FIELD TWP- The North Woods softball team fell to 1-2 on the season Monday with a home loss to the Northland/Hill City Storm.
NHC tagged Grizzlies starting pitcher Addison Burckhardt for a first-inning home run and a 1-0 lead, but that would quickly change in the Grizzlies’ half of the inning. Nevada Gauthier reached base when she was struck by a pitch, and advanced to second when Zoey Burckhardt got on thanks to a fielding error by the Storm on an infield pop fly. Cleanup hitter River Cheney put North Woods on top when she crushed a three-run homer over the center field fence.
NHC retook the lead as the Grizzlies’ bats went silent, scoring three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. North Woods tallied another run in the sixth with Zoey Burckhardt crossing the plate, making the score 6-4.
But the Storm put the game away in thee top of the seventh, with a pair of long fly balls finding the gaps in the outfield as four runners crossed the plate. The Grizzlies had no answer, going down in order in their last at bat to close out the 10-4 loss.

Mesabi East
The first game of the season, a scheduled home game against Mesabi East, was relocated to the synthetic turf field in Aurora due to wet conditions at North Woods.
On a blustery, rainy Thursday afternoon, both teams cranked up the offense in a come-from-behind 17-16 win for the Grizzlies.
The Giants got out of the box fast with three runs in the top of the first, while the Grizzlies went down in order.
But North Woods revved it up in the bottom of the second with a six-run deluge, with Gauthier and Cheney each smacking two-run doubles.
The Giants came right back in the third with a six-run blitz of their own, regaining a lead they would hold until a massive Grizzlies’ rally in the fifth. With the Giants’ pitcher having control problems, the sharp-eyed Grizzles manufactured runs via walks as well as hits as they piled up eight runs in the inning for a 16-10 lead.
The Giants fought back with one run in the sixth and five In the seventh for a 16-16 tie.
As the home team, the Grizzlies had the last at bat, and they made it pay off. Evalyn Thiel singled and advance to third on an error. Dakota Schwarzenberger connected with a pitch and Thiel raced home to score the winning run.
Silver Bay
North Woods was on the road again Friday in another game moved due to field conditions, this time to the home field of opponent Silver Bay. North Woods struggled to score as Silver Bay breezed to a 13-2 win.