Tuesday, the Becker girls softball team traveled to Foley for their final conference game of the season.  

 

 

The Falcons struck first with two runs in the first inning on a walk and three straight base hits.  

 

Becker countered in the second with four runs when Erika Schwartz doubled and Ellie Schwartz drove in two runs in the inning.  

 

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the third with the big hit being a Sydney Lamott RBI single.  

 

Another run in the fourth made the score 7-2.  

 

Maddy Mohrman's two RBI single was part of a three-run sixth inning to move the score to 10-2.  

 

The Falcons were able to add a run in the seventh, but it was far from enough as the Bulldogs won by seven.

 

Becker’s leading hitters were Lindsey Lorette, who went 2-for-5 and Erika Schwartz who went 1-for-2 with a walk and scored twice.

 

Haley Harmon got the win by pitching the first four innings.  She allowed two runs on three hits, one walk and struck out four.  Brianna Corey pitched the final three innings and allowed just one run on two hits, a walk and she struck out one.

 

Becker’s final regular season game against Elk River was rained out Thursday, so they finish the regular season at 17-1 and 12-0 in the Granite Ridge Conference.

 

“This is our third straight undefeated conference season since joining the Granite Ridge in 2013,” said Head Coach Jason Baune.  “While final playoff seeding won't be completed until Sunday, we will likely be the #1 seed in Section 8AAA.  If that is the case, we will host a home playoff game Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.”  

 

The #1 seed would also ensure that Becker would play all section playoff games at home over the next two weeks.

 

 

Last Friday night, Becker hosted a doubleheader against Buffalo and Albany on Senior Night. The Bulldogs’  six seniors (Maddy Mohrman, Sam Lorette, Mckenzie Demant, Lindsey Lorette, Emma Buntrock and Haley Harmon) played their final two regular season home games.  

 

The Bison entered the game 10-3 and are one of the favorites to go to state in Section 6AAA.

 

Becker was able to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Hailey Fitzpatrick singled and eventually scored on a passed ball.  

 

The ‘Dawgs added another run in the second inning  on a two-out single by Payton Williams.  

 

The Bison took the lead with three unearned runs in the top of the third but the resilient Bulldogs regained the lead with two runs in the fourth when Schwartz doubled and Lamott scored her with a single.  Lamott later scored on an RBI single by Fitzpatrick.  

 

Becker added two insurance runs in the fifth when Schwartz scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Lindsey Lorette and Corey scored on a single by Schwartz.  

 

Harmon cruised through the final few innings on the mound and the Bulldogs hung on to win by three.

 

Becker’s leading hitters were Fitzpatrick, who went  3-for-4 with two stolen bases, Schwartz, who went 2-for-2 with a double and one RBI and Williams who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one RBI.

 

Harmon pitched all seven innings to pick up the win.  She allowed six hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out 10.

 

 

Game two was a make-up game against Albany and the Huskies jumped to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the second inning off pitcher Brianna Corey.  

 

A big seven-run third inning put the game out of reach early as Buntrock provided a big RBI single in the inning.  Buntrock also drove in Lamott  in the fourth to make the score 8-1.  

 

Two more runs scored in the seventh when Corey hit a two-RBI double to give the Bulldogs a nine run win.

 

Becker’s leading hitters were Williams, who went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored, Fitzpatrick who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Buntrock who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

 

 Corey got the win, going seven innings and allowing five hits, one walk while striking  out seven.

 

“Friday's wins were big for us,” said Baune.  “Buffalo is a quality team and it was great to see our girls execute at the plate and in the field.  It was also awesome to be able to honor our six seniors and all that they have helped the softball program accomplish in recent years.  The six of them are great players on the field and even better people off the field.  They will definitely be missed next year.”

 

Baune is also very excited to see how his team is peaking at just the right time of the year.

 

“It really seems that our team has started to put everything together at the right time and hopefully that will allow us to play our best ball in the coming weeks and make another run at the state tournament the first week of June,” he said.  “We'd love to have a lot of supporters at our playoff games as the girls enjoy playing in front of a large and noisy crowd.”