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Mankato West Scarlet Invitational

Last Saturday, April 20, the Wildcats headed down to Caswell Park in North Mankato, site of their second-place finish at the state tournament last year, to play in the Mankato West Scarlet Invitational.  Mankato West won two games in the tournament, giving head coach Don Krusemark his 500th career victory.

Chisago Lakes 5, St. Peter 2

Melana Larson drove in three runs with a single and a sacrifice fly to lead the Wildcats to a 5-2 win over the St. Peter Saints in the opening game of the tournament.  Wildcat pitcher Anna Zaruba allowed two unearned runs, four hits, walked none and struck out eleven.  Larson drove in two runs with a single in the first inning.  She hit a sacrifice fly to right field in the third.  Sam Johnson followed with a run-scoring double to make it 4-0.  The Wildcat defense struggled in the bottom of the third, as the Saints scored a run on three straight errors with one out.  The next batter singled to drive in the second run of the inning, cutting the Wildcat lead to 4-2.  A double to center followed, but the relay from center fielder Chloe Ruza to first baseman Abby Sufka to catcher Melanie Anderson cut down the runner at home plate, keeping the Wildcat lead at two.  Zaruba struck out the next batter to limit the damage and end the inning.  Jess Dittel drove in the game’s final run with a double in the fourth inning to make the score 5-2.  Zaruba allowed just one baserunner over the final three innings, striking out six.

Chisago Lakes 8, Edina 1

Freshman Makenna Thorsen allowed just one earned run in seven innings and received great run support from her teammates as the Wildcats beat the Edina Hornets 8-1 in the second game of the tournament.  Thorsen gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four to earn the first complete game win of her varsity career.  The top of the Wildcats’ batting order was right in the middle of the offensive explosion, as usual.  The Wildcats trailed 1-0 after three innings.  Anna Zaruba drove in a run with a double in the bottom of the fourth, and later scored on Lily Myhra’s single to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.  Jesa Leritz drove in two with a triple in the fifth, followed by a sacrifice fly by Zaruba that made it 5-1.  Morgan Kotval and Melanie Anderson walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth.  Courtney Preston singled to drive in one run, and Jess Dittel doubled to drive in two more, making the score 8-1.  Thorsen finished her start with a flourish, allowing just one baserunner and recording all four of her strikeouts over the last three innings of the game.

Apple Valley 3, Chisago Lakes 2

In the final game of the tournament, a run-scoring single for the Apple Valley Eagles broke a 2-2 tie and the Eagles went on to defeat the Wildcats 3-2.  Anna Zaruba took the loss in relief.

After starter Makenna Thorsen walked the first batter she faced, the next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt.  The runner tried to go all the way to third on the play, but second baseman Jess Dittel threw her out at third, clearing the bases.  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, and a single drove in the first run of the game.  But Thorsen struck out the next batter, limiting the damage.  Dittel drove in Abby Sufka with a single in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1.  The Eagles responded with a run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.  Sam Johnson double to lead off the fourth, went to third on a wild pitch and, one out later, scored on a groundout by Melanie Anderson to tie the game at 2-2.  But the Eagles broke the tie in the sixth, handing the Wildcats their first loss of the season.

Starter Thorsen went three innings.  She allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked two and struck out two.  In three innings of relief, Zaruba allowed one earned run on two hits, walked her first batter of the season, and struck out five.

“It was 27 degrees when our first game started,” said Wildcat head coach Brenda Carlson.  “That was a long, cold day.  All I can say about Apple Valley is that if we saw them fresh, the score would have been a lot different.  We look for opportunities to give Anna a rest.  I got to throw Makenna for ten innings on Saturday.  She shut down Edina and did well overall.  And while losing is never fun, what I liked about our game against Apple Valley was that we kept it close and didn’t stop fighting.  With playoffs looming not too far in the future, it’s good for the players to know that when you’re tired, as we were today by the third game, you just have to push through it.”

Softball Squiggles

In 40 innings so far this season, Anna Zaruba is 5-1 with one walk and 58 strikeouts.   The Wildcats are currently ranked fourth in Class AAA.

The Wildcats (7-1) will host the St. Francis Fighting Saints (6-1) tonight at Chisago Lakes High School at 5 p.m. in a battle of two teams undefeated in Mississippi 8 Conference play.  Carlson said “St. Francis has s tenth-grader who throws a pretty good riser.  The game may come down to whether we can do something with that riser, or they can eke out something against Anna.”  On Monday, April 29 they will head to Cambridge-Isanti High School to take on the Bluejackets at 5 p.m.  And they will return to their home field on Tuesday, April 29 to play the Princeton Tigers.

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