The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Softball team managed just three hits over seven innings in an 8-0 lost against Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal in a non-Section game played in Twin Valley.
After the Pirates were retired in order to open the first inning, Corie Peterick hit an RBI single giving NCE/UH a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Allie Love doubled to left field for Crookston in the top of the second inning but was stranded at second base following a strikeout and groundout. “Allie Love hit a really nice double over the centerfielder’s head,” said Crookston head coach Robbe Nessler, “but that was really the only offense that we generated today.”
In the bottom of the second inning, Gillian Keezer led off the inning with a single before Gabby Askelson drove Keezer in with a single to center field giving the Titans a 2-0 lead after two innings.
Amber Eken singled for NCE/UH to open the third inning with Corie Peterick connecting on a double to center field to score Eken and give the hosts a 3-0 lead after three innings. Jasmin Hanson settled in after the first three innings, stranding a runner at second base to keep Crookston’s deficit at just 3-0 after four innings.
Hanson stranded a pair of two-out singles to end the fifth inning before the Titans opened the game up in the sixth inning.
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal used a pair of one-out singles to spark a rally before Skylar Brevik doubled to center field scoring Annika Bakke from second base giving the Titans a 4-0 lead. Corie Peterick doubled to left field to plate two more runs boosting NCE/UH’s lead to 6-0. Gillian Keezer singled to left field to score Peterick and increase the hosts’ advantage to 7-0 before an error by Crookston’s catcher allowed Anna Carlson to score giving the Titans an 8-0 lead into the seventh inning. “They had a couple of girls reach on singles to spots where we weren’t,” said Nessler explaining the start of Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal’s rally in the sixth inning. “They found gaps; they hit them where we weren’t. There wasn’t really anything we could do defensively differently. That’s just where they opened it up. They actually have a girl who has hit a home run in every game they’ve played this year, but she didn’t hit one off Jasmine.”
Ryah Opsahl closed out her dominant performance in the circle for Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal closing her shutout with two strikeouts in the final inning while striking out twelve Pirates total in the 8-0 win while scattering just three hits in the Titans’ win. “We just could not find a way to get on base,” summarized Nessler. “We were just hitting nubbers into the ground all day long. We couldn’t get much going defensively, and their pitcher was throwing with a lot of velocity. Defensively we played, actually, a very nice, clean game. We had a couple of things that we could’ve done better. Jasmin (Hanson) threw well, and we made almost every defensive play that we could’ve made. We were hanging with them and played pretty well until that fifth inning. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
Crookston falls to 0-8 on the year and will return to the diamond tomorrow when the Pirates compete in the Park Rapids Invitational starting at 11:00 a.m. against Roseau before taking on Park Rapids at 1:00 p.m.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| NCE/UH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | X | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jasmin Hanson – Crox | 6.0 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryah Opsahl – NCE/UH | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
For Crookston
Allie Love – 2-3, double
For NCE/UH
Corie Peterick – 3-4, 4 RBI, run, 2 doubles
Gillian Keezer – 3-4, RBI, run
Alivia Mortenson – 3-4, double
