BEMIDJI – The Bemidji High School softball team delivered a death by 1,000 cuts. More specifically, five separate run-scoring hits with two outs in different innings.
The Lumberjacks earned a doubleheader split against Duluth East on Tuesday at the BHS softball field, flipping their fortunes after a sluggish 2-1 loss in game one to beat the Greyhounds 7-1 in game two.
“We definitely made some adjustments towards the second game,” BHS head coach Brad Takkunen said. “(Duluth East’s) pitcher in the first game wasn’t overpowering us. I think we got in a situation where we were a little too anxious. I think the girls went up (to the plate) thinking, ‘I can hit that pitch,’ when there might’ve been a better pitch coming. Who knows? I think we made a few more adjustments, and we found more spots for the ball to get down.”
It started with Izzy Neadeau’s RBI single in the top of the first inning. Audrey Neadeau matched in the top of the second to make it 2-0. Then Annika Nelson made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the third. All three run-scoring hits came with two outs.
“As a coach, you’re hoping for kids to want to be in those spots rather than them saying, ‘Don’t put me in there,’” Takkunen said. “It’s hard to figure out what’s going on sometimes. You’d think it’d be tentativeness when we’re not having success (in two-out situations), but I actually think it’s over-aggressiveness. Once the kids settle down and realize the approach they need to (have), it looks better overall.”
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Adie Potratz got in on the action with a one-out RBI single in the top of the fourth inning. She advanced to third base on a throwing error, then scored on a groundout in Elizabeth Oster’s ensuing plate appearance.
Maya Schmidt turned in the second stellar pitching performance for Bemidji (3-8) on Tuesday. She followed Aleah Shogren’s complete-game effort in game one with a seven-inning gem of her own. Schmidt stranded runners in scoring position in almost every inning, including a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the third.
“(I thought) the pitching today was really good,” Takkunen said. “The goal was to make them earn everything they get. If they earn it, so be it. Once you get into a situation where they do have a couple of runners (on base), how are you going to respond to it? I really liked how Maya and Aleah battled in those situations.”
Vallie Nosan finally got to Schmidt in the fourth inning with an RBI single, cutting the Lumberjacks’ lead to 5-1. However, Emilie Jessen delivered a two-out RBI double for BHS in the top of the fifth to get the run back. Shogren punched a two-out knock in the top of the sixth inning to bring home the Jacks’ seventh run.
“The bottom line is you put kids in positions where they can hopefully have fun with it and try to make those plays,” Takkunen said. “Today, I was very pleased with what I saw.”
The Greyhounds (1-4) squeaked out a win in game one with some seventh-inning heroics. Tied 1-1, Amity Sjervin blasted a solo home run. The Lumberjacks left the tying run stranded at first base in the bottom half of the inning.
BHS had a near-perfect day defensively, limiting itself to minimal costly mistakes. Takkunen is impressed with his team’s growth this season despite being outside for less than a month.
“The one thing that I’m trying to continually stress to the kids is knowing their approach, being ready, don’t get caught surprised,” Takkunen said. “We have a few of those circumstances to work on. As we see less and less of those (new situations), we’re going to become more competitive and better as a team. … We just need to get more consistent. We have the tools. We just need to put it together.”
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The Jacks hit the road to face Rocori for a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, May 12, in Cold Spring.
Duluth East 2, Bemidji 1
DE 100 000 1 – 2-7-0
BHS 000 100 0 – 1-5-0
WP: Filiatrault (CG, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)
LP: Shogren (CG, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)
Bemidji 7, Duluth East 1
BHS 111 211 0 – 7-7-0
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DE 000 100 0 – 1-11-0
WP: Schmidt (CG, 7 IP, 11 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K)
LP: Filiatrault (CG, 7 IP, 17 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
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