---

The Wildcats went 5-1 last week to raise their overall record to 10-7 and their conference record to 7-4.

Chisago Lakes 8, Fridley 1

Rachel Nelson allowed just one hit and struck out 12. Tracy Schneider drove in three runs as the Wildcats beat the Fridley Tigers 8-1 last Monday, May 5 at Chisago Lakes.

Tracy Schneider, Lisa Schommer, Mallory Schneider and Danielle Tossey had two hits apiece for the Wildcats as the Wildcats pounded out 13 hits. Schommer and Mallory Schneider each doubled. The only hit Nelson allowed was a fifth inning home run that ended her bid for a shutout.

C.L. 7, St. Louis Park 0

C.L. 13, St. Louis Park 3

The Wildcats played a doubleheader at St. Louis Park last Wednesday, May 7. In the first game, Amanda Houle went 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBIs to lead the Wildcats to a 7-0 win. Rachel Nelson pitched her third complete game shutout of the season. Lisa Schommer hit her third home run of the season, a solo blast to lead off the sixth inning. Schommer had two hits for the Wildcats, and Tia Pearl doubled in her only plate appearance of the game.

In the nightcap, the Wildcats collected a season-high 18 hits as they thrashed the Orioles 13-3. The game shortened to five innings because of the ten-run rule. Schommer was once again a Wildcat hitting star, with two doubles and two RBIs. Laura Monson had a double and a triple. Danielle Tossey and Ariel Novak had three hits apiece, and Brittany Bettcher and Kasey Eichten each had two hits. Amanda Houle, Tossey and Eichten drove in two runs each. Relieving Rachel Nelson to start the third inning, Eichten struck out five and allowed three unearned runs in three innings to pick up her first varsity win.

Benilde-St. Margaret's 2, C.L. 0

Benilde-St. Margaret's, 12-0 in North Suburban Conference play, scored both of its runs in the bottom of the first inning, and held on to beat the Wildcats 2-0 last Friday, May 9 at Chisago Lakes. The Red Knight pitcher allowed just one hit, a first inning single to Ariel Novak, and struck out 11 Wildcats.

The first Red Knight batter of the game walked and stole second. With two outs, the Red Knight cleanup hitter knocked her in with a single. After another stolen base, Benilde scored a run on a Wildcat error to make the score 2-0 after one inning.

Rachel Nelson took the complete game loss for the Wildcats, striking out four and allowing two runs, one of them earned.

Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor said, "To make only one error against a good team like that is not too bad. The one thing we needed was more quality at bats by a few more people. But we faced one of the best pitchers in the Metro area. Our kids played well defensively and Rachel pitched well. Overall, it's one of the better games we've played this season. In particular, our shortstop Ariel Novak was outstanding on defense. In fact, her defense has been outstanding all year, and it really showed in this game."

Chisago Lakes 2, Virginia 1

The Wildcats faced another tough team last Saturday, May 10. But this time they pushed across two runs to beat Virginia 2-1 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats used small ball to score both runs. They got on the board in the first inning. Laura Monson led off with a walk and stole second. One out later, Ariel Novak singled to drive in Monson for a 1-0 Wildcat lead.

The Wildcats scored again in the bottom of the fourth. Lisa Schommer led off the inning with a walk. With one out, Angie Gauvin sacrificed Schommer to second. Tia Pearl then got the key hit of the game as she doubled over the left fielder's head to drive in Schommer . The score was 2-0 Wildcats.

Virginia threatened to tie up the game in the sixth. The first two batters doubled, resulting in one run in and a runner on second with no outs. But Wildcat pitcher Rachel Nelson really bore down. She got the next batter to ground out, and then struck out the last two hitters of the inning. Wildcats still led 2-1. Nelson pitched a 1-2-3- seventh inning to give the Wildcats a one-run victory.

"We were able to get better quality at bats which in turn led to two runs'" said Jangor. "Against a good team like this, you've got to sneak across a run when you can. This was a nice win against a good Virginia team."

C.L. 11. Cambridge-Isanti 0

After they won at home against Virginia, the Wildcats hopped a bus to Cambridge to play the Blue Jackets. This odd sort of doubleheader for the Wildcats came about because of reschedulings caused by the crummy weather for several weeks early in the season. The Wildcats made the most of the trip, scoring five runs in the first inning as they thrashed the Blue Jackets 11-0 in a game shortened to six innings because of the 10-run rule.

Wildcats Ariel Novak, Ashley Oehme and Mallory Schneider each had a triple for the only Wildcat extra-base hits for the game.

Schneider's first-inning triple drove in three runs, and she had four total RBIs for the game. Rachel Nelson had two hits and two RBIs, and Novak had three hits to lead the Wildcats. Nelson pitched her fourth complete game shutout of the season, striking out six and allowing just two hits, to improve her record to 9-6.

The Wildcats finish off the regular season with three conference games this week. They were scheduled to travel to Spring Lake Park to take on the Panthers May 14. They'll head to St. Francis to take on the fighting Saints today, Thursday May 15 at 4:15 p.m. And they'll close out the regular season tomorrow with a home game at 4:15 p.m. against Columbia Heights.

The Wildcats may begin the Section 7AA playoffs next Wednesday, May 21 at home. If they get a bye in the first round of the playoffs, however, they won't play till Saturday, May 24 in Duluth. If they win that day, they'll play in the Section 7AA Final Four on Wednesday, May 28 at Chisago Lakes.

---