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Chisago Lakes 17, North Branch 7 (6 innings)

In last week's matchup between the Viking and Wildcat softball teams, the Wildcats led throughout.

But the Vikings stayed within striking distance, trailing 12-7 after the top of the sixth. The Wildcats scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to, capped off by Miranda Beimert's two-run double. The hit put the Wildcats up 17-7 and ended the game because of the ten-run rule. The game was played last Friday, May 6 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats built a 7-0 lead after four innings. The scoring was started by Kasey Eichten, who blasted a two-run homer in support of herself on the mound.

In the third inning, the Wildcats strung together four hits and a walk, which added four runs to their lead as they started to pull away. The seventh run was of the unearned variety for Chisago Lakes.

The Viking offense showed some signs of life in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs. Wishon drew a lead off walk from Eichten, and Kelci Lofboom followed with a single. Both girls advanced on a wild pitch, and Emily Trunk reached on a dropped third strike.

Wishon came across the plate on a fielders choice, and Lofboom was right behind on an RBI single by Alley Carlson. The the Carlson sisters, Alley and MiKayla, on base, the Vikings pulled the double steal. Alley took off for second, and on the ensuring throw to the bag, MiKayla bolted for home as the Vikes pulled off the successful double steal.

The Wildcats came back with five in the bottom of the inning on a grab bag of different chances. They belted out three more hits, drew two walks and the North Branch defense committed two errors in the inning to keep it alive for CL.

In the top of the sixth, things stayed interesting as North Branch added four more runs on singles off the bats of Kallie Grote, Chelsea Tollberg, Angie Wishon and Trunk, plus a CL error before the Wildcats' final rally in the bottom half of the frame put an end to the game.

For the Wildcats, Beimert was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Wildcats. Danielle Tossey tripled, singled and drove in four runs. Kasey Eichten hit her first home run of the season, doubled and drove in three runs. Delaney Doriott and Jen Horst also had two hits apiece.

Viking Kelci Lofboom got two of her team's six hits. She also went four innings in the start, giving up six earned runs on six hits and three walks.

Jeni Huth took the loss for North Branch, giving up three earned runs on three hits and two walks in an inning of relief. Trunk pitched the sixth, giving up five runs on two hits and four walks.

"The walks really continue to hurts us. There was ine today, six of which came across to score," Viking Head Coach Ron Trunk said. "We did hit the ball well over the last couple innings, and we just wanted to bring that to our Sauk Rapids Tournament over the weekend. (See Page 14 in this week's County Press for results from the tournament.)

Kasey Eichten pitched all seven innings for the Wildcats, raising her record to 6-4 on the season.

"Even though we won by ten runs," said Wildcat co-head coach Herb Jangor, "it didn't feel like a blowout. They kept battling back late in the game until things just snowballed and we finally put them away. It's not going to be an easy game for us when we play at their place this Friday."

More Chisago Lakes Softball

It was a wild week for the Wildcats softball team, to say the least. They played seven games in an eight game stretch. They scored 55 runs and gave up 57 runs in matchups that featured lots of hits and errors, sometimes by one team and sometimes by both teams. They battled injuries, hit their first two home runs of the season and needed to use a seventh grader and an eighth grader to pitch some innings. When the busy week was over, a tired bunch of Wildcats had won three and lost four.

Spring Lake Park 8, Chisago Lakes 7

The Wildcats spotted the Panthers a 7-2 lead after one inning. Trailing 8-2 after five, they battled back to score three runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh inning, but it wasn't quite enough as the Panthers held on for an 8-7 win.

After the Wildcats scored twice in the top of the first inning, they played some sloppy defense in the bottom of the inning as four of the Panthers' seven runs were unearned. In the top of the sixth, Miranda Beimert singled and Megan Nelson doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. One run scored on an error and Katelyn Ramberg drove in the other when she reached on an error, pulling the Wildcats to within three runs. In the seventh, Danielle Tossey and Beimert singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. Nelson singled to drive in one run. Joplin Klick grounded out to drive in the second run of the inning and pull the Wildcats within one. But with two outs, Ramberg popped up for the third out as the Panthers hung on for an 8-7 win.

