ML-WR Girls Notch Hard Earned 10-6 Upset

Chris Shevich-NSO

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May 26

Kerry Rodd-NSO

CLOQUET – A seven run second inning turned the game in favor of Moose Lake-Willow River on Tuesday afternoon in the Section 7AA girls softball quarterfinals against Virginia. The Rebels rode that early lead to a 10-6 win over the Blue Devils and have a date with Cloquet in Cohasset in the Final Four Tournament next Tuesday.

The second inning barrage of runs was due to a combination of shoddy fielding by the Blue Devils and timely hitting by the hyped up Rebels who did a good job of taking advantage of mistakes and building an insurmountable lead.

“We only had 8 hits, but we did a good job of putting the ball in play and making them make plays,” commented Rebels coach Andrew Miller. “We were also pretty sound with laying down bunts and moving runners into scoring position.”

Emily Wasche and Andrea Youngberg both had a pair of hits in the game including a Youngberg bomb that hit the top of the fence and rolled back into play for a triple. Olivia Bennett also played a big key with a couple of RBIs and pitcher Sam Johnson allowed just five hits in the game to the Blue Devils.

“Sam did a great job of throwing strikes and letting her defense play behind her,” said Miller. “We did a great job of taking outs early in the game and keeping ourselves out of the big inning on defense.”

For their part the Blue Devils fought back valiantly in the late going. Trailing 10-2 in the bottom of the seventh Virginia’s Vicky Fossland clubbed a grand slam into a biting wind to cut the gap to 10-6, but Johnson and her mates had enough gas left in the tank to notch a big win and punch their ticket to Cohasset.

“This is a big win for our program because it has been quite some time since we have made it to the Final Four,” explained Miller. “We are excited to be playing after Memorial Day and can’t wait to continue this run.”

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com