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Chisago Lakes 14, North Branch 0
Cassie Lynch and Trinity Junker combined to throw a no-hitter as the Wildcats shut out the Vikings 14-0 in the season opener.  The Wildcats put the game away early with an eight-run second inning.  They pounded out 12 hits. Including six doubles and a triple, and stole seven bases.  And the Wildcats made just one error.  “You never know what to expect in the first game,” said Wildcat head coach Brenda Carlson, “especially with only four returning players.  Our pitchers were unbelievable.  We played almost errorless ball and all but one starter got a hit in the game.”  The game was played at North Branch High School Tuesday, April 4.

Lynch started, pitched the first three innings and struck out six.  Junker pitched the last two innings, struck out one and walked two.  Madison Thornburg doubled twice and drove in three runs.  Hannah Sogard had a double and a triple, scored three times and struck out two.  Lynch and Ellie Frischmon drove in two runs each.  Gina Virga, Lynch and Kaitlyn Istvanovich each had a double.  And Alison Bergerson led the way on the basepaths with three stolen bases.   

Chisago Lakes 3, Cambridge-Isanti 2
Hannah Sogard drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to lift the Wildcats to a 3-2 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets in the Wildcats’ home opener at Chisago Lakes High School last Thursday, April 6.  Cassie Lynch pitched a complete game, allowing two earned runs on eight hits.  She walked two and struck out seven.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard first in this one  Gina Virga led off with a single, advanced to third on a double by Alison Bergerson and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lynch.  The Bluejackets tied it up in the top of the second, but the Wildcats took the lead back in the bottom of the inning.  Madison Thornburg singled with one out, went to second on a walk by Ashley Wallenberg and, with two outs, scored on a double by Virga.  Cambridge tied it up again in the top of the fourth.

Lynch singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, advanced to second on a bunt by Ellie Frischmon and went to third on a one-out single by Jessica Bergerson.  Sogard followed with a sacrifice fly to left to put the Wildcats in the lead.  In the top of the seventh, Jayanta Kotila single with one out.  But Wildcat catcher Kaitlyn Istvanovich cut her down trying to steal second, which proved huge.  The next two batters singled, but the final batter lined-out to short to finish off an exciting win for the Wildcats.

“It was a good softball game,” said Wildcat head coach Brenda Carlson.  “Both teams had eight hits.  It was good to see our young team battle back and work hard to make plays.  We didn’t play as solid on defense as we had in the first game, with three errors, but we did what we needed to do to win the game.”

Hermantown 8, Chisago Lakes 6
The Wildcats spotted 2016 Section 7AAA section champion Hermantown an 8-0 lead last Saturday.  The Wildcats came roaring back with runs in the late innings, but their rally fell short and they lost 8-6.  The game was played at Chisago Lakes.

With the Wildcats trailing 8-0, Kaitlyn Istvanovich doubled with one out in the bottom of the fifth.  With two outs, Alison Bergerson walked.  Cassie Lynch doubled to drive in both runs, and the Wildcats trailed 8-2.  In the sixth, Jessica Bergerson reached on an error and Hannah Sogard and Madison Thornburg singled to load the bases with no outs.  Pinch hitter Ashley Wallenberg grounded out to short to drive in one run.  Istvanovich followed with a double to deep center to drive in two more.  Gina Virga singled to left to drive in the fourth run of the inning, and one out later Lynch walked to put runners on first and second.  But Ellie Frischmon popped out to first to end the rally.  The Wildcats got some hope when Thornburg reached on an error with two outs on the bottom of the seventh, but Wallenberg struck out to end the game.

Wildcat head coach Brenda Carlson said, “The good thing about this game is that we fought back against a team that is one of the top programs in the state year after year.  They went up eight runs on us.  Cassie Lynch gave up four runs in the first four innings.   Trinity Junker allowed four runs in her first inning of work, but settled down and fought back and they didn’t hit her after that inning.  And now our hitters know they can hit off of good pitching.  We came away from this game with a lot of positives for our young team going forward.”

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