The Crookston Pirates Softball team allowed 17 runs in the final two innings of a 22-5 loss against Grand Forks Central (N.D.) in a non-Section game played at the Donnie Lauf Memorial/Crookston American Legion Softball Field in Crookston.Â
Jasmin Hanson took the circle and pitched confidently for Crookston in the top of the first inning retiring Grand Forks Central in order in the first inning. In the top of the second, the Knights gained their first lead. Taya Johnson doubled to start the rally before a sacrifice bunt moved Johnson to third base. A wild pitch to the backstop allowed Johnson to score from third base giving the Knights a 1-0 lead after two innings. In the third inning, Ashley Gereau led off the inning with a bunt single before stealing second base. Cortney Gereau doubled with one out in the inning driving home Ashley Gereau and giving Grand Forks Central a 2-0 lead. Haley Gereau reached on a dropped fly ball in left field that allowed her to advance to second base while Cortney Gereau scored pushing the visitors’ lead to 3-0. Taya Johnson singled plating Hayley Gereau and giving the Knights a 4-0 advantage. Molly McEnroe doubled to wrap up the innings offense scoring Taya Johnson and giving Grand Forks Central a 5-0 lead after three innings. Jasmin Hanson led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk followed by a stolen base to start a rally. Jenna Coauette singled to score Hanson and bring Crookston within 5-1. Allie Love followed with a double to the fence scoring Coauette and bringing the Pirates within 5-2 after four innings. “I’ve got Jasmin, Jenna, and the Allie in those spots because I know that they’re all strong hitters,” said Crookston head coach Robbe Nessler. “When they make contact they can put the ball out there somewhere. They’ve all been swinging pretty well as of late, and I’ve got confidence in all three of them. It was good to see every one of them swinging the bat well today.” In the bottom of the fifth inning, Crookston continued to trim its deficit. Maddie Salentine singled with one out to reach base in the fifth inning before Jasmin Hanson reached on an errant throw by the Knights third baseman that scored Salentine from first base and allowed Hanson to run all the way to second base. Trailing 5-3, Jenna Coauette singled putting runners on the corners with one out in the inning. Allie Love singled to score Hanson and bring Crookston within 5-4 with one out in the inning. “I know I can rely on (the heart of the batting order) to find a way on for us,” mentioned Nessler. “That’s an important part of our lineup, and we rely on them to bring in runs. I hope they can continue as they have been because carrying from the tournament into today they all have been swinging well.” The Pirates stranded the tying run at third base with a ground out and fly out still trailing 5-4 after five innings. In the top of the sixth inning, Grand Forks Central responded by putting the game away. Lorissa Contreras singled to lead off the inning before Ashley Gereau reached on a throwing error by Crookston’s catcher to put runners on the corners. Paige Carlson doubled to clear the bases putting the Knights ahead 7-4. An error by Crookston’s pitcher on a ground ball allowed Cortney Gereau to reach safely while Paige Carlson scored from third base giving the visitors an 8-4 lead. Haley Gereau reached on an error at shortstop that plated Cortney Gereau and made it 9-4. Taya Johnson continued the rally with an RBI single before Bailey Jaeger blasted a two-run home run over the left field fence giving the Knights a 12-4 edge. McKenna Erickson doubled as the next batter up before ultimately scoring on Crookston’s fourth error of the inning giving Grand Forks Central a 13-4 lead after six innings. “The girls definitely know the story there,” noted Nessler. “They know the situation that they’ve got to make the plays that are there. If you’re in the infield, you’ve got to knock it down and make a solid throw. We’ve got to be a little bit more disciplined there.” The Knights continued to add on with nine more runs on seven hits in the seventh inning allowing Grand Forks Central to cruise to a 22-5 win. “We were right with them the whole time, summarized Nessler. “That kind of makes it a little more frustrating. This is a team talent wise, and with where both teams are at we probably should’ve competed a little bit more. At the same time, the score is probably not indicative of really, truly how competitive this game was for the first five innings. We had them 5-4 there and were trying to make a comeback. We then had a couple of bad innings defensively and things kind of snowballed for us, unfortunately. We just couldn’t find a way to overcome that.”
Crookston falls to 0-11 on the year. The Pirates return to the diamond on Tuesday when they travel to Red Lake Falls to take on the Eagles at 5:00 p.m. with the RiverView Health Pregame show beginning at 4:30 p.m. on KROX. Grand Forks Central improves to 2-10.Â
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| G. F. Central | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | Â 0 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 18 | 4 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Â 2 | Â 0 | Â 0 | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Cortney Gereau – G. F. Central | 7.0 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Jasmin Hanson-Crookston | 7.0 | 18 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
For Crookston
Jenna Coauette 3-4, 2 runs, rbi
Allie Love 3-4, double, 2 rbi
Kenze Epema 2-4, double
For Grand Forks Central
Taya Johnson 3-4, 4 runs, double, 2 rbi
Lorissa Contreras 3-5, 2 runs, rbi
Paige Carlson 2-6, triple, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Haley Gereau 2-6, 3 runs, double
BaileyJaeger 1-5, home run, 2 rbi
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