FIELD TWP- In a season where the North Woods softball team has seen both feast and famine, they got a taste of each last week in games against Cook County and International Falls.
The road trip on Thursday to take on Cook County was akin to a Thanksgiving feast for the Grizzlies as they pounded out 22 hits and drew 10 walks in a 20-10 thrashing of the Vikings.
Two runners were on base when Brynn Simpson smacked a first-inning double to put North Woods up 1-0. Nevada Gauthier singled to drive home another run, Simpson scored stealing home, and the Grizzlies added one more run to go up 4-0.
North Woods was up 8-3 going into the top of the fifth, and the Grizzlies blew the game wide open with an eight-run inning. North Woods erupted for four singles, two doubles, a triple, and a two-run homer by Evelyn Brodeen to go up 16-3.
The Vikings responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning to avoid a run-shortened game, but it gave the Grizzlies two more turns at bat to score more runs. After scoring one in the sixth, Addy Burkhardt opened the final stanza with a triple, and the Grizzlies were off and running for three more runs. The Vikings scored twice in their final at-bat to account for the 20-10 final.
Nevada Gauthier led the Grizzlies’ hit parade by going four-of-six at the plate with two RBIs. Ivy Chaulklin, Brynn Simpson, Evelyn Brodeen, and Hannah Cheney each collected three hits in the slugfest.
Ivy Chaulklin picked up the win on the mound for the Grizzlies, recording seven strikeouts while giving up 14 hits.
The Grizzlies may have wished they could have banked some of those hits and runs to use the next day on the road against International Falls. It was a day of slim pickings for North Woods, as they lost 7-0. Game stats were not available as of press time.