FIELD TWP- The North Woods softball team bounced back from a tough 17-4 loss to Mt. Iron-Buhl on Monday to crush Deer River on Tuesday, 18-0.
The Grizzlies got off to a hot start when Zoey Burckhardt got on board and came home on a triple by Ella Kruse. Evalyn Thiel picked up an RBI on a single for a 2-0 lead.
Rory Bundy, Nevada Gauthier, Burckhardt and Kruse crossed the plate in the second for a 6-0 lead, but the best was yet to come for North Woods.
The Grizzlies batted around the order in the third, scoring eight runs. Kruse blasted her second three-bagger in the inning, and Thiel crushed another. Brynn Chosa hit for a double and Bundy stroked a single as the Grizzlies went up 13-0.
North Woods made their last at-bat count as well, picking up five more runs on scores by Addison Burckhardt, Josie Gibson, Chosa, Bundy, and Gauthier.
Head Coach Dee Ann Sandberg said she was pleased to see the Grizzlies’ bats get hot after the loss to MIB.
“The girls really came out and played today,” Sandberg said.

MIB wins
The Grizzlies briefly seized the lead in Monday’s road game against MIB, but a late surge by the Rangers proved to be too much.
Trailing 3-0 in the third, North Woods came alive. An error brought the first run home before Ella Kruse smacked an RBI single, and then a two-run single from Emarie Gibson gave the Grizzlies a 4-3 lead.
It was a short-lived advantage, as MIB broke the game open with six runs in the fourth, including an inside-the-park grand slam, and added eight more in the fifth.
Gibson led the Grizzlies at the plate, going 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Kruse, Nevada Gauthier, and Evalyn Thiel also collected hits in the effort. Addison Burckhardt started in the circle for North Woods, striking out five over five innings of work.