Lady Vikings split home softball games

by Samuel Ripp

COLFAX — After picking up just its third win of the season in a one-run win at home Monday, May 9 against Mondovi, the Colfax softball team was unable to carry that winning momentum in to the game with Pepin/Alma a few days later.

The Vikings were edged 6-4 at home by the Eagles Thursday, May 12 and are now 3-8 in conference and overall play.

Colfax has just two schedule games left before tournament play begins Tuesday, May 24 with regional competition. The Vikings played at conference unbeaten Elk Mound this past Monday and will wrap up the regular season, barring any additions of rescheduled games, by hosting Glenwood City on Thursday.

Mondovi

The Colfax softball team was in action on Monday, May 9 at home against conference opponent Mondovi and came out on top with a 8-7 walk-off victory.

After the Lady Vikings lost their last game on a walk off, this time they decided they were going to be the ones dancing after the game. It was a back-and-forth game all the way through, but Colfax was able to earn a split of the two-game season series with the Lady Buffaloes.

On the mound for Colfax was sophomore Tamara Huffman. She went five innings and picked up the win giving way to senior Lakken Meredith, who threw the two innings in relief.

Huffman allowed six runs with three being earned while giving up five hits. She also walked three and struck out six. Meredith allowed one run and no hits but walked two batters in her short time on the mound.

Mondovi struck first, scoring three runs in the second inning to take the early lead.

But the Lady Vikings came right back in the bottom half of the inning to score two themselves to cut the deficit to only one.

In the third, Colfax grabbed the lead for the first time as they pushed two more across for a one-run lead.

Mondovi tied the game up in the top of the fourth by plating one run.

With the game getting into the late innings, the pressure was building and Mondovi took back the lead with two more runs in the sixth.

Those runs did not faze the Colfax batters as they answered right back in the bottom of the inning with two of their own thanks to RBIs from Huffman and Meredith.

The Lady Buffaloes would take the late lead in the seventh to go up one and were three outs away from a win. But Colfax mounted a rally as it loaded the bases with two outs and then they worked their magic. An RBI single from Meredith brought home sophomore Amanda Christianson to tie the game up. Then sophomore Hailey Durand roped a double into left field to score sophomore Mikaela Leibfried for the game winning run and the walk-off win.

The Lady Vikings tallied eleven hits in the win. Vikings’ players that picked up hits were: Leibfried, Huffman with three including a double, Meredith with three including a double, Durand with a double, sophomore Becca Lee, and junior Dailyn Mortenson with two.

Out of the eight runs Colfax scored, six of them came from RBIs and adding to their season total included: Leibfried, Huffman, Meredith with two, Durand with the game winner, and Mortenson.

Pepin/Alma

Two was not the Vikings number. The Colfax softball team was out hit by two – seven to five – by Pepin/Alma before ultimately losing a close game to the Eagles last Thursday on a score of 6-4 .

Taking the hill for Colfax was sophomore Tamara Huffman who pitched the entire game and took the loss. Huffman pitched well and only gave up seven hits, but hit five batters during the game.

Pepin/Alma got off to the quick start as they scored three runs in the top of the first inning as their first five batters reached base. The Eagles added to their three-run lead in the second with an RBI single to left center field that brought home another run.

Colfax finally broke in the bottom of the fourth inning by plating three runs. An RBI from sophomore A.J. Ottinger and a RBI from junior Dailyn Mortenson helped the Lady Vikings get right back into the game. Sophomore Hailey Durand could not beat the tag and was thrown out at the plate as she tried to score on a wild pitch.

The Eagles added some insurance runs in the sixth inning by pushing two more runners across for another three-run lead going late into the game.

Colfax tried to fight back late, but the deficit was too large. The Lady Vikes added one in the sixth thanks to a RBI double from Durand, but that was all they could get.

The Lady Vikings could only manage three hits during the game, which is another reason runs were hard to score. Collecting the hits for Colfax were sophomore Mikaela Leibfried with two including a double and Durand with a double.

Of the four runs Colfax scored, three of them came from RBIs and adding to their season total included Durand, Ottinger, and Mortenson.