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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
They are only five games into the softball schedule, but Forest Lake is rapidly showing it’s as good as advertised.
Coming from behind or getting out to an early lead, the Rangers picked up four wins last week, and they did it with three different pitchers. The biggest victory came on Tuesday, April 15, with Alyssa Dunrud on the mound, as Forest Lake knocked off top-ranked Woodbury, 3-2.
“This marks the first time in four years — since I’ve been coaching — that we’ve beaten Woodbury,” head coach Angie Ryan said.
“This was a great win for us, especially considering Woodbury is one of the top teams in the state, with one of the top pitchers in the state (Alex Chichilla).”
Despite a difficult wind challenging both schools, each team was able to score in the first inning.
Kathy Crudo crossed home plate after getting on with a single, and then circled the bases with a stolen base, a Jessica Skogen single, and finally, a wild pitch.
With the score tied 1-1 in the second, Krystal Plouff put the Rangers up by a run, with a journey that was similar to Crudo’s.
Plouff singled and moved to second on a Woodbury error. She reached third on a passed ball and came home on a wild pitch.
The one-run game would go into the sixth inning, when the Royals tied it up, thanks to a two-out walk and a pair of Forest Lake errors.
Woodbury was poised to take the lead in the top of the seventh, when a bunt and another error put a runner on second with zero outs.
The next batter smacked a line drive into left field, where Lexi Alm caught the ball and fired to second base, doubling up the runner who was too far off the bag.
“This changed the momentum to Forest Lake’s direction,” Ryan noted.
In the bottom of the inning, Dunrud pulled off a “sneaky” bunt to get on first base. Nicole Holmes came through with a bunt of her own, and with another Royals error, it put runners on first and third.
Wanting nothing to do with Crudo, Woodbury walked the recent Winona State signee, which loaded the bases.
Kelly Kent fouled off pitch after pitch after pitch, before hitting a grounder that would score Dunrud, giving the Rangers the 3-2 victory.
According to Ryan, all but one batter in Forest Lake’s lineup got at least one hit, with Kent leading the way with two.
Dunrud earned the win by giving up just four hits, striking out nine and walking three.
“Chichilla is excellent, and although we had nine strikeouts, we also put the ball in play a lot and had nine hits,” Ryan shared. “With the wind we knew we had to hit line drives and/or ground balls and we executed.
“This was a fun game! It was great to see Alyssa pitch so well and Kelly Kent come through in the clutch.”
Other Action
A day after Forest Lake took care of Woodbury, the girls dominated White Bear Lake, 4-0.
Cheree Franklin was the winning pitcher, facing a mere 24 batters, as the Bears never had a player even reach third base.
On April 19, the Rangers were down early to Roseville, but rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take an 8-5 victory.
Skogen was a big factor in this one, driving in two runs in the third inning, another in the fifth and one more in the sixth.
Forest Lake finished the week with a 17-0 trouncing of North Branch, in which freshman Taylor Burmeister got the start and the shutout.
“North Branch only had one error; it wasn’t as if they gave us the game,” Ryan pointed out. “We just kept hitting and hitting and hitting, with a total of 21 hits in five innings.”
Monday evening
The Rangers (4-2) returned home on April 21 to take on Mounds View, but this is where the win streak would end.
The Mustangs (5-1) got up early with four runs in the top of the first inning, and then held on for a 5-3 victory.
After playing five games in seven days, Forest Lake has a small break before heading to Hastings on Thursday afternoon.
“It’ll be good to take a step back tomorrow (Tuesday) and get a practice in,” Ryan said. “We haven’t had one since last Monday, the 14th.
Box Score
Woodbury 100 001 0—2 4 2
Forest Lake 110 000 1—3 9 4
Chichilla and Syvertsen; Dunrud and Skogen. W—Dunrud (1-1). L—Chichilla (2-1).
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