FIELD TWP- With an eye on avenging an earlier loss this season to the Ely Timberwolves, the North Woods softball team stepped up on Friday to defend their home diamond and send the visitors home on the short end of a 10-7 Grizzlies win.
After North Woods starter Addison Burckhardt and the Grizzles set the Wolves down with a three-up, three-down start, Burckhardt got the Grizzlies rolling with a double off the Wolves’ Zoe MacKenzie, then stole third on a passed ball. River Cheney delivered the RBI with a single, then stole second and came home on a double by Evalyn Thiel. MacKenzie recorded her second strike-out of the inning to retire the side, but the Grizzlies led 2-0 after one.
The Wolves struck back in the third when Peyton Huntington rapped a two-out single and came around to score on a fielding error of a hard-hit ball by Clare Thomas. Hannah Penke smashed a double to score Thomas, knotting the score at 2-2 after three.
With MacKenzie holding the Grizzlies in check in the second and third, the Wolves took the lead in the top of the fourth. Maija Mattson and MacKenzie reached base on a single and a walk, and Ely got a two-out single by Huntington to go ahead 4-2.
North Woods got part of that back in their half of the inning, with Ella Kruse getting a walk and a steal and crossing the plate on a sacrifice by Emarie Gibson to make the score 4-3.
The Wolves went down in order in the fifth, leaving an opening for the Grizzlies to retake the lead. Zoey Burckhardt got on board with a single, then Cheney hit a blistering shot that was too hot for Penke to handle at short, scoring the tying run as Cheney ended up on second. After advancing to third, Cheney scored the go-ahead run on double to right by Kruse.
Trailing 5-4 going into the sixth, the Wolves charged back. MacKenzie was hit by a pitch and replaced with a pinch runner. Grace Flynn reached on a single, and Ely scored their first run of the inning on a single to center by Makenzi Huntington. A bloop single to center by Thomas plated two more runs, and the Wolves took a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
After fouling off a pair of bunt attempts, Gibson rapped a single between charging Ely infielders to get the Grizzlies rolling. A single by Talise Goodsky plated Gibson. With runners on the corners, Addison Burckhardt hit a hard infield grounder and was safe on an error at first, with both runners scoring for an 8-7 lead. Cheney launched a triple to the center field wall, scoring another run. Thiel put the cap on the inning with a sacrifice hit that scored Cheney.
Mattson led off with a walk in the final frame but was out on a force at second as MacKenzie reached on a fielding error. Amelia Penke went down on strikes and Grizzlies’ second baseman Rory Bundy gathered in a pop up by Flynn to seal the Grizzlies 10-7 win.
Peyton Huntington led the Wolves with three hits and three RBIs. Cheney had three hits and three RBIs for North Woods.
“It took us a few innings to get our bats going,” Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi said. “I thought we had a better approach at the plate after our first time though the order. We took the lead late in the game in the sixth inning, but we made some mistakes in the bottom of the sixth that were too big to overcome.”