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Chisago Lakes 4, Duluth Denfeld 3
Ellie Frischmon doubled home Madison Thornburg with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the second-seeded Wildcat softball team a 4-3 win over the seventh-seeded Duluth Denfeld Hunters in the opening game of the Section 7AAA playoffs last Wednesday, May 24 at Chisago Lakes.  Cassie Lynch went all the way for the Wildcats to pick up the win.  In seven innings, she allowed three runs (all earned) on eight hits, walked two and struck out 12.

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning.  Hannah Sogard singled to left with two outs and scored on a double to right center to put the Wildcats up 1-0.  In the third, Alison Bergerson led off with a single and scored on a double to center by Lynch.  Lynch stole third and, one out later, scored on an infield single by Kaitlyn Istvanovich to give the Wildcats a 3-0.

Meanwhile, Lynch sailed through the first four innings, allowing just one baserunner – a walk—and no hits while striking out eight.  She allowed a couple of hits in the fifth, but escaped with no damage.  With the Wildcats still leading 3-0 in the top of the sixth, the first two Hunters reached on a single and a walk.  The next two batters struck out and popped out, so it looked like the Wildcats were going to get out of the inning with no damage.  But the next batter reached on an infield single to load the bases.  Maddie Kessler then singled to right to drive in two runs to cut the Wildcat lead to 3-2.  Ashley Larson followed with a single up the middle to drive in another run and tie the score 3-3.  But Alysha Volkenant grounded to first to end the inning and the score remained tied.

Lynch allowed a two-out single in the top of the seventh, but struck out the next batter to end the inning.  In the bottom of the seventh, Thornburg led off with a single up the middle.  After Istvanovich struck out, Frischmon doubled to left to drive in the winning run and put the Wildcats in the winner’s bracket of the double elimination tournament.

Chisago Lakes 9, Grand Rapids 1
Cassie Lynch led the way on the pitching rubber and the plate when the Wildcats played the sixth-seeded Grand Rapids Thunderhawks in the second round of the Section 7AAA playoffs.  She pitched a complete game and drove in three runs with a double and a single as the Wildcats crushed the Thunderhawks 9-1 to advance to a matchup with top-seeded Hermantown in the winner’s bracket of the Section 7AAA playoffs.  The game was played at Chisago Lakes on Saturday, May 27.

The Wildcats scored all nine of their runs in the first four innings.  Sparkplug leadoff hitter Gina Virga went 3-for-3 and scored three runs.  Alison Bergerson and Madison Thornburg had two hits apiece and Ellie Frischmon, Kaitlyn Istvanovich and Hannah Sogard each doubled.  Istvanovich drove in two runs and Frischmon also had an RBI.  On the rubber, Lynch allowed one earned run on nine hits, but walked just one and struck out six

Hermantown 7, Chisago Lakes 5
In a winner’s bracket matchup between the top two teams in Section 7AAA – and two of the top ten teams in the state – the top-seeded Hermantown Hawks scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a two-run lead and held on for a 7-5 win over the Wildcats.  The game was played Tuesday afternoon, May 30 at Chisago Lakes, the designated site for the final rounds of the section tournament.  The loss kept the Hawks in the winner’s bracket and put the Wildcats in an elimination game against North Branch immediately after this game.

The Hawks got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second.  The Wildcats answered with two runs in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead.  Hermantown came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 3-2.  In the top of the fourth, RBI singles by Jenna Carlson and Gina Virga gave the Wildcats a 4-3 lead.  Madison Thornburg increased the Wildcat lead to two runs with a home run to right center in the top of the fifth.  But the Hawks scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Wildcat lead back to one.

Trinity Junker replaced Lynch on the pitching rubber in the bottom of the sixth.  Kailey Mihalik doubled to lead off and, one out later, Jordyn Thomas homered to right center to give the Hawks a 6-5 lead.  They added another run later in the inning to make the lead 7-5 after six.  The Wildcats went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh and the Hawks stayed undefeated in the section tournament.

Lynch started and went the first five innings, allowing four runs (all earned) on eleven hits.  She walked three and struck out eight.  Junker allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk in her inning of relief.

Chisago Lakes 7, North Branch 5
With the Wildcats and Vikings both facing elimination, the third-seeded Vikings took a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.  A two-run double by Madison Thornburgh keyed a four-run rally by the Wildcats to put them up 5-4.  The Wildcats added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth and survived a furious rally by the Vikings in the top of the seventh to win 7-5 and advance today’s section finals against Hermantown beginning at 3:30 at Chisago Lakes High School.  Since the Wildcats already have one loss in the tournament, they will need to beat the Hawks twice in a row to advance to the state tournament.  The loss ended the season for the Vikings.  The Wildcat-Viking game was played at Chisago Lakes.

Cassie Lynch started but went just one and a third innings before being lifted from the game with the score still 0-0.  Trinity Junker went the final five and two-thirds innings to pick up the win for the Wildcats.  She allowed five runs (three earned) on ten hits with no walks and no strikeouts.  Kristi Pilz went all the way in taking the loss for the Vikings.  She allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits, walked four and struck out four.

Lynch singled a run in the bottom of the third to put the Wildcats up 1-0.  For the Vikings in the top of the fourth, Jillayna Hoppe doubled, went to third on an overthrow and scored on a groundout by Macy Brodin to tie the game at 1-1.  After the first two Vikings reached base on errors in the top of the fifth, Katelyn Berg tripled to left to drive in both runners and scored on a single by Cassandra Sinn to put the Vikings up 4-1.  In the bottom of the inning, Natalie Thornburg walked and Alison Bergerson singled to put runners on first and second with no outs.  One out later, Madison Thornburg’s double drove in both runners to cut the Viking lead to 4-3.  Madison Thornburg stole third and scored on a single by Kaitlyn Istvanovich to tie the game at 4-4.  Istvanovich stole second and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left by Ellie Frischmon to put the Wildcats up 5-4.

The Wildcats added two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to stretch their lead to 7-5.  Amber Yoch doubled to lead off the top of the seventh and scored on a double to left by Berg to pull the Vikings within two runs.  Two outs later, Anna Carlson singled to move Berg to third.  But Hoppe grounded out to short to end the game.

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