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A slight hiccup against Coon Rapids on Wednesday April 30 was the only thing standing between the North Branch softball team and a six game winning streak.

Instead, they had to settle for winning five of their last six as they went 2-1 last week, beating Princeton and Hermantown, with the 13-11 loss to Coon Rapids sandwiched in the middle.

North Branch 2, Princeton 0

Junior Abby Pfeifer knocked in the only two runs of the game with a line drive to the left field gap and the Vikings sent the Tigers packing with a shutout loss on Tuesday, April 29.

Freshman Alyssa Rediske pitched a wonderful game for the Vikings, keeping the Princeton offense at bay throughout.

Coon Rapids 13, North Branch 11

The Vikings were frustrated against Coon Rapids in their high-scoring affair on Wednesday, April 30.

They scored plenty of runs to win, but the defense just wasn’t up to par for the Vikings, and some untimely hits for the Cardinals gave the previously one-win Coon Rapids squad their second victory of the year.

The NB offense was on fire in this game, highlighted by Aubrey Charpentier’s homerun over the left center fence, but the little things that win softball games — the ones Head Coach Kathy Crudo preaches — weren’t there for  Vikes.

North Branch 4, Hermantown 2

Cora Groholski spun a gem for Vikings when they topped potential section foe Hermantown 4-2 on Thursday, May 1.

Charpentier and Bella Folkema each played well on offense, with Charpentier driving in a couple runs and Folkema reaching base and scoring for the Vikings.

With the 2-1 week, the Vikings moved to 6-7 on the year after starting 1-6. They had a date with Chisago Lakes earlier this week, but then come down the home stretch with conference match ups against Zimmerman, St. Francis and Cambridge-Isanti and then clown the season with two non-conference games in Cloquet and Rock Ridge.

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