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The Cook County softball season came to an end in Floodwood on Tuesday, May 19. In the first round of the Section 7A playoffs, the Vikings lost a closely contested game to the Polar Bears, 3-5.
Cook County was up against Floodwood’s ace sophomore pitcher, Molly Johnsen. In the top of the first inning, the Vikings were unable to get a hit off the hard-throwing Johnsen. The Vikings now looked to their ace, senior Katy Borud, for a strong performance.
After a leadoff walk, the Floodwood base runner immediately stole second base. Borud then got a ground out to first base, but the base runner advanced to third base on the play. A wild pitch then allowed the Polar Bears to strike first, leading 0-1 after one inning of play.
Following scoreless second and third innings, Brea Boomer drew a one-out walk for the first Viking base runner of the game. Boomer then stole second base. As Kristina Rude followed with a strike out, the catcher dropped the pitch. As Rude raced to first base, Boomer began to advance to third. As Floodwood’s catcher threw down to first to get Rude, Boomer rounded third base and scored. TheVikings were now in a tied game, 1-1.
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In the bottom of the fourth inning, Floodwood answered Cook County’s run as their first three hitters all reached base. Following a Cook County fielding error, the Polar Bears rattled off two singles and had taken back the lead. The Polar Bears scored a second run on a groundout before Borud finished the inning with two consecutive strikeouts. The Vikings now trailed 1-3.
In the fifth, CeCe Schnobrich reached base when Floodwood’s shortstop couldn’t make the play in the infield. Schnobrich then advanced to second on Mary Curtis’ sacrifice bunt. Schnobrich then stole third base and scored after a Floodwood passed ball. The Vikings were back within striking distance, trailing by one, 2-3.
Floodwood led off the bottom half of the fifth by reaching base on an infield error. Following ground out to first, the Polar Bears ripped a double that scored a run. Borud then got two straight outs as the Vikings now trailed by two, 2-4.
The Vikings couldn’t muster a hit in the sixth inning, but the Polar Bears tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on a Viking outfielding error. Cook County was down by three, 2-5, with just three outs left in the game.
Sammy Jacobsen led off the inning by drawing a walk. She then stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball. A passed ball or a wild pitch was especially hurtful to either team as Floodwood has a deep backstop, making it harder for the catcher to run down the ball.
Jacobsen then scored on another passed ball, but the Viking rally was quickly squashed, as Cook County came up just short, 3-5.
Despite not getting a single hit in the game, the Vikings found a way to compete against a quality Floodwood team.
The loss concludes the Viking’s season with an overall record of 6-12.
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