FIELD TWP — North Woods showed both patience and production at the plate last Friday, turning a close early game into an 11-1 rout of Littlefork-Big Falls after unplayable field conditions forced the Grizzlies to move a scheduled home game to Littlefork.
Trailing 1-0 after two innings, the Grizzlies flipped the game in a hurry, using a five-run third inning to seize control. From there, they never let up, adding three more runs in the fourth and three again in the sixth.
The third inning set the tone for everything that followed. With one out, Brynn Chosa reached on a single and Evalyn Thiel followed with a walk to get things started. After Emarie Gibson singled to load the bases, Josie Gibson was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run.
North Woods then turned up the pressure on the bases. Chosa and J. Gibson each came home on steals, and a dropped third strike allowed another run to score as the Grizzlies quickly seized control. Thiel added an RBI single later in the inning to cap a five-run surge that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead.
That pressure never really let up.
North Woods drew 11 walks in the game and consistently forced Littlefork-Big Falls to play from the stretch, creating long innings and constant traffic on the bases. The Grizzlies paired that patience with aggressive baserunning, swiping bases throughout the lineup, with Lauren Burnett and Zoey Burckhardt each stealing three bases.
At the plate, Chosa led the way with three hits, while E. Gibson and Burnett each scored twice. Thiel drove in two runs and reached base three times, and Anelise Brodeen added a triple as part of the team’s 10-hit effort.
On the mound, Burckhardt was in control throughout. The right-hander scattered five hits, allowed one earned run, and struck out eight while issuing just one walk over six innings.
Chisholm
North Woods had to work a little harder Tuesday, overcoming an early deficit to earn a 9-5 win over Chisholm.
The Bluestreaks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, taking advantage of a pair of North Woods errors and timely hitting to put the Grizzlies on their heels.
North Woods answered in the third. After putting runners aboard, Burckhardt delivered the key swing of the inning, driving a triple into the outfield that brought home three runs and evened the score at 3-3.
The teams traded momentum from there. North Woods took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Chosa stole home, but Chisholm answered with a solo home run to tie the game again at 4-4.
The Grizzlies regained control in the sixth, using a string of hits and aggressive baserunning to push across two runs and take a 6-4 lead. North Woods continued to apply pressure on the bases throughout the game, repeatedly taking extra bases and forcing Chisholm into hurried defensive plays.
North Woods added insurance in the seventh. Burnett started the rally with a double, and Burckhardt followed with another triple that drove in a run. Ella Kruse added an RBI single later in the inning, and the Grizzlies continued to pressure the defense, with Kruse eventually coming home on a steal to extend the lead to 9-4.
Chisholm scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but the Grizzlies closed it out without further damage.
At the plate, North Woods pounded out 15 hits. J. Gibson led the way with three hits, while Chosa and E. Gibson each added two. Burckhardt helped her own cause with two hits, including a pair of triples, and three runs batted in.
On the mound, Burckhardt went the distance, allowing five runs, two earned, on nine hits while striking out nine and walking two.