A bid for a second-straight WIAA state softball tournament berth came to an end for the Northwestern High School softball team with an 11-3 loss Thursday evening at Bloomer.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Laryssa Vik doubled off the fence with two outs and scored on Rose Tokar’s single.
The Blackhawks tied it up in the bottom of the first inning. Cassidy Friend retired the first two batters, but two straight singles were followed by an error.
Bloomer took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the second without a hit thanks to a sacrifice fly and a two-run error.
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The Tigers got within 4-3 in the third inning when Friend and Mackenzie Correll singled and scored on a single by Vik and a sac fly by Rose Tokar, respectively.
Bloomer took a 7-3 lead in the fourth inning on three straight two-out doubles and an RBI single.
It went to 10-3 in the fifth thanks to a hit batter, a sac bunt, two errors on bunt attempts and a sac fly.
Another unearned run gave Bloomer an 11-3 lead in the sixth inning.
Aliya Siebel was the winning pitcher, allowing six hits with 10 strikeouts.
Northwestern............. 102 000 0 - 3
Bloomer.................... 130 331 x - 11
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Tigers 14, Comets 9
Northwestern’s Cassidy Friend was anything but friendly to the visiting Cameron Comets Tuesday evening at the Brule Ball Fields.
The senior was near perfect with the bat, going 4-for-4 with a two-run home run, a pair of RBI singles, and a triple as the Tigers defeated the Comets 14-9 in a WIAA Division 3 softball sectional semifinal game.
Friend was also the winning pitcher Tuesday, allowing eight hits, with six strikeouts and five walks in five innings. She only allowed two runs through four innings as Northwestern opened up an 11-2 lead.
She then ran into trouble in the fifth inning when Cameron scored seven runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter.
Macey Schultz took over and kept Cameron scoreless over the final two innings, allowing two singles with three strikeouts.
The Tigers’ 14 hits included solo home runs from Laryssa Vik and Rose Tokar; Kennedy Nelson and Mackenzie Correll both had two hits and two RBIs; Tory Anderson had two singles and an RBI; Brooke Ogren singled and knocked in a run with a suicide squeeze bunt; and Lindsey Evans singled.
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Among Cameron’s nine hits was a three-run home run by Brooke Zimmerman, and two hits and an RBI by Lexi Kringle and Hannah Zimmerman.
Cassidy Crotteau and Jamey Crotteau pitched for Cameron, finishing with nine strikeouts and five walks.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Friend led off with a triple off the right field fence and scored on Vik’s suicide squeeze bunt.
Cameron tied it up in the second inning. After Rachel Gillett singled and two players walked, Gillett scored on a balk.
The Tigers took the lead for good with a four-run second inning, which included Tokar’s lead-off home run; an RBI single by Friend; and Nelson’s two-run bloop single over the second baseman’s head.
The Comets got one run back in the third when Kringle singled and eventually scored on C. Crotteau’s bases-loaded walk. Friend avoided any further damage with a pop out and ground out.
Northwestern opened up an 11-2 lead with six runs in the fourth inning.
Anderson and Evans singled and scored the first two runs of the inning on Ogren’s squeeze bunt and Friend’s single, respectively. After Tokar walked to load the bases, Correll hit a two-run single and Anderson hit an RBI single.
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The Comets weren’t done yet and made things interesting with seven runs in the top of the fifth.
After Cameron loaded the bases with a walk, a hit batter and a J. Crotteau single, H. Zimmerman and Kringle hit RBI infield singles, two runs came in on an error, and B. Zimmerman belted a three-run home run.
The Tigers gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom of the fifth with Friend’s two-run home run and Vik’s solo shot.
Cameron’s season ends with a record of 17-8.
Cameron.................. 011 170 0 - 9
Northwestern........... 140 630 x - 14
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