歪歪漫画

BRAINERD 鈥� With two outs and two strikes, Ericah Folden singled in the bottom of the fourth.

The pitch prior could have easily been called a strike, but Folden hung tough and collected her first hit of the Section 8-4A Quarterfinal on Wednesday, May 22, at Adamson Field.

After Folden鈥檚 single, the No. 2-seeded Brainerd High 歪歪漫画 softball team erupted for eight runs and went on to top the seventh-seeded Bemidji Lumberjacks 10-0 to advance in the winner鈥檚 bracket.

鈥淲e鈥檝e talked about two-strike hitting for the last month,鈥� Warriors head coach Shane Jordan said. 鈥淔rom a coaching standpoint, that鈥檚 huge that they bought into the two-strike swing and just putting the ball in play and trusting that every one of those girls has great swings. Everyone worked hard to put themselves into positions in the batter鈥檚 box to be successful. Scoring a whole bunch of runs with two outs is kind of a coach's dream.鈥�

Folden鈥檚 single was followed by a Macy Goral single and an RBI single from Emily Rademacher. Mya Tautges was intentionally walked to load the bases and Elsa Borchert reached on an error to score two runs. Maren Ceynowa doubled to score Tautges and Borchert, and Lacy Busch made it 8-0 with a blast over the left-center field fence.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize it was gone,鈥� Busch said of her home run. 鈥淚 thought it was right to the centerfielder. I thought it was right to her. It felt good. It was a good fourth inning. We were all super strong and we were all confident.鈥�

Busch鈥檚 blast was followed by Ruthie Owen鈥檚 home run for a 9-0 score after four innings.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

鈥淚t felt great,鈥� Busch said. 鈥淭hat was so unexpected, I would say because we were just trying to get it in play. The dugout was awesome. We were just cheering and being loud. I know both of our home runs felt good.鈥�

Brainerd was held scoreless in the fifth, but Busch led off the sixth with a single. Ebanni Moore courtesy ran for her and scored on another Folden single to end the game.

鈥淲e came in after two tough losses, but I thought our girls did a good job of knowing what we needed to do to be better,鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淭hey understood our was still ahead of us and that is the playoffs. Our last two practices were our best two practices of the year. Credit goes to the girls. They worked hard in practice and are doing all the little things it takes to win softball games.鈥�

The Warriors鈥� first run came in the third when Tautges led off with a double and scored on Ceynowa鈥檚 single. Ceynowa finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a run. Folden went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run and Busch was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run. Tautges went 2 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and a double.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

She also pitched the victory. She struck out 10 in six innings and scattered three hits and one walk.

in the third and had a no-hitter going until Aleah Shogren led off the fourth with a single. Shogren was later thrown out trying to steal. Mya Schmidt singled in the fifth and made it to second. Matjea Malterud singled to lead off the sixth but was called out because of runner interference attempting to reach third base. The play was called dead after the interference and Shogren was given first base despite not beating the throw.

鈥淲e made a few nice plays in the field,鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淢aren made a really nice play to her left and made a nice play to her right kind of behind her. Our defense was good and Mya pitched really well.鈥�

A Tautges strikeout ended the sixth inning and the Lumberjacks鈥� chances to put up a run.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

The Warriors topped the Lumberjacks 2-0 and 10-6 during a .

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get this win and get it done fast,鈥� Busch said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all just super happy and excited for what鈥檚 next. We just need to come out with the same attitudes and same confidence and how we are mentally and do this again tomorrow.鈥�

BEM 000 000 鈥� 0-3-3

BRD 001 801 鈥� 10-12-0

WP: Tautges 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

LP: Shogren 4 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K