Play ball! Viking softball players looked super on their home field on Friday, April 16 when they beat Babbitt, 13-3. Left: Junior Kristina Rude took the mound for Cook County versus Babbitt at the Rec. Park ball field, giving up only 3 runs to the Knights.
The Cook County softball team remained at .500 for the season after splitting a pair of games last week. On Tuesday, April 13 the Vikings lost 1-14 in Carlton. Three days later, Cook County looked recharged as they beat Babbitt 13-3. The Vikings are now 2-2 on the season.
In the top of the first inning against Carlton, the Vikings experienced their only highlight of the game offensively. With one out, Brea Boomer hit a single and promptly stole second base. Boomer advanced to third base on a ground out and scored when Sammy Jacobsen hit a double. TheVikings had an early 1-0 lead, but would not score again.
Carlton entered the game undefeated and definitely stayed that way as they put on a hitting clinic during the game. Over the course of the four innings that the Bulldogs went to the plate, Carlton piled up 13 hits, six that were for extra bases, including one hit over the center field fence. In four innings of hitting, the Bulldogs scored 14 runs. TheVikings’ defense was solid for most of the game, as they committed only two fielding errors. The Bulldogs were just on a hot streak offensively in the 1-14 win.
Following the tough loss in Carlton, the Vikings faced the Babbitt Lady Knights on a cold and windy day in Grand Marais. Kristina Rude took the mound for the Vikings and made quick work of the Knights in the top of the first inning.
The Vikings started out the bottom half of the inning with two fly-outs. Cook County hitters became a little more patient and drew three consecutive walks. CeCe Schnobrich was hit by a pitch to score Jacobsen who was on third base. The Vikings drew two more walks and scored three more runs to take a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.
A leadoff single by Babbitt was followed by three straight strikeouts by Kristina Rude. In the bottom of the second, the Vikings continued the walk-a-thon as they instantly loaded the bases after three straight Babbitt walks. Rude drew an RBI walk as the Vikings added to their total. Following a Viking strikeout, Schnobrich hit into a groundout that was good for an RBI as Boomer scored from third base. Senior catcher Taryn Logan hit a double for two RBIs as the Viking took an 8-0 lead entering the third inning.
Rude gave up her first run of the game when two singles led to a run on the scoreboard for the Knights. Leading 8-1, Cook County’s Signe Larson led off the bottom of the third inning by drawing a walk. After a Larson steal, Carly Puch came through with an RBI single. Boomer then was walked. Both runners advanced when Jacobsen faked a bunt and the ball got by the catcher. Puch and Boomer scored on passed balls before the inning came to an end. The Vikings had a commanding 11-1 lead.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Babbitt scored two runs when a shallow outfield got burned by the Knights’ number three hitter for a homerun. Rude then pitched out of a jam and the Vikings maintained an 11-3 advantage.
Boomer scored in the fifth inning and Schnobrich scored in the bottom of the sixth to end the game with a ten run margin, 13-3. Schnobrich finished the game going two for three with two RBIs, and two runs scored. The speedy Boomer scored three times for the Vikings as they improved their record to 2-2.
Cook County played at home against Silver Bay on Tuesday, April 20 after this edition went to press. The Vikings play in Duluth Marshall this Friday. Look in next week’s edition for all the scores and highlights.
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