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Extra inning goes Park’s way in Forest Lake’s softball opener
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008
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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
The first game of the Forest Lake softball season wasn’t one where the girls could ease into spring, as the Rangers hosted highly regarded Park on Wednesday, April 9.
It was the season-opener for both squads, and each team took its turn showing it still had work to do in a 7-5 Park victory.
“I told the team prior to the game that there were two things we needed to do in order to win: play solid defense and put the ball in play on offense. These are the two areas we struggled with,” head coach Angie Ryan said.
Neither Forest Lake nor the Wolfpack could score in the first two innings, but Park was able to bring home two runs off three hits in the top of the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, a bunt by Lexi Alm got her on base, which was helped by a poor throw by the Wolfpack’s catcher. On a wild pitch during Kathy Crudo’s at bat, Alm moved to second, and then scored on Crudo’s single to center field.
With the help of some Ranger errors, the visitors added three more runs to begin the fifth, but Ryan’s club would respond in a huge way in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Down 5-1, Nicole Holmes led off with a walk, and that was followed by Kelly Kent’s single to left. Crudo delivered a double and another RBI, as Holmes would score.
The newfound mojo continued when Sammy Holien drove in Kent and at the same time pushed Crudo to third base. Jessica Skogen’s single scored Crudo, and Holien came home on a wild pitch.
Just like that the game was tied at five, but suddenly, neither team could manufacture a run in the seventh inning.
Off to the eighth they went, where Park came forward with a pair of singles and a triple off Alyssa Dunrud to make it 7-5. When Forest Lake couldn’t find another rally, the game would close with the Wolfpack’s two-run advantage.
The Rangers would end the afternoon with four errors and an unlucky 13 strikeouts.
“I was proud of the way our team battled throughout this game and am happy that we were able to come back in the sixth to tie the game up,” Ryan shared. “Hopefully we got our first game jitters out of the way and will be able to relax.”
The girls were scheduled to be at Stillwater on Monday, but that was pushed back to May 2. They entertained Woodbury on Tuesday, and then the major league-like schedule runs all week, with White Bear Lake in town on Wednesday, the Rangers in Roseville on Thursday and North Branch on Friday.
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