The Becker Lady Bulldog softball team improved to 14-5 (8-2 GRC) as they went 6-0 this past week heading into their final regular season game of the year.

 

 

Becker hosted Monticello last Friday and got on the board first with a big bottom of the second as  Emily Lamott doubled with one out and came in to score on an Avery Tamm single.  After a Kaylyn Wiehle single, Tamm scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kurstyn Patnode.  Cammie Varney followed with a double to score Wiehle to make the score 3-0.  

 

The Bulldogs added a run in the third when Corrie Weise led off the inning with a home run and the score remained 4-0 until the bottom of the sixth when Wiehle led off with a double and scored on a Varney sacrifice fly for the final score.  

 

Krista Paulson, Weise, Wiehle and Varney each had two hits.  Weise picked up the win, going all seven innings allowing only one hit and striking out 13 batters.

 

 

Saturday morning, the Bulldogs traveled to Chisago City to take on the fifth ranked team in the state.  

 

The game was tight early but in the top of the third, the Bulldogs got on the board with a solo home run from Weise.  Weise repeated the feat in the sixth with her second dinger and later in the inning, Lamott and Tamm drew walks and came round to score when Wiehle hit a rocket over the centerfielder's head for double to push the lead to 4-0.  

 

Paulson hit her first varsity home run in the seventh, a three-run shot to left.  

 

Weise got the win on the mound (7IP, 4H, 4BB, 7KO). 

 

 

The team then hopped on the bus and headed to North Branch to take on the Vikings. 

 

The Bulldog put up two runs in the top of the first when Weise singled and after a Viking error, Emma Eickhoff drove her in on a groundout. Lamott drove in another run later with a single.  

The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third when Wiehle hit a two-out double and came in to score on a Makenna Zerwas single.  

 

The Vikings got on the board in the fourth when the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out double.  

 

The Bulldogs added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth when Varney singled and scored on a Weise double. Weise came home on a Paulson single to make the final 6-1.  

 

Emma Eickhoff got the win (5IP, 5H, 4BB, 3KO).  Weise got the save with two scoreless innings.  

 

Weise was 3-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, while Paulson and Varney added two hits of their own.

 

 

Monday, the team returned home for a conference showdown with Zimmerman.  Becker, Zimmerman, and Cathedral entered the week in a three-way tie for first in the GRC with two losses each.  

 

The Bulldogs notched two runs on three straight singles in the second inning off the bats of Eickhoff, Lamott, and Tamm.  Two more runs scored in the third with the big hit being an RBI double off the bat of Lamott.  

 

The Thunder made it 4-1 with a run in the top of the fourth, but the Bulldogs answered when Jaida Johnson led off with a walk and scored on a Cadence Koste sacrifice fly. Kurstyn Patnode singled and came home on a Weise single.  

 

The Thunder added a run in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough.  

 

Weise got the win (4IP, 3H, 8KO). 

 

Weise, Lamott, and Varney each had two hits in the contest.

 

 

Tuesday was a home tilt with Milaca and the Bulldogs celebrated Parent's  and Strikeout Cancer Night.  

 

The Bulldogs plated two runs in the first, four in the second, six in the third and one run in the fourth for the easy win.  

 

Eickhoff mowed down the batters and picked up the win (4IP, 1H, 8KO).  Lamott saw her first action on the mound, striking out three batters in the fifth to end the lopsided match.  

Weise was 2-for-3 with a walk and two home runs.  Koste had two hits and and three RBI.  Lamott, Wiehle and Zerwas each scored twice.  

 

The Strikeout Cancer event was a huge success as the team — with the help of the Becker Blast Softball Association — was able to raise over $4,500 dollars to support Dan Herrman, father of former Bulldog Karissa Herrman, in his fight against blood cancer.

 

 

The team was back on the road at Albany Thursday to finish out GRC play while looking to secure a share of their seventh consecutive conference championship. 

 

The Bulldogs tallied a run in the top of the third when Johnson led off with a double and scored on a bunt from Brooke Hendrickson.  

 

The Huskies took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bulldogs battled back to retake the lead when Varney led off the inning with a walk, stole second and scored on a Husky error.  Hendrickson reached on the error and scored on sacrifice fly off the bat of Koste to give the Bulldogs the 3-2 lead.  

 

Wiehle reached on a walk in the sixth and scored on a passed ball to give the Bulldogs an important insurance run to push the lead to 4-2.  

 

The Huskies rallied with one run and  put two runners on in the seventh before Weise struck out the final batter for the one-run win.

 

Weise got the win (7IP, 2H, 1BB, 14KO).  

 

The win moved the Bulldogs conference record to 8-2, meaning they will split the conference title with St. Cloud Cathedral.  The Bulldogs have won or shared the conference title in all seven years they have participated in the GRC and it is their eighth straight conference title overall and 12th title in the past 14 years. 

 

 

The team finished out the regular season Friday night against Princeton (a full report on the geame will appear in next week’s Citizen-Tribune) and will move into post season play Tuesday night where they will likely host either St. Cloud Apollo or Dassel-Cokato.  

 

The second round of playoff action will take place Thursday evening.