The Becker girls softball team defeated Brainerd in the Section 8AAA Tournament Thursday to advance to state for the first time since 2009.
The Bulldogs finished off Big Lake Monday in the section semifinal game, then beat Brainerd twice in the finals to capture the section title.
Becker 10, Big Lake 0
Monday, Becker hosted Big Lake in a section semifinal game and the home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Allison Cieslak doubled and scored on an Erika Schwartz single. In the bottom of the second, they broke the game open with seven runs on five hits and a couple of Hornet errors. Cieslak knocked in three with a bases loaded triple. Kadee Vesledahl and Sam Lorette also doubled in the inning.
The Bulldogs added a run in the third and another in the fourth to make the final 10-0.
Becker 5, Brainerd 4
Wednesday, the girls traveled to Brainerd to take on the #1 seed Warriors.
Becker again jumped on top with a run in the top of the first when Payton Williams doubled and scored on a Marikate Wegeleben single.
The Warriors answered with a run in the second to knot the game at one.
In the third, Brainerd added three runs on a walk, a single and two Bulldog errors to take a 4-1 lead.
The game stayed 4-1 until the fifth when Hailey Fitzpatrick scored on a Williams single to make it 4-2.
In the sixth, Becker knotted the game at four with two runs as Wegeleben singled and scored on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt by Vesledahl. Erika Schwartz then scored on a single by Sam Lorette. The Bulldogs came close to taking a lead in the top of the seventh, but a great throw by the Warrior left fielder nailed pinch runner Sydney Lamott at the plate to send the game to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Sam Lorette singled to start the inning. Fitzpatrick laid down a great sacrifice bunt and in an attempt to prevent Lorette from moving to third, the Warriors threw the ball into left field and allowed Lorette to score the go ahead run.
After a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, Becker escaped with a 5-4 win.
Becker 5, Brainerd 1
With Wednesday's win, the Bulldogs needed just one more win to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
The girls traveled back to Brainerd Thursday to take on the winner of a loser’s bracket game between Brainerd and Alexandria. After the Warriors got a 6-0 win over the Cardinals, it was a rematch against Brainerd that both teams were anticipating.
The game started as a pitcher's dual between Harmon and Brainerd's Maddie Franz, with each team held scoreless through three innings.
In the top of the fourth, the Bulldogs got on the board when Erika Schwartz reached on an error and scored when Vesledahl's sacrifice bunt was thrown down the right field line. Becker added a second run in the fifth when Cieslak led off the inning with a perfect bunt single and scored on a Wegeleben double.
The visitors added three insurance runs in the sixth to push the score to 5-0. Sam Lorette scored when she tripled over the head of the Warrior rightfielder and the relay throw was bobbled. Fitzpatrick and Cieslak followed with base hits and scored on a Williams single. The Warriors attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh with a walk and double to plate a run, but Harmon got the final out on a soft ground ball back to the mound.
On To State!
The section championship puts Becker in the state tournament which begins Thursday in Mankato. The Bulldogs will take on Anoka at 9 a.m. While Becker didn't play Anoka this year, they do know a little about them as the Tornadoes came to Becker in early May and won Becker’s Invitational tournament. The Tornadoes have the same record as Becker at 21-2.
This is Becker's third state tournament appearance (2008 third place and 2009 fifth place) and our first appearance in Class AAA, the largest class in softball.
