CROOKSTON PIRATE GIRL’S SOFTBALL SPLITS TWO GAMES AT OKLEE

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Softball team earned its second win of the season over Red Lake County Central by run-rule 23-12 in a non-Section game after falling to East Polk 21-11 in a Section 8AA game played in Oklee.

GAME ONE – Crookston recorded two outs immediately following Emma Boll’s single to open the top of the first inning. Jenna Coauette walked to extend the inning before Ashlyn Genereux reached on an error that allowed the Pirates to score the first run of the game. Amber Cymbaluk continued the two-out rally with a double to left field plating Coauette and Genereux giving Crookston a 3-0 lead after one inning. “Amber crushed that ball,” said Crookston head coach Robbe Nessler. “That was probably her hardest hit ball of the season, and she was on base a ton tonight. She has been swinging very well.” East Polk used a walk and a double to start the bottom half of the opening frame before a pair of wild pitches allowed the North Stars to pull within 3-2 after one inning. The Pirates were retired in order in the top of the second inning setting up East Polk to take their first lead. Back-to-back walks to start the inning followed by a double-steal moved both runners into scoring position. A wild pitch allowed the tying run to score before another wild pitch gave East Polk a 4-3 lead. Five-straight walks allowed East Polk to add three more runs to their lead pulling ahead 7-3 before an error by Crookston’s pitcher and another walk enabled the North Stars to take a 9-3 lead out of the second inning. “We just kind of gave it to them, I felt,” said Nessler. “It was a long inning. We had some walks, and once that thing starts to happen, I just kind of feel like the whole mood of the team changes. We get a little bit more complacent on defense, and that leads to those errors happening and it all sort of compounds into a big inning.” In the top of the third inning, Jasmin Hanson singled to start the inning before walks to Jenna Coauette and Ashlyn Genereux loaded the bases for the Pirates. Amber Cymbaluk hit a groundout allowing Hanson to score from third bringing Crookston within 9-4. Kasey Cwikla hit a groundball to shortstop allowing Coauette to score and trimming the Pirates’ deficit down to 9-5 into the bottom of the third inning. East Polk used an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to regain a 10-5 lead after three innings of play. In the bottom of the fourth inning, a bases-loaded walk extended the North Stars’ lead to 11-5 into the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Amber Cymbaluk reached on a dropped pop fly before Brylee Lessard walked putting runners on first and second base. Kasey Cwikla singled to left field scoring courtesy runner Kenze Epema and bringing Crookston within 11-6. Sophia Steiner reached on an error by East Polk’s pitcher as Brylee Lessard scored to make it 11-7. “Kasey did a nice job today,” noted Nessler. “She put the ball in play nearly every time she was up. She’s always a threat on the base paths too so typically when she gets on base, I’m trying to be pretty aggressive with her.” Madison Salentine hit into a groundout that plated Cwikla as the Pirates pulled within 11-8 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. East Polk regained a 13-8 lead after a triple and RBI ground out putting Crookston’s deficit back at 13-8 into the sixth inning. Ashlyn Genereux reached on an error to start the sixth inning before Amber Cymbaluk walked putting runners on first and second base. A ground out advanced both runners before Kasey Cwikla hit an RBI single to center field bringing Crookston back within four runs of East Polk. Sophia Steiner plated the Pirates’ second run of the inning with an RBI single before Emma Boll reached on an error scoring Cwikla and trimming Crookston’s deficit down to 13-11 into the bottom of the sixth inning. “We were right with them,” noted Nessler. “We played them pretty tough, and I felt like we had a chance to win that game right until the very end.” East Polk’s bats came to life in the bottom of the sixth inning as the North Star’s used five hits and a Crookston error to plate eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to close out a 21-11 run-rule win in six innings. “We just kind of lost focus,” said Nessler of the final inning. “We had a couple of errors again, and it just compounded on us.”

