Far left: Rocket armed Sarissa Falk pitched a beautiful game against Northland Remer, leading the Vikings to their first section 7A play-off win in years. Above: Katie VanderHeiden scoops a ball out of the dirt and makes a fine defensive play. Left: CeCe Olsen gets ready to bat against the Eagles. Olson, the lone senior on the team, was nicknamed “hoover” for her fielding skills at second base.
Coming into their first playoff game, the Vikings were still stinging from the loss of their last regular season game at Ely.
The Vikings played the Ely Timberwolves on Saturday, May 19 in Ely and lost 11-8.
“We started that game up 4-0 after the first inning and then it slowly got away from us,” said Head Coach Jessie Anderson.
“We made too many mental errors. We dropped three pop flies that landed in our gloves. We also had a close call at the plate go against us and three calls on base that we believed could have gone the other way. Still, we could have won this game. It was a rough game for us.”
Short work of Northland Remer Eagles
But Monday, May 21, the Vikings got a rare opportunity to host a Section 7A play-off game on their home field and also shrug off the loss to Ely.
The Cook County High School girls’ softball team did just that, making short work of the Northland Remer Eagles at the Grand Marais Recreation Park, winning 14-1 in five innings. The game was called because of the 10-run rule.
Sarissa Falk pitched a great game for the Vikings and didn’t give up an earned run. Many of the Vikings’ runs were caused by walks and errors made by the young Eagles players and their pitcher.
Season ending loss to South Ridge
The next night the Vikings traveled to Culver to play South Ridge, losing in five innings, 10-0.
“We played South Ridge one week ago and lost 6-4, so we felt we had a good chance going into this game. But this was a very different team that we faced on Tuesday,” said Coach Anderson.
Southridge’s pitcher was spot-on, mowing down Viking batters. “She pitched a much better game last night than she did last week. They also hit the ball much better. Instead of singles, they hit triples and doubles,” Anderson said.
The Vikings’ season is done but they have a lot to look forward to.
Looking forward to next season
“We only lose one senior, CeCe Olson. We will miss her leadership and her play at second base. We call her ‘Hoover’ because she picks up everything hit her way. She’s been a real solid player for us,” Anderson said.
During the course of the season the Vikings lost several players due to injuries. Their starting catcher, Anna Carman, went out with a back injury. They also lost Alexis Eliasen and Libby Zafft to injuries. All three will hopefully return healthy next year.
Also coming back will be Sarissa Falk, their No.1 pitcher; outfielders Rachel Wieben, Lexi Palmer and Sarah Deschampe; and infielders Cecilia Schnobrich, Katie VanderHeiden, Alexis Eliasen, Megan Lehto, Signe Larson and Madison Roy.
Anderson said that a number of eighth-graders will be expected to help out more next year. “Alex Slanga has been working on her pitching and fielding and really takes care of the ball in the field. When she fields the ball she throws it, no hesitation. I’ve been impressed with that.
“Trace McQuatters has also been working on pitching and is really hitting the ball well, and of course Madison is just an eighth-grader and has really stepped up big for us. We have a nice core of younger players who we expect to come in and do good things for us next year,” Anderson said.
The Vikings’ season ended with 6 wins and 10 losses. They finished 6th in the tough Polar League Conference.
Leave a Reply