Chisago Lakes 17, Columbia Heights 2 (5 innings)

Kasey Eichten and Kayla Checkalski drove in three runs each to lead the Wildcats to a 17-2 win over the Hylanders in a game shortened to five innings because of the ten run rule. Eichten allowed just two hits and struck out nine Hylander batters in her five innings of work. The Wildcats had twelve hits and were helped by seven Columbia Heights errors.

Both of Eichten's hits were doubles. Four other Wildcats had two hits apiece - Checkalski, Miranda Beimert, Nicole Zacher and Katelyn Ramberg. Zacher and Jen Horst each drove in two runs.

Becker Tournament

Chisago Lakes 8, Foley 5

Nicole Zacher had two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs as the Wildcats beat Foley 8-5 in the opening round of the Becker tournament. Eichten allowed just three earned runs on five hits and struck out nine to earn the win.

In the bottom of the first inning, Checkalski singled in one run and Beimert doubled in two to put the Wildcats up 3-0. Foley scored two in the top of the third to cut the Wildcat lead to one. The Wildcats added two in the fourth and scored two more in the fifth on Zacher's double.

The Wildcats led 8-3 going into the top of the seventh. An error, a triple and a single resulted in two runs for Foley. But with two outs, Eichten regained her focus and got the last batter to pop out to her to end the game.

Becker 13, Chisago Lakes 1

Becker wasn't a very gracious host. They scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, crushing the Wildcats 13-1 in the second game of the Becker Tournament. Delaney Doriott's fifth inning single drove in the Wildcats' only run of the day. With freshman pitcher Bryanna Fernstrom unavailable for a few games, the Wildcats turned to a couple of even younger pitchers to give Kasey Eichten some relief. Eighth grader Sammi Sandratto and seventh grader Alex Smith each got some varisty time under their belts in this one. Wildcat co-head coach Herb Jangor said "For their first varsity action, Sammi and Alex did a nice job. They've been throwing well in JV and freshman games for us."

New Ulm Cathedral 12, Chisago Lakes 4

In their final game at this year's Becker Tournament, the Wildcats trailed 3-1 going into the top of the sixth against NUC. But NUC scored four in the sixth and five in the seventh to overwhelm the Wildcats 12-4. Nicole Checkalski had a nice game with the bat, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and her first home run of the season. Despite the lopsided score, the game was cleanly played - neither team committed an error, which is a rarity in a high school game.

Hermantown 10, Chisago Lakes 1

In a game postponed from earlier in the season, Hermantown came down to the Cities to take on the Wildcats. The Wildcats were gracious host to their section neighbors from up north, allowing four runs in the first and four runs in the second. Hermantown added two more runs in the top of the seventh and held on for a 10-1 win over the Wildcats.

"We're committing way too many mental and physical errors right now," said Wildcat co-head coach Herb Jangor, and that's one of the things that prevents us from being a really good team. And our pitching and defense seem out of synch in some games. But we're still in a lot better shape than most teams. And some of our players are stepping it up at the plate. Danielle Tossey continues to swing a hot bat. Miranda Beimert is hitting well. Nicole Zacher is finally starting to hit the ball for us. The kid that's surprised me the most is Delaney Doriott; when she's on, she's pretty good. And senior Jen Horst has been a nice surprise with the bat, as well. She's a great utility player. She does whatever you ask her to do and is a good defensive outfielder. But she has also started to produce at the plate, putting the ball in play and getting a bunt down when we need it."

Jangor also had some words of praise for his senior pitcher, Eichten, who has been throwing a lot of innings lately. "Kasey has a lot of moxie," said Jangor. "She's a gamer and a battler even when she doesn't have her best stuff. And I appreciate the fact that she keeps her composure even when we are kicking the ball around out there."

After traveling to North Branch for tomorrow's rematch with the Vikings, the Wildcats return home on Monday, May 16 for a shot at St. Francis. They'll travel to Fridley next Wednesday, May 18 to take on the Tigers. All three games start at 4:30 p.m.

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