The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Softball team scored two runs in the seventh inning before plating the winning run in the eighth inning of a 12-11 comeback win over the Northern Freeze in a non-Section game played in New Folden, Minnesota.
Crookston looked poised to take control of the game early loading the bases with one out in the top of the first inning, but a groundout and a strikeout ended the top of the first with the bases still loaded. The Northern Freeze capitalized on their base runners in the bottom of the first inning. Ellia Bass reached on an error at shortstop with one out in the first inning before advancing to third base on a pair of wild pitches. Brooke Fredrickson drove in Bass with a single before getting caught up in a rundown between first and second base for the second out of the inning. Eylie Homme doubled to extend the inning before moving to third base on a passed ball. Zoey Magner walked to put runners on the corners before the Freeze executed a double steal as Homme swiped home giving the Northern Freeze a 2-0 lead. Reese Rustad singled home Magner giving the Freeze a 3-0 lead after one inning. The Pirates bounced back in the second inning to take their first lead. Kasey Cwikla started the second inning with a walk before Sophia Steiner reached on an error putting runners at first and second base. A fielder’s choice allowed Brylee Lessard to reach putting runners on the corners before Emma Boll reached base on an error at third base to load the bases. A pop-up to shortstop cost Crookston its second out of the inning before Jasmin Hanson was hit by a pitch bringing the Pirates within 3-1. Jenna Coauatte walked in the second run of the inning before a pitch hit Allie Love tying the game at 3-3. Amber Cymbaluk walked in Crookston’s final run of the inning as the Pirates took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the second inning without recording a hit. Â “They just came out to play,” said Crookston JV head coach Matt Torgerson, who was filling in for Varsity head coach Robbe Nessler. “They got their heads in it right away.” In the bottom of the second inning. Marissa Nelson opened up the Northern Freeze offense with a double before scoring on a dropped fly ball in left field off the bat of Brooke Fredrickson who advanced to second base on the error, Eylie Homme drove in Fredrickson with an RBI single giving the Freeze a 5-4 lead into the third inning. In the top of the third inning, Sophia Steiner started the inning with a single before Brylee Lessard walked putting runners on first and second base. Emma Boll laced a single to the outfield scoring Steiner from second and tying the game at 5-5 after three innings. In the top of the fourth inning, Amber Cymbaluk walked before courtesy runner Claudia Dumrongkietman stole second base. A passed ball advanced Dumrongkietman to third base before she scored on a wild pitch giving Crookston a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Freeze opened the inning with a walk before three straight hits plated two Northern Freeze runs giving the hosts a 7-6 lead into the fifth inning. Brylee Lessard walked to start the fifth inning before Emma Boll doubled bringing Lessard home while tying the score at 7-7. Maddie Salentine singled home Boll giving the Pirates an 8-7 lead. With two outs and the bases empty, Jenna Coauette singled to extend the inning before stealing second base. Allie Love connected on a two-out RBI single scoring Coauette while boosting Crookston’s lead to 9-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. “Our girls they hit well today,” noted Torgerson. “They played great offense. When we needed our hits, we got them.” Rhiannon Horien opened the bottom half of the fifth inning with a walk before Marissa Nelson singled putting runners on first and second base. Another dropped flyball in left field allowed Brooke Fredrickson to reach safely while Horien scored bringing the hosts within 9-8. An error at third base scored the second run of the inning before Reese Rustad reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Fredrickson giving the Freeze a 10-9 lead into the sixth inning. Crookston was shutout in the top of the sixth inning before the Northern Freeze added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning to take an 11-9 lead into the seventh inning. After a strikeout to open the seventh inning, Jasmin Hanson doubled to bring the tying run to the plate before Jenna Coauette walked putting runners on first and second base. Allie Love grounded into a fielder’s choice allowing Hanson to score after she advanced to third on a wild pitch bringing Crookston within 11-10 with two outs in the inning. Down to the team’s final strike with the tying run on third base, Amber Cymbaluk slashed a base hit into right-center field plating Coauette and tying the game at 11-11 sending the contest into the bottom of the seventh inning. “All I told (Amber) was that we needed her and she stepped up,” added Torgerson. “She was wonderful. She did exactly what she needed. We didn’t need a home run. We just needed a base hit to stay in the game. There is not one player that played weak today. We had a lot of different hits from a lot of different people.” In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Northern Freeze squandered a leadoff single with a pair of baserunning errors costing the Freeze a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh as Jasmin Hanson fielded the final ground out of the inning from the circle to send the game into extra innings tied at 11-11. In the top of the eighth inning, Brylee Lessard reached first with a one-out walk, her fourth walk of the game. Emma Boll followed with a second straight walk putting runners on first and second base. A strikeout brought Jasmin Hanson back up to the plate where she connected on an RBI single scoring Lessard and giving Crookston a 12-11 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. “Jasmin is a good player both offensively and defensively,” added Torgerson. “She does great, and she’s one of our strongest hitters and sometimes when you’re pitcher is one of your strongest hitters it’s a little strange. We’re lucky enough to have Jasmin with us in Crookston.” Sunni Edin led off the Freeze’s half of the inning reaching on an error at shortstop before an error at third base put the first two runners on base for the home side. A ground out moved the winning run to second base, and the tying run to third base before a walk loaded the bases with one out in the inning. “I just asked her how she was doing,” said Torgerson of his decision to keep Jasmin Hanson in the circle for her eighth inning or work. “I trust the ladies to make some of those decisions. They know what they’re doing. When she tells me she’s good, I believe her and I’m glad I did.” A pop-up out at third base moved the Pirates within one out of their first win of the season. Eylie Homme represented the Freeze’s final out of the game and hit a very slow rolling ball to the right of Jasmin Hanson in the circle. Hanson charged in on the ground ball and threw it home as the only possible play, and the throw reached catcher Amber Cymbaluk just before the outstretched arm of baserunner Sunni Edin for the force out at home plate. The home plate umpire initially ruled the runner safe at home before realizing it was a force out, overturning his initial call as Crookston secured a 12-11 win in eight innings. “The girls absolutely put in the work to deserve (a win),” summarized Torgerson. “As far as the madness there was a little too much tonight. I know that we could’ve done a few things better, but I’m proud of the ladies for what they did. They didn’t get down on themselves. They stayed positive. They did a good job, and I’m very proud of these ladies. My heart is racing still. I’m just very happy to be a part of Crooskton Pirates softball in general. I’m very excited that the varsity team was just willing to work for me too. They came out to play, they trusted me, and I trusted them. It was just good team dynamics.”
Crookston improves to 1-15 on the year. The Pirates return to action on Thursday with a doubleheader in Oklee beginning at 4:30 p.m against East Polk before taking on Red Lake County Central at 6:30 p.m. The Northern Freeze drops to 4-11.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0Â | 2Â | 1 | 12 | 8 | 15 |
| Northern Freeze | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3Â | 1Â | 0Â | 0 | 11 | 14 | 4 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jasmin Hanson – CROX | 8.0 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Brooke Fredrickson – NF | 1.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Zoey Magner – NF | 3.1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Eylie Homme – NF | 3.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
For Crookston
Jasmin Hanson – 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs, double
Emma Boll – 2-6, 2 RBI, 2 runs, double
For Northern Freeze
Eylie Homme – 4-6, RBI, run
Rhiannon Horien – 2-3, 2 runs, 2 walks
Brooke Fredrickson – 2-6, 3 runs, RBI
Marissa Nelson – 2-6, 2 runs, double
Â
