---

If the North Branch softball team ever puts up 15 runs again in a game this year, chances are high  that next time they will win. The fluke loss came over the weekend to Hermantown in the second half of a double header that saw two northern teams come down and double dip against North Branch and Chisago Lakes.

North Branch 14, Virgina 6
In the opener, North Branch took on the Virginia Blue Devils and stayed in control most of the game.

Their bats were alive and they were delivering runs in bunches, scoring crooked numbers in the third through sixth inning.

Behind 17 hits, the Vikings scored 14 runs and down Virginia 14-6. There were plenty of offensive stars for North Branch, including multi-hit games from Kaylee Sheppeck, Hannah Hubbad, Sydney Meath, Amber Yoch and Paige Yoch.

Meath went two-of-four with three RBIs and a run, while Sheppeck also had two RBI’s and a run. Katelyn Berg only made one plate appearance, but she made it count, ripping a double and scoring two on the play.

Other RBIs came from Megan Carlson, Hubbard, Amber Yoch and Maddie Danks.Hubbard got the win for North Branch, the first of her career, by going five innings and giving up five runs on nine hits.

Hermantown 16, North Branch 15
In the second half of the double header, the Vikings had more runs but found a tough way to lose, giving up eight runs in the last two innings to Hermantown, which forced an extra inning.

The Vikes started hot again, scoring seven runs in the first two innings. Their bats were alive and they were taking bases. In the fourth, the Hawks answered with five big runs, but that only ignited the NB bats again. Over the next two innings, the Vikings scored six more runs to go up 13-6 heading into the sixth inning.

The sixth inning was North Branch’s big undoing. They allowed six runs, trimming the lead to 13-12. NB answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth, but Hermantown was right back in the top of the seventh, scoring two more runs to tie the game.

The Vikings didn’t answer in the bottom of the seventh and the game went to extra innings. Both teams scored a run in the eighth, but the Hawks scored the winning run in the ninth.

Hubbard and Meath both had four hit games. Meath blasted three doubles and had two RBIs and four runs.
Hubbard had two runs and three RBIs to go along with her hits.

“In a game that had over   30 hits and 31 runs scored, it was only fitting that it went nine innings and lasted three hours,” Head Coach Brian Robelia said. “This was a tough loss for our team because we had chances to win throughout the game and came up short multiple times. We will learn from this experience.”

---