Lady Mounders take two from Vikings

After several postponements due to the crazy spring weather around here, the Colfax and Elk Mound girls finally faced off on the ball diamond for a double header in Colfax May 10. The Mounders continued their dominance over the Vikings by taking an 8-0 win in the first game then added a 10-4 win in game two.

Game 1

After Maddy Polden led off the game with a solid single, the Mounders used fundamental softball as Kaysi Meindel moved her up on a bunt. Polden went to third on a wild pitch then came home on a base hit by Becca Kopp. Kopp moved around the bases via a Colfax error, another wild pitch, a walk and came home on another walk for a 2-0 lead.

The Vikings had a baserunner in their half of the inning when Mallie Doucette was hit by a pitch with two outs by Dayna Kotecki, but a strikeout ended the inning. Elk Mound came up with five more runs in the second as a walk to Lizzie Schreiber was followed by a double to the centerfield fence by Polden to bring her home. Meindel, who seems to have perfected the bunt, laid another one down for a hit, allowing Polden to score from third and after a walk to Kotecki, Meindel found her way home on a hit from Katie Bergh. Kylynn Simon singled up the middle to bring another run in and the fifth run of the inning came on a wild pitch.

Although the Vikings made pretty good contact off Kotecki, the Mounder’s defense made the plays when they needed to to shut down any chance of the Vikings scoring. They added a single run in the third on an error in the Colfax outfield, and finished off  by allowing just two baserunners in the last three innings, one a single by Courtney Ottinger.

“Our hitting has really come around lately and kept us in this game,” Elk Mound coach Kari Kallio said. “When we make contact, good things happen for us.”

Kotecki gave up just two hits with four strikeouts and no walks for the win. Alexis Rudi was saddled with the loss, allowing six hits with four Ks and four walks in five innings.

Elk Mound    2  5  1  0  0 – 8
Colfax       0  0  0  0  0 – 0

Game 2

Playing as the home team in this game, Kotecki again took her place in the circle for the Mounders and slammed the door on the Vikings in the first inning with two groundouts and a fly ball. In their first at bat against pitcher Lakken Meredith, they again started off with a bang with a solid single from Polden. After a walk, back to back hits from Kotecki and Bergh were followed by a wild pitch and Elk Mound held a 2-0 lead. After two more runs came home on errant pitches,they showed they weren’t done yet  as Simon, Amanda Ward and Eileen Vasey came up with three straight hits through the infield and Polden made her second at bat of the inning count as she slammed the ball over the fence for a grand slam to make it 8-0.

Colfax had a chance to put some runs on the board when they came up with three hits with two outs in the second as Meredith, Kori Buchanan and Ottinger all singled but a pop up in short center field was tracked down for the third out by shortstop Kopp.

The Mounders were’t done scoring yet as Kopp led off the bottom of the inning with a basehit and Bergh and Simon smacked singles through the infield to load the bases. A walk to Lindsey Kohls brought a run in and their tenth run of the game came in on a fielders choice.

The Vikings finally broke through off Kotecki when Emily Tuschl and Meredith singled in the top of the fourth and Ottinger loaded the bases with a grounder past third. Eden Logslett brought in a run on a solid single and Karina Wait picked up an RBI on a fly ball and tag up. The bases were filled with Vikings again when Rudi came up with a hit to center, but Kotecki had just enough in her to whiff the next batter for the third out.

Tiernee Knutson took over the mound duties in the fourth for Colfax and although she gave up a couple of hits, the Mounders didn’t score as Bergh was thrown out at home on a throw from centerfielder Wait. After Sam Simonson started the fifth inning for Colfax with a double to center, Tuschl followed with a shot up the middle and Hannah DeMoe picked up her first RBI of the season on a ground ball. Buchanan brought another run home on a grounder and Kotecki again reared back to get the third out and end the game on another ground ball.

“We did some good things but Elk Mound is clearly the better team,” Colfax coach Joe Doucette said. “They out hit us, out pitched us and out fielded us. Polden’s grand slam really put us away in the first inning and that was the difference. We hit better in the second game but couldn’t get enough timely hits to get close to them,” he added.

Kotecki earned another win, giving up 10 hits with two strikeouts and one walk, while Meredith also gave up 10 hits with two Ks and one walk. Polden, Kotecki, Bergh and Simon all had a pair of hits for Elk Mound while Meredith, Ottinger and Tuschl all banged out a pair for Colfax.

Regional tournament pairings are out and Colfax, the number three seed will host Bloomer this Thursday, May 16 at 5:00. Elk Mound, as the number one seed will have a bye and play the winner of Durand-Prescott May 21.

Colfax      0  0  0  2  2 – 4
Elk Mound  8  2  0  0  X – 10