The Becker Bulldog girls softball team (seeded #2) closed out their regular season in style, producing two shutout wins in the first two rounds of the Section 5AAA playoffs.

 

Becker’s quarterfinal game Tuesday pitted them against the #7 seeded Big Lake Hornets. It was a game many expected the Bulldogs to dominate, but Big Lake came ready to play and made the game a challenge for the girls right down to the final out.

 

Becker was able to jump to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Hailey Fitzpatrick walked and stole second base with one out.  After another out was recorded, Alexa Hanowski came up with a two-out single to score Fitzpatrick.

 

The game remained 1-0 until the fifth when Payton Williams led off with a single and advanced to third with some aggressive base running on a sacrifice bunt by Fitzpatrick.  Erika Schwartz and Williams then perfectly executed a suicide squeeze to plate another run to make the score 2-0, and that was all the scoring necessary for Becker to pull out the first round playoff win.

 

After allowing a single in the first, pitcher Brianna Corey silenced the Hornet bats throughout the rest of the game and allowed just one more baserunner (reached on an error) throughout the final six innings. Corey struck out two while allowing only the one hit and no walks.  

 

Williams was the offensive hero as she finished with two hits on the day.  

 

In the semifinal game at Becker Thursday, the Bulldogs’ bats looked livelier and Corey pitched another gem to put Becker one step closer to the state tournament.

 

The Bulldogs had played the Thunder twice this season and won by scores of 5-3 and 10-8 in the regular season, so they knew the Thunder would present a challenge.  

 

After a quick top of the first produced zeroes for Zimmerman, Becker again jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning when Williams led off with a single and stole second base.  Fitzpatrick followed with a perfectly executed bunt to reach first while Williams moved to third on the play.  After an out, Hanowski hit a sharp ground ball to the shortstop, which was enough to score Williams for the game’s first run.  

 

In the bottom of the second, Becker tallied three more runs with some clutch, two-out hitting. Corey and Kaylyn Wiehle both reached base to start the inning with no outs and a big inning was expected. Zimmerman’s defense recorded two consecutive outs, leaving the Bulldogs with a runner on third and two down.  Williams singled to score Wiehle and Fitzpatrick and Schwartz followed with walks to load the bases. Hanowski singled to center to score the two runners to make it 4-0.  

 

The Bulldogs added another run in the fourth when Fitzpatrick singled, stole second and eventually stole home on a double steal.  

 

In the fifth, the Lady Bulldogs added a final insurance run when Corey doubled and pinch runner Megan Hoppe scored on a Sydney Lamott single.

 

Corey was dominating on the mound once again as she allowed just two hits while walking two and striking out seven.

 

Fitzpatrick was 3-for-3 and scored twice.  Williams had two hits and scored twice.

 

“I was extremely impressed with the level of focus that Brianna (Corey) showed on the mound in both games,” said Head Coach Jason Baune.  “She was truly dominate as she kept the hitters from both Big Lake and Zimmerman completely off balance by moving the ball around and changing speeds.”

 

Baune commended catcher Ellie Schwartz as well for the impressive performance from Becker’s battery.

 

“She (Ellie) has done a great job behind the plate calling pitches,” he said.  “Our seniors really stepped up with some clutch hits and great base running to help us put important runs on the board.  We're looking forward to a great match-up with Rocori on Tuesday.”

 

Rocori is the #1 seed with a 20-2 record. They beat #8-seeded Cathedral Tuesday by a score of 4-3, then #5-seeded Dassel-Cokato Thursday by a score of 3-0.

 

Becker will face off against Rocori Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Willmar.  If Becker wins, They’ll play in the championship game Thursday.  If they lose to Rocori, they'll play again at 6 p.m Tuesday and will need to win to advance to the championship Thursday.