FERGUS FALLS -- A late rally turned the tides on the Bemidji High School softball team on Thursday, as the Lumberjacks surrendered four detrimental runs in the sixth inning and lost 7-6 at Fergus Falls.
The Otters smacked six straight singles to open the sixth, and Fergus batted around to flip a 6-3 deficit into a one-run advantage.
The Lumberjacks (1-10) had an offensive surge of their own, which came in the third inning. Adding on to Jody Pemberton’s first-inning run, Lexie Tatro and Beth Bolte singled their way aboard before scoring in the third. Hannah Alexander and Isabelle Neadeau also reached on an error and walk, respectively, and eventually scored on passed balls.
That made for a 5-2 advantage, which Fergus Falls (3-7) trimmed to 5-3 by the end of the fifth on Rylynn Krein’s solo home run.
Tatro capped her 3-for-3 day at the plate with a sixth-inning double, which ultimately turned into Bemidji’s sixth run of the day via a little two-out rally. After the Otters jumped ahead 7-6, a two-out triple in the seventh inning had the tying run oh-so close to scoring, but an ensuing 1-3 groundout closed the book on the last-ditch effort.
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Taylor Waukazo pitched a complete game for the Jacks, allowing seven runs off 15 hits while striking out three. BHS batters, meanwhile, struck out nine times, eight of which came on a called third strike.
Bemidji returns to the diamond for a 4:30 p.m. showdown with Duluth East on Tuesday, May 11, at the BHS softball field.
Fergus Falls 7, Bemidji 6
BHS 104 001 0 -- 6-11-0
FF 110 014 X -- 7-15-2
LP: Waukazo (CG, 15 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
