Lady Bulldogs lose conference opener at Durand, get pair of home tournament wins

By Cara L. Dempski

Those darn cats. The Lady Bulldogs almost had them.

Boyceville’s softball team traveled to Durand the night of April 6 to take on the Panthers. The Bulldogs rallied to knot the contest at five after seven innings, but lost 6-5 on a two-out, walk-off single from Panther Reice Prissel in the bottom of the ninth frame.

The ladies headed back to Boyceville for a Saturday tournament April 8 featuring St. Croix Falls, Amery and Cumberland. They swept past St. Croix Falls in their first game, copping a 6-3 win, before shutting out the Beavers later that afternoon, 12-0, in the championship game.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to host Colfax April 10, but the game was postponed due to weather conditions.

Boyceville hosts the Mounders April 13 before taking a four-day weekend for the Easter holiday. They jump back into the season with an April 18 road game against Pepin/Alma.

Durand

The Panthers drove in three, first-inning runs hightlighted by Morgan Annibas’ two-run home run in the first inning of their April 6 Dunn-St. Croix home contest against Boyceville.

But the Bulldogs knotted things up in the top of the third with three runs of their own which featured a two-run shot over the center-field fense by senior Madysn Riek with Amber Retzloff on board.

Durand went back in front with a single run in the fifth.

In the top of seventh, Boyceville logged a pair of runs in the seventh as McKenna Weber belted a long single to center field that brought home Retzloff and Riek to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 advantage.

But Reice Prissel proved to be a thorn in Boyceville’s side as she previewed her game-winning hit with a two-out, run-scoring triple in the bottom half of the seventh to knot the game at five all and force extra innings  

Both teams went scoreless in the eighth, but in the bottom half of the ninth Reice Prissel struck once again with two outs.

She belted a single to center field allowing teammate Nataya Hurlburt to easily score the winning run from third base and give Durand the 6-5 victory.

“It was a tough loss,” coach Jamie Olson said. “We didn’t play well in the first inning and gave them three easy runs. After that, we settled down and played well, but couldn’t come up with a big hit in the eighth and ninth to win it.”

Weber and Riek each drove in a pair of runs on two hits and senior Tori Kostman also had two hits for the Bulldogs who outslugged the Panthers 11 to 8.

Freshman Tyra Kostman pitched eight and two-third innings, and registered 115 pitches in the loss. She surrendered six runs on eight hits including the home run and walked three, and struck out four.

BOYCEVILLE 5, DURAND 6
Boyceville…….0  0  3  0  0  0  2  0  0 — 5
Durand…….….3  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  1 — 6

Boyceville Tournament

Saturday, April 8 was a good day for the Boyceville softball team.

It was a day of soft sunshine, light breezes, and nearly 70-degree temperatures.

It was also a day of victory for  the Lady Bulldogs who hosted a four-team tournament they eventually came out on top of.

“It was a great weekend for softball,” Olson said. “We finally got some decent weather to play in.”

The day started with a 10 a.m. game against the St. Croix Falls Saints.

Both teams played a stalemate the first two innings before Saints Ella Kerkow and Aryn Rode scored on a pair of Bulldog errors to make it 2-0 in the bottom of the third.

It would take two more innings for the Bulldogs to get on the board, but then picked up five runs, four of which came after the first out.

Tyra Kostman helped out her own cause leading off the Boyceville fifth with a single. She would score the Bulldogs first run on a Morgan Kuhn hit to center.

But the Bulldogs weren’t done. Riek’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly brought home Taylor Grambow with the tying run.

On the next at bat, McKenna Weber was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Kuhn scored on a passed ball to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.

Kayla Hoff tripled in a pair of runs to give Boyceville some breathing room at 5-2. 

Freshman Tyra Kostman reached on an error to open the sixth and scored on Brooklyn Hellmann’s hit for a 6-2 lead.

St. Croix Falls took a run back in the bottom half of the sixth but the Bulldog defense held the Saints scoreless in the seventh for the win.

Tyra Kostman pitched all seven innings to get the victory giving up six hits and three runs, with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Later that afternoon, Boyceville took on Cumberland. The Lady Bulldogs got off to a fast start, with runs from Morgan Kuhn, Amber Retzloff, Madysn Riek and McKenna Weber. Taylor Grambow added another run in the second, and Tori and Tyra Kostman, along with Brooklyn Hellmann, scored three runs in the fourth.

Retzloff, Riek and Grambow drove the nail in the Beavers’ coffin in the bottom of the fifth with a trio of runs that made the score 12-0 and brought the game to a close after enforcement of the 10-run rule. 

Riek finished with three hits and four RBIs against Cumberland, Retzloff earned a trio of RBIs to go with an equal number of hits, and Grambow and Weber are credited with one run batted in each.

Tyra Kostman pitched all five innings against the Beavers and struck out two batters.

ST. CROIX FALLS 3, BOYCEVILLE 6
St. Croix Falls………..0  0  2  0  0  1  0 — 3
Boyceville……………..0  0  0  0  5  1  0 — 6

CUMBERLAND 0, BOYCEVILLE 12
Cumberland………………..0  0  0  0  0 — 0
Boyceville………………….4  1  4  0  3 — 12