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North Branch 10, Columbia Heights 0

Early season jitters weren't a problem for the North Branch softball team in their opening day win over Columbia Heights.

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Vikings scored three runs by taking advantage of four walks by the Hylanders pitching staff.

Tiffany Anderson led of the inning with a walk, followed by an Alley Carlson single. Ashley King then walked to load the bases, and her, Carlson and Kayla Merschdorf, who had reached on a fielders choice, all scored on an Angie Discher single, and a Heights throwing error.

After blasting the Hylanders in that opening inning, the Vikings added another run in the second inning after a lead-off triple by Anderson and an RBI single by Carlson.

With a 4-0 lead in hand, the Vikes never looked back, slowing adding runs to their lead while Anderson shined on the mound.

The final blow for the Hylanders came in the sixth inning. With the Vikings already up 7-0, Merschdorf led off the inning with a walk, followed by a King single. Discher then tallied her fourth RBI of the game with a single to score Merschdorf. Chelsea Tollberg topped the game off with a two-run double, scoring King and Discher. With the 10-run mercy rule in effect, the girls came off the field with a satisfying 10-0 victory.

Anderson ended up pitching five innings, giving up only two hits, striking out eight and walking only one. Emily Trunk pitched a one-two-three sixth inning to complete the game.

"It was a good first game for us," Head Coach Ron Trunk said. "We hit the ball well and played error-free defense. Tiff pitched well, located her fast ball and stayed ahead in the count all game." Anderson also did an outstanding job at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs.

Discher was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run, King and Quiana Quam were both 2-for-2, and Carlson went 2-for-4 with two runs.

Totino-Grace 13, North Branch 3

After a stellar opening day, the Vikings took a step up in competition, facing off against the Totino-Grace Eagles.

Grace was off and flying before the Vikings knew what hit them, scoring five runs in the opening frame, and adding two in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, North Branch put together a mini rally. Three straight singles by Anderson, Carlson and Merschdorf scored one run, and left two girls on base. Both scored on a Tollberg single to make the score 9-3, but it was all the Vikings would get. "This game should've been closer, but out defense played poorly," Trunk said. "I was proud of the fact that we extended to seven innings after a very slow start."

The Vikings committed seven errors on the game, and it was their ultimate downfall against a team like Totino-Grace

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