BEMIDJI - After cruising to a 10-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader, the Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 softball team went through a lot more adversity to get the sweep over Duluth East Tuesday.
With Duluth East leading 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Greyhounds were in prime position to steal game two away from the Lumberjacks.
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The inning started with a double by Karley LaZella, who scored on Maya Schmidt's single the next at-bat to make it 7-6. Three at-bats later, Schmidt scored the game-tying run off of McKenzee Jaranson's single, setting the stage for freshman Clara Sherwood.
鈥淪he was really frustrated with a couple of earlier at-bats,鈥� head coach Brad Takkunen said. 鈥淪he was getting good pitches, but just not getting good swings on the ball.鈥�
On a 0-1 count with runners on first and second base, Sherwood found another good pitch. Only this time, she wasn鈥檛 going to let it go to waste.
Sherwood laced a line drive into center field and raced to second base at the BHS softball field for a walk-off double and a doubleheader sweep.
鈥淲hat a moment for her,鈥� Takkunen said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on being a little more patient 鈥� all of a sudden, she鈥檚 celebrating like, 鈥榃ow, I just got the game-winning RBI as a freshman.鈥� So, yeah, that's pretty cool.鈥�
It was a thrilling end to a back-and-forth game that saw both teams have two-run leads at different points.
Duluth East, eager to score after being shut out in the previous game, opened game two by scoring two runs in the first inning off of an error and a double steal.
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The Jacks didn鈥檛 answer until the fourth inning, when Ridley Hadrava hit a two-RBI double, scoring LaZella and Hayden Dahl to tie the ballgame 2-2.
BHS got its first lead in the fifth inning when Schmidt hit a two-RBI single to right field, with Sammy Nistler and Emma Greiner scoring. Hadrava hit a single to left field, notching her third RBI of the game, making it 5-2 heading into the sixth inning.
But the Greyhounds wouldn鈥檛 go away easily. After a single, walk and two doubles, Duluth East tied the game 5-5, with the pitcher, Schmidt, having a runner on third base and no one out.
The senior didn鈥檛 lose confidence in her stuff, as Takkunen pointed out, getting two ground outs and a fly out to get out of a nerve-wrenching jam.
鈥淭hat is a testament as to how we're battling,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o see that from a senior, and say, 鈥榊ou know what? Yeah, this isn't ideal, but we can still make this turn in our favor,鈥� and they did. It was just one play after another 鈥� and pretty soon we were out of it.鈥�
Even after Duluth East took a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning, Takkunen knew that it wasn鈥檛 wise to count out the Lumberjacks.
鈥淚 just really loved the way we kept competing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was quite a bit of adversity. Give credit to Duluth, the ground balls that they were hitting were finding holes. But then, all of a sudden, we come up to bat and we find ways of doing things ourselves. And that鈥檚 what I really liked, the response that we were giving.鈥�
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The 10-0 game one victory was dominated by LaZella, pitching a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts and zero walks while going 3 for 3 with a walk and three RBIs at the plate.
LaZella also started game two for BHS, giving up two runs in the first inning before she was replaced by Schmidt in the third inning.
Hadrava would have the best day at the plate for the Lumberjacks, however, going a combined 6 for 7 with 4 RBI on the day.
It was a satisfying sweep for Bemidji after getting swept themselves in a doubleheader against Saint Cloud on May 2. The two victories on Tuesday put Bemidji (7-5) above .500 on the year.
鈥淲e have a much different feel this year than we do last year,鈥� Takkunen said. 鈥淚 think last year we were learning a lot of things. I don't know if we're there yet, obviously, but I just really liked the way that we just kept going after it.
Bemidji 10, Duluth East 0 (F/6)
BHS 024 031 10 鈥� 12-1
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DE 000 000 0 鈥� 3-4
WP: LaZella (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K)
LP: Lundquist (5.1 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 3 BB 2 K)
Bemidji 8, Duluth East 7
BHS 410 00 1 鈥� 6-713-1
DE 002 030 2 鈥� 7-7-3
WP: Schmidt (5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)
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LP: Filiatrault (6.1 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB 5 K)
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