In a game with only one scoreless half-inning, the Crookston Pirate softball team could not produce the offense to keep up with Sacred Heart, as the Eagles won 16-6 in a five-inning game in East Grand Forks on Senior/Parent Night.
Crookston got the scoring started in the first inning. Addie Fee led off with a single, and Amber Cymbaluk moved her to third with a single of her own. Jenna Coauette ground out to the shortstop to bring in Fee from third to take an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived, with Sacred Heart scoring three in the first inning. The first batter was retired before back-to-back singles from Jenna Vasek and Haley Vonasek, and a walk loaded the bases. Shay Hanson tied the game with a sacrifice fly on the second out of the inning. A walk loaded the bases again, and Chloe Hanson singled in a second run, and the third run came in on a wild pitch.
Crookston evened the score in the top of the second with two runs. Emma Boll hit a leadoff single, stole second, and got to third on a wild pitch. She was thrown out at home on a ground ball off the bat of Emily Bowman. Emilee Tate walked to bring Fee back to the plate with two outs, and she delivered a double to right field to score both runners and tie the game at 3-3.
Sacred Heart scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to take back the lead. Grace Loeslie led off with an inside-the-park home run to give the Eagles the lead. A walk to Vasek and a single from Vonasek put two runners on for Grace Vonesh, who brought in both with a double. She got to third on the play on an error, and she came in to score on a groundout to take a 7-3 lead into the third.
Crookston answered with two runs in the top of the inning. Jenna Coauette got the first run of the inning by herself with a no-doubt solo home run to straight-away center field to cut the deficit to 7-4. “There were a few ‘it was the wind’ comments but the wind calmed down and if the win was blowing it would have got over the dyke in center field,” added Coach Bowman. The Pirates then got a two-out rally with three consecutive singles from Emma Boll, Emily Bowman, and Aleah Bienek to load the bases. Boll came into score on a wild pitch, and it was 7-5. “I thought for sure after Jenna’s home run that it would spark us and light a fire but it didn’t happen,” explained Coach Bowman. “Sacred Heart came out excited, they were pepped up, and they came to play ball.”
Sacred Heart continued to hit the ball all over the field in their half of the third, scoring five more runs. A single and two hit batters started the inning one came in to score on a couple of wild pitches. The second out of the inning, a groundout, scored the second run to make it 9-5. The Eagles got their own two-out hitting going with back-to-back singles from Vonesh and Shay Hanson to score two more runs. Hanson came in to score after a stolen base and two wild pitches to give the Eagles a 12-5 lead after three innings. “Even though we had a great day of hitting, we have to continue that momentum and keep that confidence as we head to the playoffs,” added Coach Vonesh. “We also have to keep playing solid defense and keeping the ball in front of us.”
The Pirates did not score in the top of the fourth, the only team at-bat in the game to not result in a run. They did get a leadoff triple from Addie Fee, but she was tagged out at the plate trying to score on a ground ball that resulted in a double play.
Sacred Heart tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning. Courtney Vatnsdahl singled to start the inning, and she scored on three wild pitches. That was followed by two walks and a two-RBI single for Jenna Vasek. Later in the inning, Shay Hanson tallied her fourth RBI on a fielder’s choice. “We had a couple of communication errors where we just couldn’t figure out who was going and what we were doing,” explained Coach Bowman. “It was just some mental stuff that was going on today.”
Heading into the fifth inning, the Eagles led 16-5, meaning the Pirates needed two runs to keep the game going. The Pirates only got run across when Emma Boll got her third single of the game with one out. “Emma came to hit the ball today which is really nice to see because she had been struggling a little but at the plate,” said Coach Bowman. “It was great to see her being a leader and hit the ball hard.” Boll stole second and scored on two wild pitches. Emily Bowman and Emilee Tate walked to bring up Fee with runners at the corners, but she hit a sharp grounder right at Vasek playing second to end the game, and the Eagles got a 16-6 victory on Senior and Parent night. “We took advantage of some slip up opportunities on the bases and it ended up in our favor,” added Coach Vonesh. “I tell the girls that we aren’t the strongest team out their in many times we play, so we have to take the opportunities when we are on base to take advantage of mistakes.”
The Pirates drop to 4-15 on the season and travel to Greenbush on Thursday to play the Northern Freeze in the conference jamboree.
Sacred Heart improves to 6-13 this season. They will play their final regular-season game on Thursday when they head on the road to Fertile-Beltrami.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
| CROOKSTON | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Sacred Heart | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | X | 16 | 12 | 0 |
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| Jenna Coauette- Crookston | 4 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 2 |
| Chloe Hanson- Sacred Heart | 5 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
For CROOKSTON
Emma Boll- 3 for 3, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases
Addie Fee- 3 for 4, double, triple, 2 RBI, run
Jenna Coauette- 2 for 3, home run, 2 RBI, run
For Sacred Heart
Grace Vonesh- 3 for 3, double, 3 RBI, 3 runs
Courtney Vatnsdahl- 2 for 2, 2 runs
Jenna Vasek- 2 for 3, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Haley Vonasek- 2 for 4, RBI, 3 runs
