With her eye firmly on the ball, Bethany Derscheid gets set to punch a single into the outfield in a recent home game.
The Cook County Vikings softball team traveled to Carlton on Thursday, May 14 to face the Carlton Bulldogs. Going in, the Vikings knew they were underdogs, but Carlton had been 10-runned by Silver Bay and just a few days before, the Vikings had beaten the Mariners.
Still, whatever magic the Vikings had against the Mariners was gone against Carlton and the Vikings were 10-runned 11-1.
“It was a cold, wet day. It rained the entire game,” said head coach Jessie Anderson.
“We went into the game knowing they were a tough team,” Anderson said. “Still, I thought we would compete better than we did. We scored our lone run in the first inning but after that Carlton had too much defense and too much offense. They are a real good hitting team and they proved it to us.”
Top hitters for the Vikings were Maddy Roy and Carrie Palmer. Alex Slanga took the loss for the Vikings.
Girls lose playoff game
The Vikings traveled to Culver on Tuesday, May 19 to face the South Ridge Panthers in, “single elimination game of the Section 7A playoffs.
On May 1, the Vikings lost 5-1 to the Panthers, so they expected it would be a close contest and it sure started that way.
Once again Alex Slanga, the Vikings’ workhorse from the mound this year, was the starting pitcher.
“Alex didn’t have her best stuff. She walked the first three batters she faced but the fourth batter up hit it back to her and she threw the runner out coming home. Maddy Roy (the Vikings catcher) fired the ball to first base to complete an amazing double play. We got the next batter out to escape the inning and scored two runs of our own. Carrie Palmer started us off with a single but was thrown out at second on a mix-up. We were supposed to bunt but missed the sign. Hannah Tofte walked, Maddy doubled to drive Hannah in and then Abby Prom sacrificed to drive in Maddy,” said Anderson.
In the second inning the Vikings tacked on one more run and again shut down South Ridge. However, said Anderson, “We kind of fell apart. Southridge scored 10 runs on a “combination of hits, errors and walks,” said Anderson.
The Vikings scored three runs in the third to stay within shouting distance, but the Panthers added four more runs in the fourth inning and Maddy Roy came in to relieve Alex Slanga. The Vikings scored one more run while the Panthers also added one more run to take the game 15-7.
“Maddy did really well. She kept the South Ridge batters off-balance with her pitches,” said Anderson.
“We battled hard the whole way, but we couldn’t catch them,” said Anderson.
Maddy Roy led the Viking hitters by going 3-3 from the plate with two doubles. Carrie Palmer, a senior, was also outstanding, going 3-4 with a walk.
“We’re going to really miss Carrie. When Jamie (Sjogren) went out with an injury Carrie moved from second to shortstop and did an excellent job for us. We couldn’t have asked more from Carrie,” Anderson said.
Trace McQuatters and Abby Prom also had “bleeders that fell in” for hits, said Anderson. “Otherwise, if not for a few defensive breakdowns and eight walks we gave up, we played pretty well,” she said.
“Overall I thought the kids had a good year at the plate. Our hitting really improved. We still need to work hard to get better on defense, but that will come with practice in the off season,” said Anderson. “We have some really good young up-and-coming players. Still, we are going to lose the middle of our infield with Jamie Sjogren and Carrie Palmer graduating. We are going to really miss them.”
Assistant coach Sarah McAteer is also leaving, said Anderson. “She is moving away to Missouri to use her degree in biology. I’m really happy for her but we are going to really miss her. She’s done a wonderful job as an assistant coach. We wish her the best as she moves on,” Anderson said.
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