The Big Lake softball team had their season ended by Becker on Tuesday night when the Bulldogs beat them 2-0 in the elimination bracket of the Section 5AAA playoffs. After losing the opening round game to Monticello, the Hornets won twice last Thursday before eventually falling to Becker.
In the opening round matchup, the #3 seeded Magic took down #6 Big Lake by a score of 4-1. Monticello struck first in the bottom of the third, but Alyssa Windorski drove in a run in the fourth to tie the game at 1. But that was all the team could muster up as the Magic scored three unanswered and took the game.
Then the team defeated #7 Zimmerman 14-4 in five innings. The Hornets jumped all over the Thunder pitchers by scoring seven runs in the first two innings. Zimmerman scored four in the top of the fifth, but Big Lake responded with seven more to enforce the 10-run rule and end the game early.
Windorski had three hits and three RBI, Sydnie Loftus added two hits and three RBI, Katlyn Baron, and Grace Knodle each drove in two runs apiece, and Tessa Fjone got the win in the circle going all five innings.
With the win over Zimmerman the team advanced to play #5 Princeton, who the Hornets defeated 6-4. Big Lake held a 5-1 lead after five innings, but the Tigers rallied with three in the bottom of the sixth before the Hornets held on in the seventh.
Fjone had three hits and scored two runs, and Windorski, Loftus, Knodle, and Baron all drove in one run. Samantha Nohrenberg went 1-3 with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
That win propelled them to the matchup with #4 Becker which the Bulldogs won 2-0. Becker scored both their runs in the bottom of the first and managed only two hits the rest of the game. But unfortunately, Big Lake couldn’t get the bats going as they mustered only four hits.
Loftus was strong in the circle scattering four hits across six innings while striking out eight. She also provided one of the four hits for the Hornets along with Baron, Fjone, and Kamrynn Tschritter.
The team finishes the season with a record of 12-11.
