Lady Vikings wind up regular season with three wins

The Colfax softball team tuned up for regional play with back to back double headers, winning both games over Mondovi at home May 13, then split a pair at Glenwood City the next day. After the conference games, the Vikings record was 7-9, which was also their conference record since all other games were canceled due to weather problems this spring.

 Mondovi – Game 1

Alexis Rudi looked pretty sharp on the mound, striking out all three Buffalo batters with a walk in the middle in the top of the first and the Vikings picked up a pair of runs in their half when Karina Wait and Rudi drew walks and came around on a wild pitch and a base hit by Sam Simonson.

Mondovi came back however, scoring three runs on a Colfax error, a couple of walks and two infield hits and they held a 3-2 lead until the third inning. Mallie Doucette opened the bottom of the third with a triple to right-centerfield and came home on a wild pitch to knot the score. Simonson walked and moved around the bases on some errant pitches and came home on a groundout by Emily Tuschl. Rudi then took care of things as she struck out four of the six batters she faced in the final two wins to seal the 4-3 win.

“We had a nice pitching performance from Rudi,” coach Joe Doucette said.”She had nice velocity and a good changeup.We really needed a win in this game and it was nice to get one.”

Rudi gave up just two hits for the win while whiffing 10 Buffaloes and walking two. Doucette, Simonson, Lakken Meredith and Equality Wilson all had one hit for the Vikings.

Mondovi   0  3  0  0  0 – 3
Colfax       2  0  2  0  X – 4

Game 2

Whatever pep talk coach Doucette gave the girls between games had quite an impact on them as they opened the game with three bangers to the fence including a double by Wait, and back to back triples by Rudi and Doucette. That was just the beginning as they continued to slam the ball over and under the Buffalo defense, scoring 12 times before the top of the inning was over. Tuschl and Courtney Ottinger had singles while Wait, batting for the second time in the inning slammed a triple, Doucette followed with a double to the fence and Simonson added another shot off the fence for a three base hit. This prompted the Mondovi coach to change pitchers, and she was greeted with basehits from Tuschl and Meredith before finally getting the inning to end.

Meredith took over in the circle this game and although she gave up a run here or there, the Vikings kept swinging hard and connecting, adding more runs in the second, third and fourth innings to finish things off with a 19-4 win.

As a team, Colfax smacked 23 hits including four from Doucette with two doubles, a triple and her fourth round tripper of the season. Wait, Rudi and Simonson all had a trio of hits while Meredith, Buchanan and Ottinger all collected a pair. Meredith threw all five innings, giving up six hits with one strikeout and three walks for the win.

“We had a great game with 23 hits but Mondovi is a young team and has struggled this year,” coach Doucette said. “The top of the order was very important for us, and Simonson coming around in her hitting as of late is huge. We had some errors and base running mistakes and we still have to prove we can hit good pitching and get timely hits in close games,” he added.

Colfax      12  2  2  2  1 – 19
Mondovi  1    2  0  1  0 – 3

Glenwood City – Game 1

With the temperature sky rocketing to 90 degrees, the Vikings had a slow start against the Toppers as they surrendered three runs to them in the first inning on a pair of hits, a walk and an error. That would be the only runs they would get all game however, as Rudi allowed just one runner to reach base the rest of the way. Colfax couldn’t connect from the plate themselves and the only ones who managed to come up with a hit were Rudi and Doucette in five innings. They managed to score single runs in the second and fourth innings, and Rudi doubled in the fifth with two outs to give the Vikings a chance to tie things up. But a fly out ended the game with the Toppers winning 3-2.

Giving up just three hits with four Ks and a walk, Rudi was saddled with a tough loss.

Colfax                   0  1  0  1  0 – 2
Glenwood City  3  0  0  0  X – 3

Game 2

And yet again, the Vikings got a wake up call, and facing the same Glenwood pitcher, scored early and often to take an 11-0 win. Three runs in the first inning came after hits from Rudi, Doucette, Tuschl, Wait and Kori Buchanan, and the Vikings tacked on three more in the second when Eden Logslett and Meredith came up with singles, Doucette picked up a RBI on a double and Simonson brought two runs in on a basehit.

Meredith did her job from the circle, allowing just four Toppers to reach base in the last four innings and the Vikings added a single run in the third and tacked on four more for good measure in the fourth. Wait brought a runner home on a single and a big blast by Buchanan for a double brought two more Colfax runners home.

Buchanan finished 3 for 3 at the plate while Meredith, Doucette, Tuschl and Wait all had a pair of hits. Meredith pitched a two hitter for the win with three strikeouts and four walks.

“We faced the same pitcher in the second game and I’m not sure why we can look so good at times and then struggle at times,” coach Doucette said. “We played error less ball in the second game and Meredith pitched well again.”

Glenwood City   0  0  0  0  0 – 0
Colfax                     3  3  1  4  X – 11