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Chisago Lakes 13, Zimmerman 5

Anna Zaruba went five for five and drove in six runs to lead the Wildcats to a 13-5 rout over the Zimmerman Thunder Tuesday, April 23 at Chisago Lakes High School.  The Wildcats pounded out 21 hits against the Thunder pitcher.  Other hitting stars for the Wildcats included Jesa Leritz, who went five for five with two doubles and scored three runs; Meagan Anderson, who had three doubles in four at bats, drove in two runs and scored two; Jess Dittel-Hoefler, who had three hits, including a double, drove in three runs and scored three runs; Courtney Preston, who drove in two runs with a double; and Sam Johnson, who went three for five and scored twice.

Makenna Thorsen started and pitched all seven innings for the Wildcats.  She allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits, walked three and struck out seven to pick up the win.

Chisago Lakes 9, St. Francis 1

The game between the Wildcats and the St. Francis Fighting Saints was billed as a duel between two of the best pitchers in the Mississippi 8 conference, Wildcat Anna Zaruba and St. Francis’ Sydney Borchert.  But Borchert uncharacteristically showed some early wildness, walking three batters to load the bases and getting yanked with one out in the bottom of the second.  This apparently rattled the normally steady St. Francis defense, as they committed three official errors, didn’t make several other plays that could have been scored errors, and made numerous mental errors, allowing the Wildcats to pile up runs.  14 hits by the Wildcats also helped with the scoring, and the Wildcats crushed the Saints 9-1 Thursday, April 25 at Chisago Lakes High School.

Zaruba certainly held up her end of the purported pitchers’ duel.  In seven innings, she allowed one unearned run on five hits, walked none, and struck out nine.  Jee Dittel-Hoefler led the way with four hits in four at bats, including two doubles, scored two runs and drove in one.  Zaruba, Melana Larson and Morgan Kotval had two hits apiece, and Sam Johnson and Chloe Ruza each drove in two runs.

“We knocked their number one pitcher out,” said Wildcat head coach Branda Carlson. “ She wasn’t getting calls on pitches and didn’t know what to do.  I have to give our kids a lot of credit.  We talked about that rise ball and said if you lay off of it, she will have to come in.  They forced her to throw pitches she doesn’t usually throw.  St. Francis could still get through their section and go to state.  They are that good.  But we mentally took them out of their game today.  We took their leader off the mound, and it affected the entire team.  We have to come out every game and try to do that.”

Softball Squiggles

The offense from the top of the Wildcat order is one of the keys to their success so far this season.  Jess Dittel-Hoefler is hitting an amazing .706.  Jesa Leritz is batting .500, and Anna Zaruba is right behind at .485.  And those three hitters combined have driven in 32 of the Wildcats’ 64 runs so far this season.  Of course, the other big reason for the Wildcats’ success is Zaruba’s performance on the mound.  In 47 innings, she has an ERA of 0.60, has 67 strikeouts and has walked just one batter.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Wildcats (8-1) will head to Big Lake High School to take on the Hornets at 5 p.m.  And next Tuesday, May 7, the Wildcats will welcome their archrival, the North Branch Vikings, to Chisago Lakes High School for a rematch.  The Wildcats beat the Vikings at North Branch 6-4 on April 22.

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