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Stillwater cools off Forest Lake softball team |
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
At this point of the softball season it appears Park of Cottage Grove deserves its high ranking, while Woodbury should find itself outside of the top 10. And after knocking off the Royals for the second straight time this spring, a program that needs to be recognized is Forest Lake.
Maybe.
Twenty-four hours after losing to No. 2 Park, the Rangers rebounded from the 3-0 loss and dropped Woodbury 8-4 in an eight-inning contest.
“We played an outstanding game against a great team,” head coach Angie Ryan said. “I was very impressed with our team today, offensively, defensively, pitching and catching.”
The score was tied 0-0, heading into the top of the fourth, when Forest Lake pulled ahead with the first run.
Kathy Crudo led off with a double, and then moved to third on a single by Sammy Holien. When Jessica Skogen struck out swinging, the ball got past the Royals catcher and Crudo was able to cross home plate.
With Woodbury’s Alex Chichila and the Rangers’ Alyssa Dunrud pitching, the offense was limited until late in the contest.
Holding on to the 1-0 lead, Holien opened the sixth inning with a single, and Skogen moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Lexi Alm followed with a single up the middle, and then stole second to put both runners in scoring position.
Kelly Kent stepped up and drilled a one-out double, bringing Holien and Alm all the way around for a comfy 3-0 advantage going into the bottom of the sixth.
Woodbury is respected for a reason, however, and the Royals answered with three singles, a walk and a Forest Lake error to tie it up, 3-3.
The offense slowed again in the seventh, pushing the game into extra innings.
Lexi Alm and Krystal Plouff opened the top of the eighth with singles, and were helped to second and third base, respectively, by way of an Ashleigh Matheson sacrifice bunt.
Then came the fireworks.
Behind in the count with one out, Cheree Franklin drilled an eye-level rise ball over Woodbury’s 200 foot fence for a game-winning, three-run homer.
Crudo scored later in the eighth, putting the pressure on the Royals, who suddenly found themselves down by four.
In the bottom of the inning Woodbury would add only one run, and the Suburban East Conference matchup would end 8-4 in Forest Lake’s favor.
“This was a blast to be a part of. Woodbury played very well and Chichila pitched a great game; we just adjusted and stayed positive,” Ryan exclaimed.
The Rangers would collect 12 hits on the afternoon, with all of them coming from the third inning on. On the defensive side, Dunrud gave up eight hits, while her support totaled three errors.
Oh-fer Monday
The girls played two against Stillwater on Monday, and came up short in both.
The Ponies won the opener, 7-2, then took the second game by the score of 2-0.
Forest Lake’s record stands at 6-5 (5-5 in the SEC).
“I’m not sure why we had such poor plate appearances, we did not adjust in either game,” Ryan said. “It is especially frustrating because we knew their pitchers were going to throw a lot of change-ups and that is what we practiced over the weekend. ”
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