enough for us to have a chance at success. The errors that took us out of it were made by people who should not be making them. And when we loaded the bases late in the game and had a chance to get back in it, baserunning errors stopped the rally. Hopefully we got the mistakes out of our system."

CL 13, North Branch 1

The Wildcats traveled to North Branch to visit the Vikings, and the Wildcat bats erupted for 20 hits as they beat them 13-1 Thursday, April 19.

After the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, it looked like the Vikings might have a big inning. With no outs and the bases loaded, Dani Sonnenfeld drove in Megan Aho with the Viking run, leaving the bases loaded with no outs. But Rachel Nelson struck out the next batter, and induced two groundouts to get the Wildcats out of a jam. The Wildcats added two runs in the second and single runs in the fifth and sixth before erupting for seven runs in the top of the seventh to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Lisa Schommer had four hits in the Wildcat win. Morgan Baumgard's three hits included a double and a triple. She drove in two runs. Arial Novak also had three hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Bailey Eichten and Brittany Lofgren each had two hits for the Wildcats in the victory. Sonnenfeld and Megan Ranger each had two hits for the Vikings in the loss.

"After the game against Spring Lake Park, we challenged the kids to respond with a good performance," said Jangor. "And they did. They came back to play solid defense, and the hitting was contagious. It's nice to get a win against your archrival and it was nice to be able to get a lot of kids into the game. And in addition to her two hits, Bailey Eichten had two stolen bases and a sacrifice bunt. It's nice to see her getting her bat on the ball and moving along on the basepaths."

Jangor assessed his team's performance so far this season. "Am I happy we're 3-3?" he asked. "No. But am I happy how we got there? Yes! We played the right way for five out of the first six games, and if we continue to play like that, we'll have a successful season."

The Wildcats play twice this week. They were scheduled to host Totino Grace on Tuesday and St. Francis on Wednesday.

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