Lady Vikings shut out by Fall Creek Crickets in sectional softball semifinal
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by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
FALL CREEK — After winning their first regional championship since 1982 a week earlier, the Colfax softball team traveled to Fall Creek to take on the Fall Creek Crickets in a sectional semifinal contest Tuesday, May 30.
The teams were familiar with each other, having faced each other in a last minute scheduled game a week earlier and the Crickets, a number one seed in the regional, defeated the Vikings 15-1. In the second go-round, Fall Creek, with a 24-2 record and state ranking as high as number three this year, shut down the Viking offense again with an 8-0 win. The Crickets dropped a 3-0 game to power house Grantsburg two days later, however.
Colfax ended their season with a record of 13-8 and finished third in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference with a 9-5 record.
Colfax came close to scoring in the first inning when Ella Peterson singled with one out and moved to third on a stolen base and a ground ball out. Another ground ball out stranded her on third. The Crickets picked up their first run in their half of the first on a single, a stolen base and another single but Colfax hurler Mallory Field struck out a Cricket batter and catcher Ella Peterson gunned down a runner trying to steal second base.
The Viking defense pulled off a double play in the second inning, started by Ella Peterson but Fall Creek tacked on another run in the third, starting with a Viking error. A passed ball, a ground out and a triple brought the run in but once again Field whiffed a batter and forced a ground out to get out of the inning.
Colfax had a runner on in the third when Sierra Shipman drew a walk, and in the fourth after Brynn Sikora singled but the Cricket hurler shut the rest of the Vikings down. In the fifth inning, Field singled with two outs and scooted to third on a Fall Creek error but another ground ball out squelched the scoring threat.
The bottom of the fifth proved to be the beginning of the end for Colfax when they committed three errors along with Field issuing two free passes and four consecutive singles with a couple of passed balls. Fall Creek ended up scoring six runs before the dust settled and it was just too much for the Vikings to make up. Hannah Peterson singled with two out in the sixth but didn’t advance and Colfax went down in order in the seventh to end their season.
“Fall Creek’s pitcher definitely spotted the ball well and we struggled to hit her,” Colfax coach John Dickinsen said.”We had a couple of chances and just couldn’t break through.”
Field gave up just seven hits by the Cricket batters and several of the runs given up were unearned. She struck out three and walked five in the loss.
“I am very proud of the team and the steps we continue to take as a program,” coach Dickinsen said. “We set a lot of team and individual records this season and I’m looking forward to continuing taking steps forward as a program,” he added.
Colfax graduated just two seniors but they were key to the Viking’s success. Field pitched all but 10 of the innings for the team this year, finishing with 116 2/3 innings with 71 earned runs, 68 strikeouts and 78 walks. Fellow senior Ella Peterson was her battery mate since back in middle school and besides playing solid behind the plate, she was a pretty powerful hitter. Her senior year she batted .351, banged out 27 hits including five doubles and a home run, scored 25 runs and collected 14 RBIs with three stolen bases.
“We are definitely going to miss Mallory and Ella,” coach Dickinsen said. “They have been through a lot helping to build this program to where we are at,” he concluded.