For Crookston
Kasey Cwikla – 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Emma Boll – 2-4, walk

For East Polk
Faith Balstad – 2-4, 3 runs, 2 walks
Jaime Carlin – 2-6, 2 RBI, 2 runs

GAME TWO – Looking to bounce back from a game one loss, the Pirates’ offense wasted little time taking control of their game against Red Lake County Central. After a pair of outs to open the game, Jasmin Hanson reached on an error to extend the first inning. Jenna Coauette walked before Ashlyn Genereux was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Hanson to score from third base before Ashlyn Genereux walked to reload the bases. Another wild pitch plated Coauette giving Crookston a 2-0 lead before Amber Cymbaluk walked once again reloading the bases. Kasey Cwikla walked in the Pirates third run of the inning before Kenze Epema singled to right field plating two more runs giving Crookston a 5-0 lead after one inning. “We ended up with five in that first inning, and it wasn’t our only two out rally,” Nessler noted.  Jenna Coauette pitched a clean first inning for the Pirates maintaining Crookston’s five-run lead into the second inning. Jenna Coauette doubled with two outs to spark another Pirates’ rally in the second inning. Coauette advanced to third on a wild pitch before a passed ball allowed Coautte to score giving Crookston a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning. Kasey Cwikla walked before Kenze Epema singled putting runners on the corners. Kasey Cwikla scored on an error in left field before Emma Boll walked putting runners back on the corners with Crookston leading 7-0. Madison Salentine was hit by a pitch reloading the bases before an error at shortstop gave the Pirates an 8-0 lead. Jenna Coauette was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring Boll putting Crookston’s lead at 9-0. Amber Cymbaluk drove in two more runs with a single to center field giving the visitor’s an 11-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. “Amber had a great day,” summarized Nessler. “She’s been hurting a little bit because she’s been catching every day and it wears on you, but she’s excited. It’s fun when you’re playing well.” A walk and hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the third inning before a double for the Rebels allowed the hosts to pull within 11-1. A second straight RBI double made it 11-3 before a wild pitch and error in right field with two outs in the inning brought RLCC within 11-5 into the fourth inning. Emma Boll walked with two outs to extend the top of the fourth inning before Madison Salentine singled to left field putting runners on first and second base. Jasmin Hanson singled to centerfield scoring Boll and giving Crookston a 12-5 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, a double into center field cleared the bases for Red Lake County bringing the visitor’s within 12-8 after four innings. Ashlyn Genereux walked to open the fifth inning followed by an Amber Cymbaluk single. Kasey Cwikla reached on a dropped line drive in right field to clear the bases pushing Crookston’s lead to 14-8. Kenze Epema reached on an error at first base that plated Cwikla before Emma Boll doubled to left field allowing Epema to score, giving the Pirates a 16-8 lead. “Red Lake County had swung the momentum,” said Nessler. “Our girls were starting to reel a little bit and I was starting to get worried. Emma sort of put it away, they didn’t do much after that. She got us going again offensively when they definitely had the momentum.” Madison Salentine drove in Boll with a single to center field putting Crookston ahead 17-8 into the bottom of the fifth inning. A pair of two-out hits allowed the Rebels to chip three runs away from their deficit pulling within 17-11 after five innings. In the top of the sixth inning, the Pirates used four straight walks to open the inning with Kenze Epema’s free-pass earning her an RBI while giving Crookston an 18-11 lead. Brylee Lessard scored on a wild pitch before Emma Boll drove in Kasey Cwikla with a single giving the Pirates a 20-11 lead. Madison Salentine singled to left field scoring Kenze Epema before Jasmin Hanson drove in Boll with a single to center field giving Crookston a 22-11 lead. Madison Salentine scored on a double-steal to wrap up the six-run inning with the Pirates in front 23-11. After the Rebels plated one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, Jenna Coauette dialed up back-to-back strikeouts to close out Crookston’s 23-12 win in six innings via run-rule. “We’ve had a ton of games to get better and improve,” summarized Nessler. “I feel that’s one of the best ways to get better and improve. With all of these games that we’ve played you hope you see girls making some strides. We’ve put a lot of work in this year. A lot of girls are tired and nursing some injuries because of all the games we’ve been playing, but that’s what it’s all about. Every other team is in the same boat as us. It’s been a fun couple of days for these girls with a couple of wins in the last three games.”

The Pirates fall to 2-17 overall and will wrap up the regular season on Friday night in Thief River Falls against the Northern Freeze at 6:00 p.m.

For Crookston
Amber Cymbaluk – 3-3, 2 RBI, 2 walks
Madison Salentine – 3-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Kenze Epema – 2-4, 3 RBI, 3 runs
Emma Boll – 2-4, 2 RBI, 4 runs, 2 walks
Jasmin Hanson – 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 runs

For Red Lake County Central
Calyssa Eskeli – 3-4, 4 RBI, 2 runs
Jayden Iverson – 2-4, RBI, run